This article is written for every guy out there that has wanted to get their wife or girlfriend a pendant but can’t afford the high jewelry store prices. The process of making a nicer pendant out of a cheaper one can take just under an hour. With just a small amount of tools and a little patience one can make the pendant of your loved ones dreams.
Tools needed:
Knife
Electrical Tape
A pair of Pliers
The first step is to go onto Ebay and purchase a cheap pendant like the one below. I picked it up off of Ebay for about $10. Now my girlfriend is not a big fan of Emeralds and more of a fan of Citrine. This is fine because what I was looking for is just the gold setting of the pendant. The other part to step one is to find a loose stone that your wife or girlfriend would like. I know my girlfriend is a fan of Citrine. So I found a Citrine that was the same size as the Emerald in Millimeters which is 6.4mm across. The cost of the stone off of Ebay ended up costing me less then $10. Total cost so far for this pendant is about $20.
Now the second step is the most dangerous because you will have to take the knife and try and lift the claws on each side of the stone. Take your time in trying to lift the claws because if you slip with the knife you could easily cut yourself. This is the longest part of changing out the stones because the claws could lift really easily or they could be stubborn and take a little while and some effort. To lift the claws all you have to do is slowly work the knife under each claw and pry it up. Once all the claws have been lifted up enough to remove the stone proceed to step three.
The third step is where the pliers and the electrical tape are needed. What you will want to do is take the electrical tape and cover both tips of the pliers. This is so that the pliers do not leave any impressions or scratches on the gold. Now after you have covered the pliers with tape, it is time to fit the other stone that you have purchased. Place the stone in the setting similar to the one you removed. Make sure that the stone is somewhat level when you start to pinch the claws down onto the stone. Don’t pinch the claws down all the way because you still have to make sure that the stone is level as you finish off pinching down the claws. After the stone is level with the setting you can pinch down the claws so that they are tight to the stone.
Now the second last thing left to do is to clean the pendant. One way to clean any type of jewelry is to with warm water and a little dish soap. Just let it sit in the soapy water for 5-10 minutes and just rub it with a soft finger nail brush. It can then be air dried on a piece of paper towel, tea towel, or bath towel.
When you have finished you should have a pendant that looks many times better than what the original pendant looked like. This is because some of these Ebay pendants have fake stones in them and they just don’t look as nice as a real stone.
The last and final step is to give the new pendant to your wife or girlfriend. Just after I picked my girlfriend up for a date I gave her the one I changed so that she could wear it all night long. I know she likes it because I have yet to see her change it.
When you are finished following this small and simple guide you will have saved yourself a lot of money. The same pendant, but new, that I have just finish above would have cost me over $80 at most jewelry stores. Doing this quick stone swap I managed to get the same kind of pendant for about $20. That is a saving of about $60, which you can use for any thing else. If you feel creative you would like to make a couple of them, you could hide them in a spot where your wife or girlfriend will not find them. Doing more than one means you always have a back up to any anniversary, birthday or “special date” that you may have forgotten.
Tools needed:
Knife
Electrical Tape
A pair of Pliers
The first step is to go onto Ebay and purchase a cheap pendant like the one below. I picked it up off of Ebay for about $10. Now my girlfriend is not a big fan of Emeralds and more of a fan of Citrine. This is fine because what I was looking for is just the gold setting of the pendant. The other part to step one is to find a loose stone that your wife or girlfriend would like. I know my girlfriend is a fan of Citrine. So I found a Citrine that was the same size as the Emerald in Millimeters which is 6.4mm across. The cost of the stone off of Ebay ended up costing me less then $10. Total cost so far for this pendant is about $20.
Now the second step is the most dangerous because you will have to take the knife and try and lift the claws on each side of the stone. Take your time in trying to lift the claws because if you slip with the knife you could easily cut yourself. This is the longest part of changing out the stones because the claws could lift really easily or they could be stubborn and take a little while and some effort. To lift the claws all you have to do is slowly work the knife under each claw and pry it up. Once all the claws have been lifted up enough to remove the stone proceed to step three.
The third step is where the pliers and the electrical tape are needed. What you will want to do is take the electrical tape and cover both tips of the pliers. This is so that the pliers do not leave any impressions or scratches on the gold. Now after you have covered the pliers with tape, it is time to fit the other stone that you have purchased. Place the stone in the setting similar to the one you removed. Make sure that the stone is somewhat level when you start to pinch the claws down onto the stone. Don’t pinch the claws down all the way because you still have to make sure that the stone is level as you finish off pinching down the claws. After the stone is level with the setting you can pinch down the claws so that they are tight to the stone.
Now the second last thing left to do is to clean the pendant. One way to clean any type of jewelry is to with warm water and a little dish soap. Just let it sit in the soapy water for 5-10 minutes and just rub it with a soft finger nail brush. It can then be air dried on a piece of paper towel, tea towel, or bath towel.
When you have finished you should have a pendant that looks many times better than what the original pendant looked like. This is because some of these Ebay pendants have fake stones in them and they just don’t look as nice as a real stone.
The last and final step is to give the new pendant to your wife or girlfriend. Just after I picked my girlfriend up for a date I gave her the one I changed so that she could wear it all night long. I know she likes it because I have yet to see her change it.
When you are finished following this small and simple guide you will have saved yourself a lot of money. The same pendant, but new, that I have just finish above would have cost me over $80 at most jewelry stores. Doing this quick stone swap I managed to get the same kind of pendant for about $20. That is a saving of about $60, which you can use for any thing else. If you feel creative you would like to make a couple of them, you could hide them in a spot where your wife or girlfriend will not find them. Doing more than one means you always have a back up to any anniversary, birthday or “special date” that you may have forgotten.
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