Jewelry Making Wire

Jewelry Making Wire
by Project

Aluminum Wire

Aluminum wire is mostly used for crafting. It is not always a very high quality jewelry making wire. There are some brands of this type of wire that can be successfully used in jewelry making. Read the labels before purchasing this type of wire to be sure what it contains.

Make sure if you are using color coated wires that the color is actually in the metal, and not a rubberized coating. The rubber coated wires do not make very nice looking jewelry. It’s fine if you are making something for a child, or don’t care whether or not it looks fake.

Color coated aluminum wire comes in a variety of sizes and colors. (Gold, silver and colors.) This would be the wire I would recommend for jewelry making. Some brands of this type of aluminum wire puts the colored dyes in the actual wire. The gauges available range from 30g -12g.

Rubber coated aluminum wire comes in a variety of sizes and colors. (Gold, silver and colors.) This wire is mostly for crafting. I wouldn’t recommend using it as jewelry making wire. The rubber coating doesn’t allow the wire to hold its shape very well. You can experiment with this type and see if you can get better results than I have, but I have had very little success with making nice looking jewelry with this type of wire. The gauges available range from 24g - 12g.

Craft wire is mostly nickel plated tin or aluminum. Some brands tarnish badly, others don’t, so it’s not the greatest choice for jewelry making wire. This is an excellent wire to practice your wire wrapping techniques on because it is easily found and the least expensive of all the wires. If you get the craft wire with an non-tarnish coating, you could create some inexpensive jewelry that would continue to look good.

Sometimes the problem you run into with this type of wire is it is plated with the nickel. Too much bending, twisting, pounding, etc... will actually damage the wire and the plating will flake off. Be sure to take that into consideration when using it. Using rubber coated tools to work with this wire will help alleviate that flaking problem. This wire usually only comes in gold and silver, but does have a few different sizes to choose from. The gauges available range from 20g - 28g.

Colored artistic wire is also mostly nickel plated tin or aluminum. This is another good craft wire. This wire tends to be colored within the wire, though, and not coated, so it does maintain its color. This wire can also have the same problem as craft wire with it’s marring. Some brands are better than others. Experiment with this type. It’s a fun wire to play with. I’ve actually used this in some of my wire wrapping accents with great success. It’s not a very strong wire, usually on the small gauge size, but it works great for doing wrapped accents that do not have to stand on their own. (Such as wrapping stones for pendants and creating your own french wire.) The gauges available range from 24g - 26g.

Copper Wire

Colored copper wire is a good jewelry making wire. This wire is enamel coated, then the enamel is cooked into place. It comes in a wide range of colors and sizes. (Gold, silver, copper and colors.) You do still have to be a little careful with the tools you use on this wire because it is colored. You don’t want to mar or chip the coating, but the enamel is fairly durable. The gauges available range from 30g - 18g.

Craft Wire

Craft wire is mostly nickel plated tin or aluminum. This is an excellent wire for any craft. Some brands tarnish badly, others don’t. It is easily found and the least expensive of all the wires. (This is an excellent wire to practice your wire wrapping techniques on if you choose to use it for jewelry making. If you get the craft wire with an non-tarnish coating, you could even create some inexpensive jewelry that would continue to look good.)

Colored artistic wire is also mostly nickel plated tin or aluminum. This is another good craft wire. This wire tends to be colored within the wire, though, and not coated, so it does maintain its color through bending and wrapping. This wire can also have the same problem as craft wire with it’s marring. Some brands are better than others. Experiment with this type. It’s a fun wire to play with. I’ve actually used this in some of my wire wrapping accents with great success. It’s not a very strong wire, usually on the small gauge size, but it works great for doing wrapped accents that do not have to stand on their own. (Such as wrapping stones for pendants and creating your own french wire.) The gauges available range from 24g - 26g.

Colored Wires

Colored artistic wire is also mostly nickel plated tin or aluminum. This is another good craft wire. This wire tends to be colored within the wire, though, and not coated, so it does maintain its color through bending and wrapping. This wire can also have the same problem as craft wire with it’s marring. Some brands are better than others. Experiment with this type. It’s a fun wire to play with. I’ve actually used this in some of my wire wrapping accents with great success. It’s not a very strong wire, usually on the small gauge size, but it works great for doing wrapped accents that do not have to stand on their own. (Such as wrapping stones for pendants and creating your own french wire.) The gauges available range from 24g - 26g.

French wire (also known as bullion) is a tiny coiled wire. This is a fun jewelry making wire that resembles a spring. It is used to add all sorts of decorative accents to your jewelry. It comes in a variety of different metals: copper, sterling silver, silver plated, gold plated and vermeil (gold plated sterling silver). It ranges in size from .8mm to 2mm coils. (The more precious the metal, the smaller the coil. Copper has the largest variety of coil size choices.)

The copper french wire also comes in a variety of colors.

Niobium wire is made from an interesting metal. (It is actually atomic element #41.) It is a perfect jewelry making wire, because it does not contain nickle, and is much lighter than silver. This wire also comes in a wide variety of colors. Since the colors are created in the oxide layers that bond to the metal itself, they are very durable and do not flake off. (It is the process of anodizing the niobium that creates its different colors.) It does not tarnish like other metals, and comes in a few different sizes. The gauges available range from 24g - 20g.

French Wire

French wire (also known as bullion) is a tiny coiled wire. This is a really fun jewelry making wire that resembles a spring. It is used to add all sorts of decorative accents to your jewelry. It comes in a variety of different metals: copper, sterling silver, silver plated, gold plated and vermeil (gold plated sterling silver). It ranges in size from .8mm to 2mm coils. (The more precious the metal, the smaller the coil. Copper has the largest variety of coil size choices.)

The copper french wire also comes in a variety of colors.

Gold Filled Wire

Gold filled wire usually has a core of brass or a brass alloy. Pure gold (24k) is much too soft a metal to use alone. It would never survive as a delicate wire without the help of a stronger metal. 14k gold is usually bonded with the brass through heat and pressure. This creates a very strong, sturdy wire with all the beauty of 14k gold.

This is one of the most high quality, expensive and beautiful jewelry making wire. It has quite a bit more actual gold in it than in gold plated wire (100 times more - the gold content has to be at least 5% by weight). You will want to know exactly what you are doing before you move into using this type of wire. You do not want to waste any of it! This is what the professionals use to make their jewelry. (Crafters and new jewelry makers will want to use the less expensive gold plated wire to get that real gold look, but even then, you’ll want to know what you’re doing first.)

This type of jewelry making wire also has different malleable factors. That means how easy or difficult is it to wrap, bend and shape. There are three (3) categories: dead-soft, half-hard, and full-hard.

Dead soft is the most malleable, and good for wire wrapping, but won’t hold it’s shape under very much stress. You will want to use this for the more delicate wrapping techniques.

Half hard is a little more firm. It can still be used for wire wrapping, and will hold its shape under a little stress. You will want to use this for your projects that will have a little stress put on them, but not much. I would use this for earrings and delicate necklaces.

Full hard is the strongest wire you can get. It is still malleable and you can still use it for wire wrapping, but it will hold its shape under the most stress. I would use this for your more heavy beaded projects, such as larger necklaces and bracelets.

This wire also comes in a wide range of sizes and wire shapes. The gauges available range from 26g - 12g. The wire shape options are round, half round, square, and twisted. (The twisted is a really beautiful type of jewelry making wire. It catches the light and makes your jewelry sparkle!!)

Gold Plated Wire

Gold plated wire has a thin coating of 12k to 14k gold over the top of some other type of base metal. (Most of the time brass or copper, although it can sometimes be nickel.) This jewelry making wire is a fairly expensive wire, due to the real gold content. Although it is not nearly as expensive as gold filled wire. You get the same look of the gold filled wire with a gold plated wire. The only problem you may run into with gold plated wire, is that the plating is very thin and delicate. If you are going try wrapping or doing a lot of bending with this wire, you will end up with the plating flaking completely off.

This wire also comes in a wide variety of sizes. The gauges available range from 24g - 12g. You can also find this wire in wire shapes. (Round, half round, square, and twisted.)

I have discovered with this type of wire, you can only bend it once or twice, you can’t unbend and re-bend it. It is also extremely sensitive to your tools. You will definitely want to use rubber coated and no teeth tools when shaping this wire. Make sure you really know what you are doing before moving onto this wire. It is still more expensive, and easily ruined. Practice with some of the cheaper craft wires first.

