Crimp beads are the tiny metal tubes that lock a clasp onto beading wire. Get them right and a strung bracelet or necklace holds for years. Get them wrong and it slips apart the first time you wear it. Katie Parker of Katie Parker Jewellery shows the whole method on a rose quartz bracelet: a crimp tube, a two-stage squeeze with crimping pliers, and a crimp cover to hide it all for a finish that looks shop-bought.
How to use crimp beads to attach a clasp: the short version
- Slide a crimp tube and the clasp onto the wire.
- Pass the wire back through the crimp to make a small, loose loop.
- Squeeze in the notched back station of the crimping pliers.
- Turn the crimp and fold it in the rounded front station.
- Hide the tail in the beads, repeat at the other end, then add crimp covers.
Crimp tubes vs crimp beads
Both do the same job. Crimp tubes are short, straight cylinders with flat ends. Crimp beads are rounder. Tubes give a tidier fold with crimping pliers, which is why Katie uses them. A 2x2mm tube suits most bead stringing wire for bracelets and light necklaces. For heavy beads, use a bigger crimp or two crimps one after the other.
Why crimping pliers beat flat pliers
You can flatten a crimp with chain nose pliers, and it will hold for a while. Crimping pliers do it in two moves. The back station dents the tube into a U and splits the two wires apart. The front station folds that U in half into a neat round bar. It grips harder, looks smaller and has no sharp edges to catch on a sleeve.
Sizing a bracelet before you crimp
Measure the wrist, then lay the beads in a bead board channel of that size. Allow about an inch extra for the clasp. Big beads take up more room on the inside of the circle, so a bracelet of 10mm beads needs a little more length than one of 6mm beads. Try it on before the second crimp. Once it is crimped, the only fix is cutting it off.
Choosing the wire
Bead stringing wire (often called tiger tail) is fine steel cable with a nylon coat. More strands mean a softer drape: 7 strand is a good start, 19 or 49 strand hangs more like thread. Pick a color that matches your findings, silver wire with silver crimps, so any wire that shows blends in.
Where else you will use crimps
The same method finishes necklaces, anklets, glasses chains and multi-strand pieces. It is the standard way to end any strung piece on wire.
Common problems
- The crimp slips. It was squeezed too gently, or the wire is too thin for the tube. Squeeze firmly in the back station.
- The clasp will not move. The loop was pulled too tight. Leave a little room.
- The bracelet is stiff and straight. Keep the strand curved while you tighten the second end.
- A dented crimp cover. Close it slowly, turning the pliers a little at a time.
Put this to work on a beaded bracelet or a charm bracelet. For pieces without a clasp, see how to tie a bracelet knot, and for wirework try wire-wrapped earrings.
