Adhesives

As far as I'm concerned, there is only one adhesive. I've tried nearly every so called "super strong" jewelry adhesive on the market. I've also tried 2 ton epoxy. Because metal and glass are non porous materials, finding a reliable adhesive took me a while. Non porous materials are notoriously difficult to bond. If I can snap a bail off of a cabochon with two fingers I consider that bond to be unreliable. The only adhesive that provised a bond I can't break with my fingers is Triolyse Adhesive. It is a UV glue, and when I first investigated it I dismissed it because you had to cure it with a UV lamp or set the piece in bright sunlight to cure. And this would only work with transparent glass. But more recently it has been sold with an activator that allows you to bond even opaque glass without a UV lamp. You simply apply the activator to one bonding surface and the cement to the other. The pieces are bonded (yet repositionable) after 10 to 20 seconds. After about 6 hours the piece is wearable.

The activator does leave a residue that cleans up easily with alcohol. And it is a tad pricey at $17.00 for 10ml. but a very little bit goes a long way. And, it's worth it not to have my jewelry returned due to broken bails.