How I Choose Gemstones For My Wire Wrapped Jewellery

CHOOSING GEMS FOR WIRE WRAPPING

I have been asked how I choose gems. It starts with buying. I am attracted to some stones more than others. Being a lover of bright colours I naturally buy more of those than any other. I buy what I consider 'drab' colours at my wife's insistence or because they were part of a bundle of rocks. Because I love to make pendants I pick the sizes of gemstones that are best suited. I do buy smaller stones either for dainty pendants or for rings. I buy many of my gemstones from www.jewellerymaker.com 
 as they are good quality and well priced. I do buy individual stones from suppliers in India and China either through direct contacts that I have built up or through Ebay.

When I want to start work I go to my stash of gems and look through them until I find one that 'speaks' to me. A stone that I am excited to wrap. In fact I will pick 2 or 3 stones and sometimes more to work on at a time depending on how I feel. 

I don't have a plan or a design in mind beyond the type of wrap I will use as I find it stifles my creativity. Once I have created the settings for the gem I start to have fun bending wires in interesting shapes until I am happy with the result. This keeps my designs fresh and constantly evolving. No two designs are ever the same using this method and I get to play with the designs. 

This is the reason that I very rarely take orders or commissions. I make what I please, creating shapes that appeal to me. I do sometimes get asked to recreate a design and I am usually happy to do so.

That's the basics of how I choose gems, on their beauty alone and where I get most of them from. Next I will go into the wires I use to wrap them. Where I get them from and why I use them. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have or if you would like me to go into greater detail on certain things. As I go along with the way I work and answering questions I will start to incorporate pictures, instructions, patterns and maybe even videos. Best wishes - Mark xx