What can I do with half-drilled gems?

January 5, 2010 11:02 AM

What do I do with these amethysts?

I bought four teardrop-shaped amethysts on Ebay. I'd planned on using headpins to make them into earrings. However, I didn't realize that they're only drilled a couple of milimeters into the top. These pictures aren't great, but they give you an idea of what I'm talking about: here they are; they're drilled about as far down as where my fingernails mark here.

Anyone out there have experience with this? Do I just need to use superglue or something? Halp!

posted by orrnyereg to sports, hobbies, & recreation (2 answers total)

Findings for half-drilled beads
posted by kmennie at 11:09 AM on January 5, 2010

kmennie is right - you're looking for findings for half-drilled beads, and a dab of epoxy will hold them fast. It's not clear, though - is it only drilled on one side, or is it partially drilled on two sides? If it's both sides, but doesn't meet in the middle, you could use a pinch bail on them. Rio Grande is another source for findings.
posted by ersatzkat at 5:25 PM on January 5, 2010