Ron's Jewelry about-wire-wrapping page

Last updated 14 October 2019

About wire-wrapping

Go to the galleries to see pictures, with descriptions and prices

I learned wire-wrapping from Paul and Marie Howard. Paul is the author of the beautifully illustrated book "Fossicking for Queensland Agate". The picture shown here is one of the first wire-wrapped pendants that I made.

The technique used for this design starts with square wire (0.7 mm wide) and half-round wire (1 mm x 0.5 mm). A flat bundle of square wires is bound together at several places with the half-round wire. This bundle is then wrapped around the stone, and secured at the top with extra wraps of half-round wire.

The stone is held in place by bending in some of the wires at the front and back. Finally, the surplus ends are used to make the bail (the loop for a chain) and to add decorations.

If you would like to learn how to make a basic pendant, check the Tutorial and Classes and workshops pages.

Although I still use this design, I have developed several variations as well as some completely new ones. Examples can be seen in the galleries.

There are several, sometimes conflicting, requirements in developing a new design. First, the stone must be held firmly in the pendant - it is not much use if the stone falls out easily (which has happened to me from time to time). Second, a wire-wrapped pendant generally uses 10-20 separate pieces of wire each of which has two ends. These ends are usually fairly sharp and care must be taken to ensure that they do not protrude on either the back (uncomfortable for the wearer) or front (unsightly). Hiding 20-40 sharp ends is sometimes a challenge. Finally, I am working with natural materials and each stone has a unique texture and pattern. The creative challenge is to work in harmony with these natural features to produce a piece of wearable art.