Here at Topline, we value craftsmanship and durability to such a degree that Grand Prix dressage rider Lauren Sprieser has said our browbands "wear like iron," even after five years of hard use. When we expanded our line to include bridle charms, we approached them with the same principles of superior craftsmanship and incredible durability.
This lead us to a totally different approach to creating charms. Normally, you see charms attached to their clips with steel split rings, like the rings on a key chain--this is both aesthetically unappealing and weak. We enlisted the help of a master metalsmith and college jewelry professor in order to learn jewelry-level techniques for our charms, to elevate both their aesthetics and strength. We also departed from the small, clunky lobster clasps usually used and instead sourced sleek, oblong clasps in order to fit larger bridle buckles and streamline the look.
For our "Classy Badass" Swarovski skull charms and lava stone essential oil diffuser charms, we use a torch to hand-make a sterling silver headpin and use a wire-wrapping technique to attach the charm to the clip with the silver wire. The fine silver wire also has the advantage of not tarnishing.
For the other charms in our line, we use a handmade sterling silver jump ring to attach the charm to its clip, and use a torch to solder the ends of the jump ring together to form a complete, gap-free ring. Some jewelers leave their jump rings unsoldered, which leaves the potential for the ring to come apart, but we take the extra step to ensure maximum strength and durability. The jump ring is then hand-filed and polished for a seamless appearance.
As we say, "Jewelery-quality materials deserve jewelry quality techniques!"