Photo Tutorial Beaded Byzantine Wheel Pendant

Author's Note
Our projects were very popular during the lifetime of our business and we wanted to ensure they continued to provide inspiration for chain maillers whatever their experience. It's a pleasure to see they will live on with Chainmaillers.com
-Sarah Austin

Beaded Byzantine Wheel Pendant​

Use the Byzantine weave to make this micromaille beaded pendant.

Materials​

The beaded pendant measures 2.5cm (1 inch) and you will need:

• 5 red large hole round Czech glass beads, 8mm
• 20 teeny tiny gold anodised aluminium saw cut jump rings, ID 2.7mm, WD 0.81mm - A
• 30 tiny gold anodised aluminium saw cut jump rings, ID 3mm, WD 0.81mm - B
• 8 small gold anodised aluminium saw cut jump rings, ID 3.6mm, WD 0.81mm - C
• 1 large bright aluminium saw cut jump ring, ID 17.7mm, WD 1.6mm - D

Tools:

• two pairs of smooth jawed chain nose, flat nose, or bent nose pliers

Instructions​

1. Close two small rings C and two tiny rings B. Link these four rings with two tiny rings B and lay out as shown in the left hand picture. The two small rings C are on the left hand side and will be the centre rings of the wheel.
   
   Link two tiny rings B to the last tiny rings B (right hand picture)
   
   
   
   
   
2. Fold back the last two tiny rings B just added (1st picture).
   
   Referring to the 2nd picture, place a headpin or piece of wire between the new last pair of rings B and through the two rings B you have just folded back.
   
   The headpin will help you place the next pair of rings (3rd picture).
   
   Weave two teeny tiny rings A following the same pathway as the headpin. This is the first arm of the wheel (4th picture).
   
   
   
   
   
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2, attaching each arm of the wheel to the same centre small rings C from step 1. Make five arms in total.
   
   
   
   
   
4. Open the large bright aluminium ring, thread the large hole beads and close the jump ring. When attaching the arms to this ring in step 5, ensure one of the beads sits over the closure of the bright aluminium ring, thus hiding it.
   
   If you have trouble threading a bead onto a rd14-64bral ring, try turning the bead around and thread with the opposite hole. Also, try wiggling the bead back and forth as you thread the bead.
   
   
   
   
   
5. Using one teeny tiny ring, link the last two teeny tiny rings A of a wheel arm to the beaded ring in between two of the beads. Repeat with a second teeny tiny ring A (left hand picture).
   
   Repeat, each time using two teeny tiny rings A to attach three more arms in between two beads. Use only one teeny tiny ring A to attach the last arm (right hand picture). The last rings that you attach will be increasingly tighter - this will give the finished pendant a solid feel.
   
   
   
   
   
6. You will now make the bail at the point where the arm is attached to the large ring with one teeny tiny ring A. Open six small rings C.
   
   Link one small ring C to the large ring on either side of the single teeny tiny ring A (picture 1).
   
   Link two small rings C to the last two rings C added (2nd picture).
   
   Again, link two small rings C to the last two rings C added (3rd picture).
   
   

Variations​

• You can use any coloured anodised aluminium rings to make this pendant as all the small sizes are available in the different colours.
• Make a pendant to be used as part of a bag charm or to decorate a bookmark.
• Use singly as a small Christmas decoration or, for a longer decoration, make two or three pendants but only use one teeny tiny ring to join the arms at 5 and 7 o'clock. Make bails at these two points and join the pendants together with a short 2in2 chain.

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©2021 Sarah Austin. All rights reserved.