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Toggle catches for bracelets

#1

I have a link bracelet to make and I want to use a toggle clasp. My
client is afraid this will wiggle open when worn and cause the
bracelet to fall. Have any of you experience with this? I’ve also
heard from another source that toggle clasps are unreliable. I’ve
looked at other types of clasps and don’t find any type that I like
the looks of (for this particular bracelet) as well as the toggle.
If I make the bar extra long will this solve the problem? I’d really
appreciate some expert advice from you wonderful folks in Orchid
land.

Jan - wishing to be with you in Tucson.
www.designjewel.com

#2

i use toggles fairly frequently, including on chain maille
bracelets. as long as the bar is relatively long, you shouldn’t
have a problem. another way to give a little extra insurance is to
have little balls or some sort of raised decoration on each end of
the bar. this way the bar can be a bit shorter. it’s a mix; some
are good, some aren’t. i have some with fairly short bars but the
bars turn into balls at the end–& they can actually be difficult to
open. the circle on those is pretty small.

the other thing to watch for is to make sure to have a little length
in the bar chain end, so that the bar & the chain can fit through
the loop. if you have loops right up to the bar, it won’t fit
through the toggle loop.

your site & your work are very beautiful!
hope this helps.
jessica

#3

i use toggles fairly frequently, including on chain maille
bracelets. as long as the bar is relatively long, you shouldn’t
have a problem. another way to give a little extra insurance is to
have little balls or some sort of raised decoration on each end of
the bar. this way the bar can be a bit shorter. it’s a mix; some
are good, some aren’t. i have some with fairly short bars but the
bars turn into balls at the end–& they can actually be difficult to
open. the circle on those is pretty small.

the other thing to watch for is to make sure to have a little length
in the bar chain end, so that the bar & the chain can fit through
the loop. if you have loops right up to the bar, it won’t fit
through the toggle loop.

your site & your work are very beautiful!
hope this helps.
jessica

#4

Jan,

I have used toggle catches many times without ever hearing someone
complain about it opening. I think the key is to make the bar long
enough. If the bar is just a little larger than the circle it does
have the possibility of slipping through. If the bar is long enough
that it just makes it through the circle when they are at a 90
degree angle to each other you should be fine.

Greg DeMark
email: greg@demarkjewelry.com
Website: www.demarkjewelry.com
Custom Jewelry - Handmade Jewelry - Antique Jewelry

#5

I have had experience on a couple of occasions with people not
wanting bracelets because they were afraid the bracelet would fall
off. This includes link bracelets with toggle clasps and cuff
bracelets snug enough that they could barely put them on in the
first place. I have never heard of one of my bracelets coming
spontaneously undone. I am extremely skeptical as to the likelihood
of it happening. It would be like accidentally dropping a coin out
of your pants pocket and having it come to rest perfectly on edge.
Theoretically possible, perhaps, but it would happen sometime after
the hypothetical roomful of monkeys with a typewriter randomly typed
Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

My experience with these doubting Thomases is that nothing which I
could show them or tell them would give them any relief; they were
just afraid the bracelet would come off regardless of any evidence
to the contrary, which led me to conclude that phenomenon was one of
obsessive-compulsive ideation, and that the poorly designed,
malfunctioning part resided not on my bracelet but rather betwixt
their eyes and ears.

Lee Einer
Dos Manos Jewelry
http://www.dosmanosjewelry.com

#6

Jan, I make a lot of beaded pieces, and for bracelets, I prefer
toggles. I have never had a toggle slip out. Now I have purchased a
set of toggles that I just flat didn’t like - they have an oriental
or bamboo feeling, and they have a right side and wrong side that has
to be inserted correctly in order for the clasp to hold flat. Ugh!
Too much work to get a bracelet on, and definitely not good for a
necklace where you can’t see what you’re doing anyway. I don’t think
you need to have an extra long bar. Just make sure the size of the
toggle is in proportion to the size of the bracelet, e.g., don’t use
a huge toggle on a fine, small bracelet, or vice versa. Toggles are
easy enough to put on and take off. Why not give a couple a test run
and see if you like the look and the ease of use?

Betty

#7

Hello Jan:

Toggle clasps on bracelets usually can come loose if the bracelet is
too long, and if the bar is not long enough. Usually it is a good
clasp when gravity is holding it in place. If the wearer is resting
arms on a table and moving around a bit a toggle can un-hook.
Toggles have been around for a long time and with proper instruction
to the wearer they work good. A new “Trademarked Design” from “Scott
Kay Sterling” makes the toggle clasp very secure. The “O” part of
the clasp hinges on it’s end and is flipped up to allow the bar to
be place through it and is then clicked back down leaving the
opening partially obscured so that the bar cannot come out.

Michael R. Mathews, Sr.

#8

Hi Jan,

Rather than making the bar too long try making the loop the bar
slips through smaller.

If you make your toggle clasp so the bar and it’s jump ring just fit
through circular side with a very small tollerance the clasp should
be reliable. A longer bar on a loose braclet can still slip through
if the circular part gives it too much breathing room. This will
also make it a little more difficult to put on but hey…

Good luck,
Mark

#9

Hi Jan -

My experience with toggle clasps is just the opposite of what your
other source reports. I have never had a toggle spontaneously come
undone, or gotten reports from customers that it’s happened.

I also wanted to mention that an extra long bar can be difficult to
insert and remove, especially if the bead or link on the bracelet
adjacent to the bar is larger than the central opening of the
toggle. There won’t be enough room to maneuver the bar into
position.

