Linking is very basic for anything constructed of wire, and you’d be well-advised to master this skill by making many, many links in copper before trying your skill on silver and gold. How you link is, first cut a convenient and easy to handle length of .22 gauge wire, about ten to twelve inches long.
With your flush-cutter, clip off the very end of the wire with the flush side toward the larger piece. Cut off as LITTLE as possible — every bit of weight counts, both with precious gemstones and precious metals.
Using your needlenose pliers, place the tips about 2 inches from one end of the wire, and gently coax the wire into a bend back onto itself, and then deftly turn the wire and wind it around itself, as shown in the illustration below:
