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Making wire jewelry is a popular and rewarding hobby for many people. It can however be confusing to beginners who are just starting out. This article will introduce you to the various tools and materials you will need to get your jewelry making hobby started.

SETTING UP YOUR JEWELRY WORKSHOP

Whether you are making your own wire wrap jewelry as a hobby or you are starting your own business making wire jewelry, you will need to have an area that will promote creativity and enable you to concentrate. Spend some time planning and organizing your jewelry making workshop now so that you will be more productive when you get started.

Many of us do not have the luxury of a private workshop where we can escape from the noise and interruptions of our busy homes. This doesn’t mean you should lose hope and give up on your wire jewelry making dreams, it just means you will need to be a bit more creative with your space.

Try to find a place that is as private as possible, away from phones, televisions and other interruptions. Perhaps you can clear a space out in your garage or attic. Maybe you have a corner of a guest room or a spot in your basement.

Next you will want to consider lighting. Lighting is very important in jewelry making. Find a room near a window with lots of natural light if you can, but if you cannot find such a location, you will need to invest in a natural lighting alternative. There are special types of lighting and bulbs available that simulate natural sun light. Just do a search online and you will most certainly find something. Full spectrum bulbs are close to natural sunlight.

You will also need a way to organize and store all of your jewelry making tools and supplies as well as a surface or bench to work on. Professional jewelry benches can be expensive, so if you cannot afford one, visit a used furniture outlet, flea market, or good will outlet and purchase a bench there. Look for a sturdy solid wood desk that is wide and deep enough to give you plenty of space to work on. If it doesn’t have drawers, you can purchase an affordable organizer with drawers at any home improvement store. This can be used to store your supplies.

You will also need a chair. You should take your time when shopping for a chair as you will spend a lot of time sitting at your desk. You will want a chair that is comfortable and has wheels so you can conveniently slide around your workspace.

If you are unable to invest any money right now into buying your furniture, don’t let that stop you. Your kitchen table will work as a descent substitute. Many beginners get started that way.

WIRE JEWELRY MAKING SUPPLIES

Pliers

There are a wide assortment of pliers and cutters available for wire jewelry artists and each tool has its own purpose. Most professional and experienced wire jewelry artists will normally have a big collection of these tools on hand, but for a beginner it is not necessary. You will only need a few to get started. Pliers are made with various nose shapes and some are made fitted with springs. Springs enable the artist to control tension on the wire. Pliers are also available with nylon jaws that prevent scratching on the wire.

Flat Nose Pliers

These are excellent for holding, flattening and straightening wire. You can also use these pliers to make angular bends.

Round Nose Pliers

Round nose pliers are great for making bends, curves and for forming loops. They are also great for detailed and delicate work.

Flush Wire Cutter

A good flush wire cutter will cut through gold, silver, brass or copper wire and give you a flush even cut.

WIRE

Wire comes in a variety of different sizes, otherwise known as gages. Smaller wire has a higher gage number. For instance a 28 gage wire has a smaller diameter then a 14 gage wire. For your first wire jewelry pieces, it is probably best to begin with a higher gage wire, which will be easier to work with. Once you become more skilled at this, you can then start working with thicker and stronger wires.

Wire also comes in a variety of different shapes: round, square and half round. Round wire is a more popular choice amongst wire jewelry makers, but the other shapes can give your jewelry pieces a unique and interesting look.

Wire also comes in different degrees of hardness. Obviously softer metals are more pliable and easier to bend where as hard metals are stiffer and more difficult to bend and shape. Wire hardness is available from dead soft to extra hard. Dead soft wire is very soft and easy to work with. It is excellent for sculpting , but be careful with this wire. It is very soft and it can be easily damaged if not handled carefully. Hard wire is the most difficult to work with and manipulate, but it does have an advantage over the others as your jewelry pieces will be more durable and last longer.

Wire is also available in a variety of different metals. You have your choice of copper, silver, gold or brass. Copper and brass are cheaper than gold and silver. It may be best to start out with the cheaper materials until you become more experienced.

CREATING YOUR FIRST PIECE OF WIRE JEWELRY

Once you have found a good work area and have your basic supplies, its time to start practicing and creating your first piece of jewelry. In the beginning it will certainly be challenging to come up with your own designs, but thankfully there are many accomplished wire wrap jewelry makers out there to help you along the way. Go online or to your favorite book store and purchase a beginner book on wire jewelry making or invest in a home study course. There are great courses online that come complete with all the tools and instruction you will need to get started. You can even start your own lucrative home based business making wire jewelry.

I hope this introduction to wire jewelry making has helped and has gotten you excited enough to explore this craft in more detail. Happy jewelry making!

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One of the many ways to express ourselves is through jewelry – it is often luxurious, elegant and give an air of comfort and sophistication. It indicate our fashion sense, our flair for beauty and elegance. But, jewelry receives wear and tear like almost any other items that we possess. Oftentimes, a stone is lost from our earrings, chains of our bracelets get broken, or they get tarnished. Luckily, all is not lost and jewelry can be repaired.

Jewelry repair is a profession just like other technical professions and equipment and training is needed to do the work well. You may wish to entrust this work to someone else – the expense can be well worth the peace of mind.

Here are some tips to restore your old jewelry:

1. Precious metal jewelry tarnishes and bends easily. To remove tarnish, use a liquid jewelry cleaner with a dipping tray or a spray bottle. Wear gloves to protect yourselves from the strong chemicals and take care of any odour produced from the chemical reaction. Use the cleaners in a well-ventilated area. After rinsing the jewelry in warm water, dry it with a towel, then with a polishing cloth.

2. To mend a broken clasp, go to a jewelry supply store or a craft department and purchase a replacement clasp, “jump” rings, and fastening tools. These may also be purchased online in jewelry repair kits.

3. To flatten a chain, lay the piece down on a desk and roll a round pen or pencil over the area until it becomes smooth.

4. To prevent the posts on earrings from bending easily, do not apply a lot of pressure to them when putting them in your ears. You can try different styles of earrings such as a lever-back, French wire, or the newer “threader” earrings.

5. Soldering with gold solders is used to make repairs on broken chains. The loops or jump rings that hold clasps to chains are also soldered in better quality work. Soldering requires not only the equipment but a place to do it and training on torch work. This is not recommended at home – trust a professional.

6. Jewelry repair requires not only soldering equipment but also buffing machines, hand motor tools, acid pots, many assorted hand tools and a good bench set-up. This requires professional help.

7. Some equipment may be useful -you need a strong fingernail or two when dealing with jewelry but tools such as a chain nose (needle nose jeweler’s plier) or other pliers may be helpful. When the repair requires you to attach a clasp, a jump ring (loop of gold) may be used to hold parts together. The pliers allow opening and closing the loop. Open a jump ring by moving one side toward you and the other away from you. Twist open then simply twist back the same way to close.

8. In repairing broken chains, the difficulty lies in the fact that the chain is made up of fine wires. The wires heat up fast when trying to melt the solder. Jewelers coat the chain with an anti-flux such as yellow orcher or white out, and cover the chain with a heat sink such as a washer, razor blade, or coins. Inspect the chain to discover how the links are put together. Double-check the work of the salesperson taking the repair. Remove the damaged links from the broken ends of the chain. Then, cut the end links to re-assemble the chain. Cut the links with a fine saw blade, small end cutters, or a cut-off wheel in your flex shaft. Re-assemble the chain, add the solder, heat, clean and then polish the chain. Do not polish chains on a polishing machine. Simply lay the chain across your bench pin, hold the chain down stiff with your thumb and index finger. With a bristle brush in your flex shaft polish at medium speed the area of chain between your thumb and finger. Polish the chain little by little in this manner.

Eric Hartwell oversees “The World’s Best Homepage” intended to be a user-generated resource where YOUR opinion counts. Anybody can contribute and all are welcomed. Visit us to read, comment upon or share opinions on jewelry and visit our associated site Jewelry To Love.

Take a tour of modern jewelry design and learn about the evolution of this artwork over the past several decades.

1950’s- The invention and explosion of the Atomic bomb influenced this period with designs of starbursts and sprays of diamonds. Jewelry was classified into day (gold with no adorning stones) and night (diamonds) wear. Florentine finishes, twisted rope, mesh, piercing, fluting, foxtail chain and braided wire became popular textures for gold jewelry. Cultured strings of pearls became fashionable for daywear and turquoise, coral and amethyst were the in vogue colors and gemstones for the period.

1960’s- Few restrictions in the groovy 60s brought a hybrid of gold, platinum, silver, natural gemstones and geode crystals. Faceted gems and round brilliant cut diamonds along with organic, abstract and jagged shapes dominated metalwork.

1970’s- In this feminist era, women saw fit to purchase their own jewelry and define their own style. New and different materials were used such as wood, ivory, rock crystal and coral were incorporated into jewelry design. The 50s austerity of diamond daywear and nightwear was abolished and diamonds again saw the light of day. Other prominent stones were onyx, lapis lazuli and coral and other non-precious materials. Theme bracelets or charm bracelets are introduced, with add-on attributes and purchased separately.

1980-1990’s- The affluent 80s brought a demand for sparkle, glamour and glitzy “Dynasty” and “Dallas” type of ornamentation. This was countered by the elegant Princess Diana’s marriage which saw refined taste and grace reemerging. Like most fashion of the 90s, jewelry design was produced in many retro forms, a collection of times past. Aquamarine, tanzanite, colored pearls and silver were incorporated into sophisticated or chunky styles. Many teenagers began wearing multiple earrings in both or either ears, and Punk Rock influence was seen with the advent of safety pins and other household items being used as jewelry. Body piercing came into vogue, drawing unknowingly to most wearers from African origin. Bangle bracelets of rubber were popularized by Madonna and other pop icons as the global fascination with fame and superstars began to trump obsession with royalty.

2000- present day- Hybridizing metals and non-precious materials became fashionable with new techniques and designers collaborating colored diamonds or pearls with rubber, stainless steel and even plastic. Precious Metal Clay (PMC) is employed along with synthetic gemstones for unique, new designs.

Traditional gold wedding bands have been replaced by the platinum wedding band as the ring of choice for matrimonial wear. Sea glass has become a popular material in jewelry design. Tough resins of adaptable, colorful and waterproof materials are increasingly used as technology makes them available. The anklet has become a popular choice for adornment and is seen everywhere around the world. Black pearls have become highly desirable in jewelry pieces and Kokichi Mikimoto is the leading designer and harvester of these gems. The rolex watch is also a status symbol for the rich and famous. Depression-Era Bakelite has come full circle and is enjoying a Renaissance in modern jewelry wear with polka dot or multicolored bangle bracelets and pins of butterscotch and pea green colors. These pieces, although recycled from days gone by are not cheap and the value of these items is increasing. Hip-hop culture has infiltrated jewelry design and wearers with ‘Bling-Bling’ style of large, elaborate diamond and gold jewelry and pendants as a statement of affluence and status. The entire human history of jewelry making is known, excavated and documented, nothing is taboo and styles are recovered and fashion trends follow, making modern jewelry wear the choice of the consumer.

Eric Hartwell is involved in The World’s Best Home Page (please visit to read and share opinions) and Jewels To Love