Tutorial: Agate Cuff

Yves Saint Laurent makes amazing things. A few months ago I was browsing the July issue of Marie Claire (UK edition) when I spied the most gorgeous agate slice cuffs!

The brand have updated with their autumn collection now so it took me some googling to find a picture of just one of the cuffs (another version had a narrower cuff that was overhung by the agate slice):

Gold-plated agate cuff, £460, Yves Saint Laurent

Of course, buying an item from YSL is an event that can only happen in a daydream for me!

But crafting comes naturally and it only took a moment of drooling looking over the pictures to figure out how I could make my own version. And here it is!

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Making this ended up being pretty easy and was also my first ever adventure with E6000! I’ve seen mention of that glue all over blogland and decided to try it out for this project.

Here’s a quick tutorial!

Time needed: 10-15 minutes (excluding glue curing time)

You’ll need:

1 cuff

1 Agate slice

1 cabochon

1 cabochon setting

Strong glue

Sandpaper

Note: use a cuff that is a good, snug fit but easy enough to take off. Too big and the weight of the agate will make the cuff slide round on your wrist, or worse--fall off! 

1. If necessary, clip the bail off your cabochon setting. Necklace settings were all I could find to fit my cabochon, but I loved the style!

2. Fix the cabochon into the setting, following the instructions with your chosen glue.

3. If, like me, you ended up buying a cuff that already had some decoration on, now’s the time to prise it off! Use sandpaper across the top of the cuff to scratch it up a little--this helps create a stronger bond when you glue.

4. Wipe off any dust and glue the agate slice to the cuff, making sure it’s central. Leave the glue to cure. Whilst E6000 bonds quickly, I elected to leave it most of the day to be certain the glue was going to hold!

5. Glue the cabochon to the centre of the agate slice and put aside to allow the glue to completely cure. I waited (impatiently) 48 hours to be certain everything was going to hold together. :)

Here’s a quick run-down of what this little project cost:

Cuff: £2.50 (Primark)

Agate: around £8.99*

Cabochon: £1.89*

Cabochon setting: £1.15*

Total:  £14.53

*items bought online; price includes shipping

Considering a plain cuff can cost upwards of £12, that’s a pretty good price huh?!

Absolutely loving my new agate cuff; can’t wait to style it up!


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