My Sources Of Gemstones For Wire Wrapping

I am often asked where I manage to find the beautiful stones that I use in my jewellery designs. It isn't a completely straightforward answer I'm afraid.

I buy stones from a variety of sources. I have contacts in India, China, USA etc that I have made so that I can buy direct at good prices and as time goes by I'm sure you will make your own networking efforts pay off in similar ways. It's dealing with individuals you have known for a while and come to trust and it may often mean you need to bargain a little to get the best prices.

Ebay is always a good source for both strings and individual gems but you have to be cautious. Not all gemstones are genuine. China is particularly good at faking gemstones and sells them to unwary bidders in huge numbers. Once again you will come to know the better dealers and stick with them once you have had the opportunity to sample their wares.

Other jewellery makers can be a good source for acquiring gems in swaps. Everyone has stones in their stash that no longer seem as appealing or never did perhaps being bought as part of a bundle. For whatever reason there are stones you will probably never use and very many of us are gemstone addicts and can't help buying more and more gemstones. I have probably acquired enough gemstones to last me several lifetimes but I'm always attracted to pretty new things. What you can't use another can and swaps are commonplace and an easy way to get rid of your unwanted stones for someone else's.

Gem and rock shows are a gem addicts heaven (or hell if you run out of money). More lovely things than you could shake a big stick at and all at different quality and prices. It strikes me as madness to buy glass or plastic beads when genuine gemstones can be bought for little more and sometimes much less.

Online suppliers are everywhere and can be confusing in their sheer numbers. Depending on what I need at the time- and I buy a lot of things that are not gemstones such as tools, glue, wires etc - I go to different suppliers. It always pays to shop around if getting good prices are important to you.

My main source of gemstones is www.jewellerymaker.com which is a television sales channel. Their website is always good value for money and everything they sell is good quality. They have a 30 day no quibble returns policy which I know from personal experience is excellent. There is only one postage charge per day @ £2.95 for the UK no matter how much or how many items you order. They transmit 12 hours a day from 9 am to 9 pm before the show is uploaded to you tube and is a combination of live sales, demonstrations and masterclasses.

Experts demonstrate in a range of multi media subjects and is a very valuable resource for that alone. If you are able to watch the show live however is the best way to buy at VERY good, reduced prices. The presenters are knowledgable and amusing in their delivery and I enjoy the show very much. I usually have it on in the background until something of interest to me comes up either in a demonstration or gemstones and tools.

Please feel free to contact me on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/wirewizardz or by email hargreaves_mark@sky.com and I'll do my best to help.

Pharoah rings Now posted on my Etsy store.

I usually make pendants as I love to make them but some days I get a hankering to make rings. I don't normally sell them as I make them for my own amusement mainly. Very often I send them out to my customers to thank them for orders, especially repeat customers.

I like to make simple rings and there are days that's all I do. I also find it very relaxing to make more complicated designs such as the Pharoah ring. They take a lot longer to make and even more so if I wrap the entire shank.

These are a couple of rings that I have listed in my store today and I hope to list a few more over the coming days.

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/221371269/adidron-a-dragon-eye-pharoah-ring-size

Dragon eye pharoah ring


















https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/221367904/tigers-eye-pharoah-ring-size-w-11



Tigers eye pharoah ring

Best wishes - Mark xx

How To Measure Gemstones For Wire Wrapping

MEASURING GEMSTONES FOR WIRE WRAPPING

There are quite a few different ways to measure your gemstones for wire wrapping. This is the method I first learned and is a simple formula to work out how long your wires need to be. This works really well for me. Don't get too hung up on accuracy at this stage. A little out either way won't hurt - you just have to learn to work with what you've got. I will show you how to do a very simple wrap something like the one on the left here.

For this example I have chosen a piece of Rose Quartz measuring roughly 30 X 25mm. It's a nice familiar shape to work with. The process for measuring uneven and asymetric stones is no harder and uses the same steps.

The first way that I'm going to show you uses masking tape. I have since moved away from any kind of tape as I don't like the sticky residue that it leaves on my wires. Tear a piece of masking tape that is longer than the gemstone is round. You can always rip off any extra. Start at the top middle and wrap the tape around the stone until you come back to the top again.

Fold the tape back so that the two edges meet and cut off the excess.

Wind the tape around the stone again to make sure you have cut it properly and it fits right.

Lay the tape out flat on your work surface and measure it. In this case it measures roughly 92mm so lets round it up to 90mm. Like I said earlier total accuracy is not needed for this type of wrap. Just about is good enough. I am so used to the size of gems that I like to work with that I now have wire bundles made up in 240mm, 260mm and 280mm. When I want to start work I pick out a bundle that is about right for the size of stone and work with it.

If you are just starting out the use of this formula will tell you how long to cut your wires.

Take the total length of the tape (90mm) and times it by 2 which will make it 180mm. Add 50mm to the total making it 230mm to allow yourself plenty of spare wire to bend around your bail to make it interesting and attractive. You may find you need more or less than I use but this is a good starting point for you until you get used to the type of wraps you are going to attempt.

The method I most use nowadays does away with the tape altogether. It is MUCH faster than fiddling around with tape.

I take a piece of spare wire and bend it roughly around the stone and twist the wire together.

This leaves me with a nice outline the size of the stone. I cut the wire near the twist, give it a pull to with my fingers to straighten it and measure it the same as I did the tape.



You now know you have to cut your wires 230mm for this stone. Simple isn't it?

In the next post I will show you how I bundle wires for a border wrap and the tools I find most useful.

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

Wire Wrapping Designs and Basics

 Solar Quartz

WIRE WRAPPING DESIGNS

When I first started making border wrap pendants they would take me an entire afternoon. I have found ways of speeding it up and now take around an hour instead due to preparations. I would make the setting and fit the stone and then I would start to sweat it. 

You see, I may have been happy with what I had done so far but making the bail and twisting the spare wires into interesting shapes is where it could all go wrong. I didn't enjoy it much and breathed a sigh of relief when it was finished. I felt like a used tea bag - all used up. It was mentally draining! 

The act of cleaning and polishing the finished piece was like a come down for me allowing me to relax again. It was a wild ride and I was hooked. Quite a few pieces had to have the stones snipped out and ended up in the waste bin. 

As I went along and grew more confident in my abilities that last part that had worried me so much became the best part. 

I never know what I am going to do with the bail and wire bending until I do it. I found that if I planned it out too much I would have to follow my plan which left me open to self criticism if I didn't follow the design perfectly. I had to learn to let go and follow where the wires wanted to bend instead of where I wanted to bend them. 

I have enjoyed my wrapping enormously ever since and each one is a joy to make. This approach has served me well and allowed me the freedom to create wonderful freeform shapes. 

I make up bundles of wires in the quiet times, often when everyone else has gone to bed as I am a bit of a night owl. 

In one of my next posts I will show you how I measure a gemstone and calculate the amount of wire to use and how making up bundles can save you heaps of time when you are ready to start making jewellery.

Best wishes - Mark xx