[Source] White gold-fill clasps

Does anyone know of a source for WHITE gold-fill clasps? I am
specifically looking for a three-strand clasp that is not a toggle
type at the moment, but I will also need other types in the future.
The project is a three-row woven chain necklace and matching bracelet
which I am making to wear at my son’s wedding, and as the stones are
colour-matched to my outfit I am unlikely to wear these pieces more
than a few times at most. Hence the use of gold-fill as it is not
worth the expense of 10K or 14K for something that may only be worn
once. At present my only alternative is to try and design a suitable
clasp that I can make out of wire, but as it will be unsoldered (I
don’t have the setup to do soldering, and anyway I’ve never soldered
gold) I’m a bit stuck for ideas. I need to find a source that is
available to retail sales, as I live in England and do not have the
business registration (tax?) that some US suppliers require for me to
purchase from wholesale-only suppliers. Thank you Pat Waddington

Why does one need a gold fill clasp for white gold? Isn’t a silver
clasp the right colour, or a rhodium plated silver claspetc… I just
wonder if a white gold fill clasp is even made…

Brian Barrett

Pat, Since most of the white gold has a rodium plating anyway just
an inexpensive “costume jewelry” clasp would certainly give you the
same look and almost the same materials as a white gold-fill clasp.
You would get rodium over base metal without the basically
unnecessary white gold layer.

If there is a bead shop near you, you might find a clasp there. At a
shop specializing in costume jewelry you could purchase a competed
necklace at low cost and remove the clasp. You might even find a
clasp at a thrift shop.

Good Luck,
Orchid Rules!..Karla from Sunny Southern California

Regarding your clasp enquiry, I don’t know what kind of work you do,
but if you are using good quality materials and putting time and
effort into creating work to be proud of…well I think it
would be a crime to use mass produced clasps. It would only make your
work look cheap, I used to use the mass produced type, I sourced them
in Germany, they where truly beautiful, but made from base metal, and
on close inspection they really were not up to scratch!

I learnt my lesson when going before the panel of a Land mark
Gallery here in Dublin, they wouldn’t accept anything that was not
hand made. It was difficult for me to come up with ideas for my
clasps, I don’t work with precious metals, and didn’t know anyone off
hand that could fit the bill, so I instead made button hole closures
using pearls/Swarovski what ever material I was using in the
particular piece, and I haven’t looked back.

It was a good lesson to learn, and now, I wouldn’t dare use anything
that might take away from my work, which is highly detailed time
consuming work. I was eventually accepted to the Gallery.

So my advice to you is, find yourself a maker and have them make
some handmade clasps that compliment your designs. If you decide to
take the other route, here is the web address of the German contact.

http://www.neumann-clasps.com

Good luck
Tina
Dublin, Ireland

Many thanks Tina for your reply to my query about white gold-fill
clasps. Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and do it
yourself - a true case of ‘if want something done properly then do it
yourself’. I am just having so much trouble coming up with a design -
but I’ll get there in the end.

Everyone might think me totally mad taking so much trouble over a
necklace that will probably only be worn once before I recycle the
stones, but I only have the one child and hopefully there will only
be the one wedding, so I am determined that my jewellery will be
perfect.

The ‘mother of the bridegroom’ doesn’t have a big part to play in a
wedding, but I think I speak for all such mothers that, as my sister
put it so well, we can attempt to outshine everyone (except the
bride) without overtly seeming to do so. Just plain old female vanity
I guess :slight_smile:

So I am back to the tried and true method of going to bed with a
design problem on my mind, in the hope that I will wake up with an
answer.

If anyone has any suggestions about how to make a three-row clasp
out of 20ga wire I will fall on their neck with gratitude.

I would also like to say how much I enjoy Orchid, and I have learned
an enormous amount just from reading the posts, even though I am not
anywhere in the league of the wonderful craftsmen and women out
there.

Best wishes to all, from the east of England where summer seems to
have finally arrived Pat