Five Vintage Clasp Styles To Look Out For
The beauty of vintage jewellery is that fashion and accessories have inevitably evolved and changed over time. Although the piece itself is beautiful to look at, there would be no jewellery without a properly functioning clasp.
Just like how jewelry has adapted with the changing of times, so have clasp styles. Here are some of the vintage clasp styles to look out for:
Barrel - A barrel clasp (sometimes referred to as a Torpedo clasp) is named after its barrel-like appearance. This clasp style involves two ends, where one end has threading. This threading is there so you can easily twist open or closed the barrel clasp by separating the two ends.
The barrel clasp style can be fairly difficult to navigate given you ideally need two free hands to twist open or close the clasp, but it is is great for heavier pieces.
Spring Ring - This classic clasp style has a small round ring that has a tiny lever you pull back. By pulling back this lever, you are then able to compress the spring back into the ring, leaving an opening to either undo the jewellery or connect it with the rest of the chain.
Although sometimes tricky to unfasten and get a hold of the lever, this clasp is fairly straightforward and is often seen in many jewellery pieces.
Fishhook - The fishhook clasp involves one end that resembles a metal hook and another end as an oval box. The oval box has a small spot where you can fasten the metal hook through and securely wear the preloved fashion piece in style.
Box - A box clasp features a wedge-shaped slice of metal on one end that you slide into the other “box-shaped” end. As you slide the metal wedge into the box end fully, once the wedge is fully in place you should hear a clicking noise meaning it’s secure. Be careful not to damage the wedge, otherwise you risk this clasp style not securely staying into place and working properly. The main advantage of the box clasp is that you can open and close the clasp with just one hand with relative ease, unlike some other clasp styles.
Lobster - Coming onto the jewelry scene in the mid-70s, the lobster clasp style is a staple vintage jewelry clasp similar to that of the Spring Ring clasp style.
The lobster clasp resembles that of a lobster’s claw in that the clasp itself is oval-shaped with a tiny lever on one side of the clasp. By pushing down on the lever, the other side has a tiny piece that retracts a small metal wedge that creates an opening to take on or off your jewelry.