Whenever I meet people in shows, inevitably I get asked how long it takes to make my jewelry.
These earrings actually whip up super fast — during the busy season, I would easily crank out about 15 pairs of these elegant freshwater pearl earrings in an hour. (But don’t be alarmed if it takes you more than four minutes. When I first started making these it would take me about 15 minutes a pair.)
(Which, by the way, is faaaaaaaar less time than it takes to actually put this tutorial together. That actually takes me hours — so you’re welcome!)
For the longest time, these were my bread-and-butter jewelry. I always had a stand full of them at my shows and they were always one of my best sellers, if not the best seller. It still makes me smile when I see someone I know wearing a pair of them.
Supplies needed:
Here is what you will need to make these gorgeous earrings. For your convenience, I have included affiliate links. You can read my full disclosure here.
- 2 pairs of flat nose pliers
- Round nose pliers
- Flush cutter
-
- I’m a huge fan of the Xuron flush cutter
- 1 pair of ear wires
- You can use an earwire with or without the little balls, depends on your preference
- 6 large open jump rings
- I use 7.0 mm inner diameter sterling silver rings
- 6 smaller open jump rings
- I use 4.5 mm inner diameter sterling silver rings
- 2 small open jump rings
- I use 3.5 mm inner diameter sterling silver rings
- 2 small round freshwater pearls
- I recommend about 5-6mm round pearls
- 2 ball head pins
How to make the earrings:
Make four sets of mobius spirals: 2 sets with the 7.0 jump rings and two sets with the 4.5 jump rings (to see how to do that, check out my tutorial on how to make a pair of simple spiral earrings).
String one of the freshwater pearls onto the head pin.
By the way, can have I told you how amazing the airbrush tool on PicMonkey is? For whatever reasons my hands look all gross and dried out when I do my photos for these tutorials, but thanks to the magic of PicMonkey they don’t look half bad.
(But I won’t be closing down my business anytime soon to try my hand as a hand model. Har har har.)
Ok, back to the tutorial. Trim off the ends so that there is about 1 cm of pin sticking out above the pearl.
Bend the pin at about a 90-degree angle.
Wrap the hand pin around one nose of the round-nose pliers to form a head pin. (If you’ve never done this, I recommend checking out this video.)
Take one of the 3.5 mm jump rings and loop it through the large spiral and through the head pin you just made.
Carefully add on the smaller mobius spiral, and gently close up the jump ring holding them together until they make a nice click.
Add on the ear wire and adjust the earrings if need be so that the pearl is in the front. Repeat with the other parts and tada — your own elegant freshwater pearl earrings!
Want even more jewelry tutorials? Check them out here
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Janine Huldie says
May 9, 2016 at 2:35 pmAbsolutely gorgeous and seriously you are just so talented. Great tutorial, but I am seriously so not good at stuff like this, but wish I was as I would totally try if I could 🙂
Bev F. says
May 15, 2016 at 10:34 amThank you, Janine!
CourtneyLynne Storms says
May 9, 2016 at 9:04 pmOmg how fabulous are these earrings!?!?! Pearls are my absolute favorite to wear!
Bev F. says
May 15, 2016 at 10:34 amThanks, CourtneyLynne. I adore pearls as well 🙂
Tamara Bowman says
May 9, 2016 at 9:52 pmWell now we can all be amazing gift givers, thanks to you!
They seem like a timeless look – and I love them personally.
Bev F. says
May 15, 2016 at 10:35 amThank you! I’d like to think they are timeless also 🙂
Stefanie / The Monarch Mommy says
May 12, 2016 at 10:55 amWow! These are so pretty! I’m so not skilled enough to make these!
Bev F. says
May 15, 2016 at 10:35 amThanks, Stefanie! I think they look more complicated than they are 😉
Dana says
May 12, 2016 at 10:31 pm15 in an hour? Impressive! I pinned this post so others can find it and make their own earrings…I will fully admit that I am more the buying-jewelry type than the making-jewelry type!
Bev F. says
May 15, 2016 at 10:35 amThank you, Dana! I also do enjoy buying jewelry 😉
Mrs.AOK says
May 13, 2016 at 1:04 pmWOW! You make it seem effortless, but I know I would make it a marathon. I do have a few mini jewelry makers who I’m sure would love to give this a try. Pinned this for them 🙂
XOXO
http://www.mrsaokaworkinprogress.com
Bev F. says
May 15, 2016 at 10:36 amI bet your daughters would have a blast making them!
Jennifer Corter says
May 13, 2016 at 3:11 pmAhh I love making jewelry, but have never made freshwater pearl earrings before! Thanks for the tutorial! Bookmarking for future reference!
Bev F. says
May 15, 2016 at 10:36 amHope you enjoy making then, Jennifer!
Dakota says
May 16, 2016 at 12:02 pmAh, darn! These have been on my wishlist for my hubby for a while. Thank you for the tutorial though… maybe I’ll get ambitious and try to make my own pair. <3
Bev F. says
May 17, 2016 at 9:53 pmAw, sorry about that! I hope you can make them at least 🙂
Louise says
January 14, 2017 at 11:22 pmLooking forward to trying to make these! What gauge jump rings do you typically use?
Bev Feldman says
January 15, 2017 at 8:10 amHi, Louise! I typically use 18-guage jump rings. Didn’t realize I had not put that in, will adjust the tutorial. Thanks 🙂
Louise says
January 15, 2017 at 9:43 amAwesome! Thank you for the quick response!!
DeeDee says
April 8, 2018 at 7:18 pmHi- love these earrings but when I tried to make them using your exact jump ring sizes I could not get a pearl to fit inside the 7mm jump rings. I tried making the smallest loop with the head pin (the loop above the pearl) but no matter how small I made it the pearl would not fall inside the three 7mm rings. Any advise??
Bev Feldman says
April 10, 2018 at 5:13 pmOh no, no frustrating! What size pearl are you using? I usually use about a 4-5mm pearl, which should fit inside or on one side of the spiral. Alternatively, you could try using a slightly bigger ring to make the spiral.
Lana says
April 12, 2018 at 8:12 pmWhat a great design and tutorial – thank you so much! =) What gauge wire do you use for the head pin? I’m still so new to this all and there are so many materials and sizes out there it can make one’s head spin – another reason I’m so thankful for your information here to start out! =)
Bev Feldman says
April 13, 2018 at 12:40 pmThanks, Lana, I’m glad you like it 🙂 I generally use about a 24 gauge headpin. The holes in the pearls are so tiny!
Terry says
April 29, 2018 at 3:36 pmJust beautiful!! I am a jeweler designer that is always seeking new ideas. This one is a keeper. Thank you for sharing your God given talent.
Bev Feldman says
May 1, 2018 at 1:35 pmThank you so much, Terry!
Teresa says
May 8, 2018 at 4:33 pmI don’t see how you made the spiral. There is no info telling how to do it.
Bev Feldman says
May 18, 2018 at 12:18 pmHi, Teresa. There’s a link in the tutorial to this tutorial, which shows you how to make the spiral. Hope that helpe!
Marilyn Rutherford says
August 6, 2018 at 1:05 pmI was wondering about the sizes you have quoted for the jump rings. I want to order some but see you say your 7mm, 4.5 and 3.5 are all inside diameter, but on the pages to buy the jump rings they are all quoting the outside diameter. I just wanted to make sure you mean inside diameter, right?
Bev Feldman says
August 7, 2018 at 12:03 pmHi Marilyn, that’s a great question! The company that I purchase my rings from gives dimensions by inner diameter, but I see that other sites give outer diameter. In this case, the equivalent is 9mm OD, 6.5mm OD, and 5.5mm OD. Hope that helps!