Interesting thread. I have the same problem - art student with rings.
Our sculpture teacher has advised us to remove all jewellry, including wedding rings, for each class. Not only is there the potential to catch in band saws, brad grinders and the like, but many of the chemicals, equipment and basic materials will damage the metal. Limestone carving? Clay modelling? Produce a fine abrasive for unintentionally surface grinding a gold ring
What I have been doing is removing all my rings and putting them in a pocket sized jewellry pouch. Your idea is safer and more comforting in a way - you know where the rings are (we haven’t suffered from petty theft in the class yet, but still…)
So, how about a thickish silk cord necklace? Pass the doubled end through the ring, loop the cord through itself and voila - a pendant! The amount of extra cord needed is only slightly more than the wear length, so it shouldn’t dangle near equipment with or without the ring on it. It will be easier if it is long enough to go over your head though.
I think what Opal is referring to in her the last paragraph of the OP is a cow hitch.
Notwithstanding your worry about the chain breaking, this would be my recommendation. Stronger than any contrived clasp, easy to put the ring on, and classy-looking to boot.
How about these silver padlock clasps from **Mame’s **site? You could lock your ring directly onto your choker length chain. A 20 mm padlock is just over 3/4 inch in size; the 12 mm padlock is just under 1/2 inch.
I’m reposting this link, because I don’t see why it wouldn’t fit all your requirements - and since you haven’t commented on it, you may have missed it.
This would be on a chain just like a pendant, and appears to be a simple matter of open, slide ring on, snap shut. No fiddly bits, so easy to use. You could wear it on a pretty short chain, so no tangling. It’s sterling silver, so it’s not a chintzy looking thing - it’s jewelry, and while not terribly fancy, it is also not strictly utilitarian in looks, just a nice, simple tailored kind of thing.
I don’t want something that just pulls open/snaps shut–this was one of the ones I was referring to when I said that some of the ones mentioned wouldn’t work. I just seems like it could pop open accidentally way too easily.
Mame and Randy Seltzer are both correct–that knot is indeed what I was talking about before. It’s what I’ve done a few times, but (at least with the size of chain I currently have) I’m not comfortable with it, plus it’s a little hard to get it off again without a mirror. That, and I don’t think it looks very nice.
The padlock thing is an interesting one, but I don’t think that it’s really “me” stylistically and I’m looking for a piece of jewelry that would become pretty much a daily wear item, so I want something that is more “my style.” I’d really like the end result to be a pendant that looks like it’s supposed to be there, not just some temporary ring stashed on my neck…and that still looks good/intentional when the ring isn’t on it.
Also, I know you guys are trying to help, but the folks offering alternate ways of protecting the ring (bags, bra, etc) please, you’re just wasting your effort. I have a lot of reasons for wanting this on a necklace and that is what I’m going to do, I’m just trying to find a way to do it that I feel looks nice and is easy to get the ring onto and off of. What I’m after is a metal chain, some kind of clasp/device to put the ring on, that is easy to use but still looks like an item of jewelry that I’d wear… and that’s it. Also for chain length, for me, if I bend forward and the chain hangs past my chin, it’s too long.
Some of my favorites that I’ve seen so far in this thread are things like this charm holder (though I’d have to see if they were secure enough–don’t want them popping open), this or this toggle bar, though they’re too short. But if I could find something similar that was longer…, and these heart shaped lobster claw clasps are nice (lobster claw seems the ideal level of security, but they’re usually so ugly, which is why I hesitated. Those look like pendants themselves, so I think they’d be nicer.)
You’ll get over that. I was the same at first but then someone said simply - engagement rings can be polished and cleaned pretty easily but they can’t be replaced so easily! And that brought me back to reality. I really think the best/ safest idea, (and I know you specifically said you didn’t want to be constantly threading and unthreading) is just to thread it on to the chain and be done with it. Failing that, my second choice would be some sort of locket that could hold it. I wouldn’t really trust a clasp to be honest. Sorry, this isn’t very helpful. :o
Dangit. I was starting to regard this as a personal challenge, but I think I’ve hit the wall on ideas for the moment. I can’t believe no one’s thought of a super-clever way to do this yet, but f I think of anything amazing, I’ll get back to you.
Replace the ball at the end of the short piece of chain (meant to be an extender, but there’s no reason it couldn’t be a ring holder) with a hook just like the one that’s part of the clasp (maybe use the hook from one of these: Clasp, hook-and-eye, sterling silver, approximately 13x9mm. Sold individually. - Fire Mountain Gems and Beads). Then you could slip the ring over the chain and clasp the hook the same way the main hook is being clasped. I’m probably not explaining this very well - basically I mean turn this chain extender into a small ring-holding-chain by putting a hook on the end of it so that it can be hung by the clasp.
How about this spin barrel kind? You could thread your chain through the small eyelet at the end, and use the keyring part for your ring. I think it would be easy enough to open and close without taking off your chain.
Though, really, I don’t think it’s at all attractive. Also I don’t know if the carabiner is functional or just a fake. Still if it were real, and you were into rock climbing, this one would be pretty cool
I’m cheap, and would use some reasonibly thick, but soft string. I found a bunch of it, and thisis what I use for my ID badges for work, and my spare key.
Hee. I’m not at all bothered, because I’m much the same. When I have an idea, I want a way to make THAT IDEA work. Any other clever answer might work just fine, but it’s not meshing with what I have in my head. Plus, there may be perfectly legit reasons why a suggestion we come up with just will not work, that wouldn’t necessarily be obvious to anyone else, or that she’d tried/considered and dismissed, and until we suggested it, it wouldn’t occur to her to say “but not (blank) because of (blank).”
I’m determined now to find this elusive perfect solution, though.
I tend to agree. I mentioned caribiners mainly for the functionality, hoping to find something that operated on a similar principal, but looked better. So far I’m leaning toward the heart-shaped lobster claws…
I hope nobody’s getting offended if I dismiss any given idea. I am being picky about this, but it’s not because I’m some kind of bitch, it’s just because I’m looking for a long-term piece of jewelry that I will (hopefully) wear daily for years and years and I want it to look nice, match my tastes, go with my clothing and general style, and be an attractive way to display my engagement ring when I’m not wearing it. I mean, sure, I could just get some masking tape and stick the ring to my forehead while I’m doing something, if I wanted to, but I’m not looking for some quick-and-dirty temporary solution.
I understand it completely myself. Like I said, I don’t take my Aunty shopping… and my closest friend will no longer suggest skirts or jackets for me to try - though she does great with tops.
How about a sleeper style earring? The connection is designed to stay shut under pressure and movement (head on pillow). It’s a smooth circle so it can’t catch on anything and you can buy them in varying sizes and either silver or gold so they match the chain you prefer. You can even thread it through the chain near the clasp so it’s only visible when you pull it round to attach the ring.
But the thing about engagement rings being easier to clean than replace still holds…well it worked on me anyway. Now I only take it off at bedtime (and sometimes for cooking)