Linda

#10

I also like to use toggles as they are easy to fasten. Unfortunately,
I’ve had more than one slip loose with bracelets (necklaces never) -
so I now make most of my toggles. The bar definitely needs to be long
enough not to slip out easily. Also, textured bars rings also lower
the possibility of slippage. But when I make my own, I frequently put
a cross bar in the middle of the ring, limiting the space available
through which to thread the “bar” and this has eliminated slipping,
at least in my experience. But I also make a number of rectangular
toggles and they really don’t slip because the relationship of the
bar to the rectangle is greater than it usually is between ring and
bar. With purchased toggles, I think the textured ones usually are
much safer than the smooth finished ones. K

#11

Michael, where can you “see” one of these “trademarked” toggle
clasps or buy them? I tried Google to no avail. K

#12

The only toggle I ever saw come loose every time it was worn was a
bracelet my mother got free from some sort of promotion. I replaced
the toggle with one that had a smaller ring, and it has never come
undone since. The ring was way too big on the old one, and the bar
wasn’t proportionally big.

MonaLS

#13

The problem I have as a wearer of toggles, is that they loosen and
fall off my arm if the bracelet is too long; e.g. A 7 inch bracelet
fits me to a tee, so I never used to buy a toggle bracelet that was
more than 7 1/2". Now that I make them, I tell my customers to
please get one that fits properly.

Pat

#14

It is doubtful that a correctly proportioned toggle clasp will come
open of it’s own accord. Not impossible ,but extremely unlikely. For
the toggle clasp to be made correctly there are two basic important
considerations to be followed.

First: the circle (square, triangle or whatever) portion of the
clasp should have an inner opening just large enough to allow the
toggle bar and jumpring, offset, and endcap to pass through it. If
there is too much open space it will slide through too easily and the
clasp will be “sloppy”.

Second: the length of the toggle bar does have a proportionality to
follow for it to be secure. When the clasp is closed the bar should
be long enough to extend securely past the outer edge of the circle
when the center of the bar slides to either side of the circle. That
way the bar must be pulled all the way through the opening and
folded against the chain to pass back out and open the clasp.

Having the toggle bar extra long won’t accomplish any advantage if
the first consideration isn’t applied, other than making the clasp
more difficult to open.

Many commercial toggle clasps are not proportionally well designed.
It is quite simple to make one from scratch.

Michael David Sturlin
www.michaeldavidsturlin.com

#15

I have made many bracelets with toggle clasps, and only once has
anyone come back for a different clasp. That was for a bracelet made
with rice pearls and small stones, nothing larger than 4 mm in
diameter. The thinness of the beads made it very easy for the
bracelet to push through the toggle far enough to turn the bar so it
would come out. Most people like them because they are easy to
fasten & unfasten with one hand.

A new member who is learning tons here,
Ann

#16 
My experience with these doubting Thomases is that nothing which I
could show them or tell them would give them any relief; they were
just afraid the bracelet would come off regardless of any evidence
to the contrary, which led me to conclude that phenomenon was one of
obsessive-compulsive ideation, and that the poorly designed,
malfunctioning part resided not on my bracelet but rather betwixt
their eyes and ears.

Lee,

My experience is that by offering to replace the toggle with a
lobster clasp makes the sale. I have a retail store, we have sold
over 3000 bracelets and necklaces with toggles and their are the
occasional customer that does not trust them, some have lost pieces
in the past and don’t want to take the chance again. I am glad to
oblige them because I want my irrational request indulged on
occasion, and as long as I am willing to pay for it, I feel it is
reasonable for someone to indulge me.

And a customers fear of loss is not satisfied by “evidence”. It is
about the way they feel. If you make them feel safe, they trust you,
and isn’t that part of what our business is about.

Richard Hart.

#17

I use toggles as well, but I’ve been making mine, simply because I
needed some and didn’t have time to wait for shipment. I also
fabricate the ‘ring’ so that it’s almost a circle inside a circle,
then make the ‘T’ with the bar just long enough so that it can
easily be inserted into the circle by the wearer yet stay in place.
They are all a bit different, but the ratio of the ‘T’ to the ‘O’ is
important.

I agree that toggles on necklaces stay closed always simply because
of the position, and the weight of the piece - gravity :slight_smile: Not so
with a bracelet which seems to be constantly moving.

On one of my wide metal link bracelets (3 sections)-I overlapped
one end over the other, sawed a hole in the top piece, and attached
the ‘T’ to the underneath section-just a variation that still
performs the same function, but is less likely to come undone.

Cheers! Dinah.

#18 
       where can you "see" one of these "trademarked" toggle clasps
or buy them?  I tried Google to no avail.

Hello Kay: Go to the link below and in showcase 3 they start.
http://www.scottkaysterling.com/got_flash/index.html

Michael R. Mathews, Sr.

#19

Hi Gang,

Rather than making the bar too long try making the loop the bar
slips through smaller.

Another solution that’s worked for me is to make the ring part of
the clasp oval or oblong.

If the bar has a ring soldered to it to attach it to the item, I’ve
found that the width of the oval/oblong ring portion of the clasp
should be a little wider than the dimension from the top of the bar
to the bottom of the ring that attaches the bar to the item.

Dave

#20

A word more about toggle problems-- I actually managed to create a
new one. I’ve always thought of myself as creative, but would rather
not have it turn up as novel difficulties!

I made a toggle consisting of a squarish receiving end that is
cuttlefish-cast, and a bar that is a casting of a twig. All well and
good, but the twig has an extra little branch near one end, making
that end heavier. When a necklace or bracelet with this closure
(worn in front for the necklace) fits snugly, as intended, there is
no problem. But if they are worn a bit loose, the extra weight
causes the toggle to turn itself, and dive back through the “loop”.
I have been able to fix this by moving the little ring that attaches
the twig to its chain a bit toward the heavier end, but, as I had
this component cast, it is a real pain to have to redo them.

Ah well. Live and learn!

–Noel