Review: Snapeez Jump Rings

Those sound pretty cool - thanks for the review!

--
Kandice Seeber
Air & Earth Designs
http://www.lampwork.net

Recently, I bought a package of Snapeez jump rings from Via Murano,
the same people who sell Tornado Twist crimps (which are great, btw).
It's been a week or two since I received them, but tonight I decided
to put them to the test.

The big deal about these jump rings is that they are supposed to be
as secure as split rings, without the split ring plier headaches or
the bulky look that you sometimes see with split rings.

The project I had in mind was attaching foreign coins to a sterling
silver charm bracelet as a souvenir from all the places I've
traveled. Not knowing exactly which sizes I needed, I ordered both
the 6mm and 8 mm jump rings. I ended up needing the 8 mm rings,
because the coins are so big.

I'm delighted to report that these things work exactly as billed.
The instructions to use them come with the rings, and it's not
exactly intuitive. But it is easy, as long as you have two pairs of
pliers. I found that my crimp pliers worked perfectly for the job of
holding one ring stationary, and my rosary pliers for the "moving
end."

The rings need to be pushed past the opening, then pulled back and
wiggled into place. It sounds strange, but it works so well. The
very heavy coins are firmly in place, and I was unable to pull them
off with my hands or pliers on the coin. However, I was able to move
and replace the split rings with no difficulty when I discovered I
had placed some of them on the wrong side of the bracelet. The
Sterling silver must be very hard, because my pliers made no marks.

These things aren't cheap, compared to most jump rings. They are
also relatively thick, about the thickness of a split ring (thus
negating the argument that they're less bulky than a split ring).
However, for their ease of use and relative security, I recommend
them highly. If you have a project that needs hundreds of rings, I'd
use something else, but for something like this, where I used two
dozen rings, it was just perfect.

Your intrepid reporter,

Kathy N-V