This video shows you how easy it is to attach a briolette (teardrop) stone by welding. It only takes seconds, and anyone can do it – as opposed to wire wrapping, which takes time and some skill.
You can use the thickest wire that can go through the teardrop bead. Depending on the size of the drop, you can use about an inch of wire for small drops.
Bring both sides of the wire up to the top of the bead, leaving some room (depending on the thickness of the link you will hang it from) – you want to leave enough clearance so that the drop swings easily.
Pinch both ends of the wire together, so that they are touching. Cut wires with 1 mm of excess at the top.
In this video, I am using 26 gauge 925 sterling silver wire, 9W power, and I weld the tip. In a snap, it balls up and the two sides are fused together. If you are using finer wire, you may wish to reduce the power to 8w.
If you do not like the ball, you can use a pair of pliers to either flatten or to enhance.
Click here to watch the full tutorial.
What I used in this video:
