Locking toggle assembly for jewelry

A toggle clasp assembly for releasably coupling opposing ends of an item of jewelry, comprising:

• a male toggle member having a major dimension along a first axis and a minor dimension along a second axis, the male toggle member adapted to be coupled to a first end of the jewelry item such that the first axis is generally perpendicular to a major axis of the jewelry item;
• a female toggle member defining an opening and adapted to be coupled to an opposing end of the jewelry item, the female toggle member having a portion distal to the opposing end of the jewelry item;
• and
• a protruding member pivotally connected to the female toggle member and having an end distal to the opposing end of the jewelry item, the protruding member being selectively movable between an open position in which the protruding member is substantially outside the opening allowing the male toggle member to pass through the opening, and a closed position in which the distal end of the protruding member is inside the opening to reduce the size of the opening to prevent the male toggle member from passing through the opening and a portion of the first end of the jewelry item passes through the opening between the distal end of the protruding member and the distal portion of the female toggle member.

A method for releasably coupling opposed ends of an item of jewelry, comprising:

• providing a male toggle member on a first end of the item of jewelry, the male member having a major dimension and a minor dimension;
• providing a female toggle member on an opposing end of the item of jewelry, the female toggle member defining an opening that is smaller than the major dimension, the female toggle member having a portion distal to the opposing end of the item of jewelry;
• pivoting a swivel about the female toggle member to an open position in which the swivel is substantially outside the opening;
• inserting the male toggle member through the opening along an axis corresponding to the minor dimension when the swivel is in the open position;
• pivoting the swivel to a closed position in which an end of the swivel distal to the opposing end of the item of jewelry is within the opening and a portion of the item of jewelry extends through the opening between the distal end of the swivel and the distal portion of the female toggle member, wherein the swivel reduces the opening to a second size to prevent the male toggle member from passing through the opening.