How to Turn an Old Ring Into a New Pendant

This is an intermediate level craft project but only a few tools are needed to repurpose the pendant. You can use any ring with or without a setting, but this project uses a ring with a gemstone setting.

You will need the following supplies for the ring pendant:

• A ring
• Jewelry pliers
• Regular pliers
• Small bag of jewelry jump rings
• Craft size soldering iron
• Jeweler's clamps
• A dremel tool (for sanding, cutting, or drilling)

If you are reusing a ring as a pendant, be sure to adhere to safety requirements when handling dangerous materials like soldering irons. When your work space is set up, begin heating the iron. Meanwhile, remove the gem stone—hold the selected ring with one pair of pliers while using another pliers to gently pry open the gem setting. Set the stone aside and carefully snip the prongs off the setting. Use the dremel tool to sand down and smooth out rough edges where the prongs were attached.

Hold the ring band securely with the pliers. Have a jump ring nearby and ready to use quickly. Solder the jump ring to the top center of the ring band. When you are finished, allow the jump ring to cool. While waiting for the ring band to cool, solder another jump ring to the jewel. If you use a pre-fabricated jewel setting, place the stone into the setting, and solder the jump ring to the top center of the new setting. Another option is to simply use a small amount of soldering on the back of the stone and then attach the jump ring at that point.

Solder an additional jump ring to the outside bottom center of the ring. This new attachment should be directly below the previously soldered jump ring so that you have one ring on the top outer band and one on the bottom outer band centered. Using the jewelry pliers, attach a jump ring to the soldered top and soldered bottom rings of the band.

With all of the jump rings in place, lay out the pieces and check the presentation. You should have the ring band with a soldered jump ring on the outer top and bottom. Both of these jump rings will have one jump ring running through them. Carefully examine the stone. You should have one soldered ring attached the top center of the stone.

With these pieces in place, use the jewelry pliers to connect the stone to the bottom of the ring band. Secure the jump ring to ensure the stone is secure and that the ring will not snag clothing. Tightly close the jump ring located at the top of the ring band the same way.

Keep in mind that the top jump ring will be the ring sliding onto necklace chain or cord and therefore, it should be sized accordingly. Slide the pendant onto the chain and enjoy your new creation. Once you have made a few of these necklaces successfully, you may consider giving them as gifts.