Fixing a Broken Chain: Can Jewelers Fix It?

Chains are a very important element of jewelry. They are popular with both men and women who wear regular jewelry, oftentimes around the clock.

With frequent use, chains are exposed to great risk, a lot more than other types of pieces of jewelry that are worn. This makes jewelry chain repair the most recurrent type of repair that jewelry stores encounter.

Let’s look into how jewelers deal with broken chains, especially how to fix a thin necklace chain.

What Makes Chains of Jewelry Designs Come Apart?

Not all types of jewelry chains are created equal. There are specific jewelry repairs for different jewelry chain designs. It will also depend on how the chain has come apart such as:

• Getting caught and pulled on, from hair to clothes, from baby grabbing hands to any object or structure that comes in the way when moving around
• Sleeping with a fine chain on where too much constant pressure is placed when turning around causing the links to come apart
• Suspending heavy pendants on very fine chains can add extra strain on specific links, especially if the chains are very long
• Type of jewelry design. Particular designs are notorious for breaking quickly like the ones with light, hollow links, or chains with little flexibility which kink quickly and then leave a vulnerable spot.

How Do You Fix a Broken Necklace Chain?

Note that there are various styles of chains. These basic principles of jewelry chain repair are generally done with chains such as cable chains or curb chains where the chain itself is made up of interlocking links.

Rope chains or ball chains, which are made with more complex patterns, need more intricate work.

1. Determine the problem

   Which specific part of the jewelry chain is broken? Is it a clasp or a chain link?

   Know if the wear and tear occur at the point where the clasp joins a necklace. This is the place that experiences the most stress.

   If the spring on the clasp is broken or the clasp has come loose, you will need to find a clasp that matches and then reattach. If the chain-link is the one that’s broken, proceed to the next step.

2. Study the chain

   Take a close look at the chain you are working on and see how each link has been fixed together. It will be much easier to fix a basic link through a link attachment.

3. Check if there is a remaining open link

   If you see an open link remaining, you can make the chain link repair directly. If not, you may need to buy or make a new link to replace the old one.

   Repairing a remaining open chain link can be done by simply looping it through the link at the other end of the necklace.

   When it’s secured in place, use your snipe nose pliers to close the chain link in the exact same way that you close a jump ring. Twist to bring the two ends together to keep the overall form of the chain link.

4. When the chain link needs to be replaced

   Try to match up the chain link as best as you can so that you can make your repair as described in step 3. If you can’t find a match, you can simply make your own new link with fine gauge wire.

5. Close the chain-link neatly

   The most important thing to remember in jewelry repair for a broken chain is to secure the link as tightly as you possibly can. Use your pliers and gently squeeze the chain link until it closes and the join is complete.

Can a Broken Gold Rope Chain Be Fixed?

Yes, it can be repaired.

However, a golden rope chain belongs to the types of chains that aren’t as straightforward in repairing. It’s hard to maintain its original integrity because of the way it is constructed once it is broken.

Gold rope chains are made with delicate, tiny interlocking rings of gold. The chain is so small that it looks like a rope or braided wire.

So when a part of the chain gets broken, you will need to solder a gold rope chain.

Soldering is done for repairs at home. You can apply a layer of gold paste solder and a little bit of heat.

Here are tips and tricks when you solder gold rope chain links together:

• Keep soldering tools and supplies on hand.
• If you are repairing a very fine chain with small links, make a mark on the chain links close to where the solder joint should be with a black marker so that you can solder as accurately as possible.
• Bring all of the damaged jewelry chain links together, line them all up with the joints of each one facing the same way, clamp them tightly in a pair of parallel pliers, then clamp them tightly in a pair of parallel pliers.
• Run your jewelers saw accurately down the line of chain links and start sewing along the joins. This will create a straight, flush join ready for soldering.
• Use a soldering probe to get an accurate solder to join on your chain links. Paint a small amount of flux onto the join of your chain link, take a small amount of solder and place it onto the end of your soldering probe. Heat with the torch until the solder flows onto the end of the soldering probe.
• Gently touch the solder-covered probe to the join of the chain link and apply heat to the soldering probe. When the solder flows, remove the pick from the chain and quench, pickle, and rinse your work.
• Wait one hour for the chain to cool and the solder to set. Place the joint of the gold chain onto the bench pin. Clean off the flux and discoloration caused by oxidation from the heat with a radial bristle disc brush.

The place of the chain that got fixed will have a visible difference compared to the rest of the chain. It will simply not look the same after the repair has been done.

However, if the jeweler is able to “weave” the links back together before soldering, the repaired part may look indistinguishable from the rest of the necklace.

Expect between 7 to 10 days on average for a broken gold rope chain to be soldered.

How Much Do Jewelers Charge to Fix a Broken Chain?

The cost of jewelry chain repair for a broken chain is anywhere from $20 to $230 depending on the metal and the areas of the chain to be soldered.

How much you spend will vary depending on many factors like the type of chain and the karats present for a gold chain.

Contact us for more information!

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