DIY men’s necklaces with steel beads

Why waste at lot of money on a necklace if you can make one yourself?
In this DIY jewellery tutorial by Smyks, we show you how to assemble the coolest necklace and bracelet designs for men and trendy girls with a few components, glue and a little effort. We will not go through all the jewellery examples shown above, but we will show you the basic technique.

Since 2014, when this blog post was published for the first time, Smyks.com has upgraded its assortment and offers now a wide range of jewellery clasps. You can for example take a magnetic clasp or a click clasp and combine it with leather cord which is available in many different colours. So you have an incredible number of options when you want to put together your own individual piece of jewellery like a bracelet, keyhanger or necklace.  

For the examples shown in the picture, we used rubber strap, but alternatively you can use braided leather cord  or round-stitched leather cord. Smyks also offers a vast assortment of steel beads and charms.

Here you find related blog posts on men's jewellery:

DIY Men's bracelets
DIY Men's bracelets with semi-precious stones

Men's Necklace with Black Rubber Strap

For our example we used:

• 80cm black 8mm rubber strap, black, 8mm (also available in white and red)
• Loctite jewellery adhesive
• A pair of chain-nose pliers and a pair of flat-nosed pliers
• 2pcs. gilded steel glue-in ends with a 8mm hole
• 6 – 8pcs. gilded steel beads with a 8mm hole
• 1pc. gilded steel jumpring 
• 12-16pcs. rubber O-rings for keeping the beads in place, alternatively use glue.
• Pendants of your own choice (can be replaced later)
• Jewellery files

The beads may have sharp edges and rip the cord, therefore it is a good idea to file them on the inside before use. Here we have used a normal round file for the purpose. Put the cord around your neck and mark your desired length, most people use 70-80 cm for this type of necklace.

You can use rubber O-rings in different colours as additional decoration and as a means to fixate the beads with. For a 8mm cord we recommend O-rings with an outer diameter of 9mm and a hole of 5mm.

Place the rings on the cord with the help of chain-nose pliers. After the rings have been put on the cord, they can easily be rolled up to where you want them to be.

You can also fixate the beads on the cord with jewelry adhesive, but this requires a steady hand and that you place the beads precisely where you want them because you will not be able to move them afterwards. Use just a little bit of glue.

Apply a dab of glue where you want the bead to be.

Pull the cord through the bead with a rotating motion. When you reach the spot with the glue, screw the bead carefully over it so that the glue will be evenly spread inside the bead. If there is too much glue, remove it carefully without smearing it onto the bead or the cord.

Now you equip the cord ends with glue-in ends so that pendants can be added and the necklace can be closed. It is important to test the necklace’s placement around the neck before you attach the cord ends. If the cord ends turn the wrong way, the necklace may twist.

Apply a thin trail of glue along the inside of the glue-in end. Then you insert the cord end with a rotating movement, just as you did with the beads.

Now you join the two cord ends with the help of a robust steel ring.

For this purpose, we recommended the use of two pairs of pliers. Twist the jumpring open as shown in the picture, then you can twist the jumpring easily back into its original position, when you want to close it.

Pull the jumpring through the eyelets of the cord ends and insert the pendant.

Your necklace is finished.

Men's Necklace with Round-Stitched Leader Cord

For this example, we used round-stitched leather cord instead of rubber strap. The procedure is the same. Alternatively, you can use braided leather cord.

Remember that you can find all the components and materials you need on Smyks.com and in our pearl shop in Copenhagen, Denmark. 

Have fun :-)