Memory Wire

Memory wire is usually made out of stainless steel or carbon steel. It comes in strong, pre-coiled loops. There is very little malleability it this type of wire. This wire has a “memory”, and always returns to its manufactured loop. It is meant to be worn as a statement in and of itself. This is not a wire used for wire wrapping.

The ends of this type of jewelry making wire can be curled (with a little muscle and a strong set of pliers), but most of the time you will want to string on what ever beads, charms or pendants you want on it, then glue some end caps into place. The tension in this wire makes it possible to create a necklace or bracelet without having to use any sort of closing clasp.

This wire comes in gold and silver and ranges in size from .40mm - .75mm. It is usually sold in size range from .05 to .15 mm. (Example: .60mm to .75mm, .60mm to .65mm and .40mm to .50mm)

Niobium Wire

Sterling Silver Wire

Sterling silver wire is made from 92.5% pure silver and a mixture of other metals (this includes nickel). It is one of the more expensive jewelry making wires to work with. (It is not nearly as expensive as gold filled wire, though.) This is also a professional jeweler’s quality wire, and can be used for anything from wire wrapping to creating wrapped accents and findings. Make sure you know what you’re doing before you try and use this wire for anything. You will not want to waste it.

Dead soft is the most malleable, and good for wire wrapping, but won’t hold it’s shape under very much stress. You will want to use this for the more delicate wrapping techniques.

This wire also comes in a wide range of sizes and wire shapes. The gauges available range from 34g - 12g. The wire shape options are round, half round, square, and twisted. (The twisted is a really beautiful type of jewelry making wire. It catches the light and makes your jewelry sparkle!!)

Silver Plated Wire

Silver plated wire has a thin coating of sterling silver over the top of some other type of base metal. (Most of the time brass, copper or stainless steel, although it can sometimes be nickel.) This wire is a fairly inexpensive wire. It is perfect for that silver look, without the sterling silver price. The only problem you may run into with silver plated wire, is that the plating is very thin and delicate. If you are going try wrapping or doing a lot of bending with this wire, you will end up with the plating flaking completely off.

This wire also comes in a wide variety of sizes. The gauges available range from 30g - 12g.

I have discovered with this type of wire, you can only bend it once or twice, you can’t unbend and re-bend it. It can be extremely sensitive to your tools, different brands will differ with the thickness of the plating. (It is not nearly as sensitive as gold plated wire.)

You will want to use rubber coated and no teeth tools when shaping this wire. You will also want to make sure you know what you’re doing with this wire, though. Although it isn’t always that expensive, it is easily ruined. It can be really annoying to get to the end of a project and have it ruined because you had to unbend and reshape one part, only to have the plating flake off. Practice with some of the cheaper craft wires first to get you bending processes down to one time only.

You can also find this wire in wire shapes. (Round, half round, square, and twisted.)

Tiger Tail Wire

Tiger tail wire is actually my favorite kind of jewelry making wire to use for creating beaded necklaces. It is flexible like string, but with the strength of wire. It is actually a braided stainless steel wire coated with nylon. This makes it a perfect substitute for string with sharper beads like glass and stone. The rough edges of the beads will not wear out this wire as they would string.

This wire comes in a few different sizes. They range from .015mm to .026mm. There are only two (2) different colors available that I’m aware of. (gold and clear -looks silver)

You can use this as wire completely covered up with beads, or for that “floating” bead look. This wire requires the use of crimp beads to secure clasps to it, and to get that floating effect. This is not a wire wrapping wire.

Bead Stringing Wires

Tiger Tail

I would only put this type of jewelry making wire into this category. All the other wires will be rigid and inflexible. Not to mention once you bend them, they retain their shape, which isn't always the desired effect.

Craft Projects

Pretty much any wire will do for your craft projects. I would definitely go with the cheaper and less expensive ones. Unless you are doing something really (and I mean really) super classy, then I would maybe consider using Gold Filled, Gold Plated, Sterling Silver, or Silver Plated. For most craft projects, the simulated gold and silver coloring will be sufficient.

Elegant Jewelry

Gold Filled 14k

Sterling Silver Wire

Silver Plated

The gold filled and the sterling silver jewelry making wire will make much more elegant jewelry than anything else, but the gold and silver plated will work if you’re on more of a budget. They do have the same look without the expense. You just have to be careful with the plating. Use the appropriate tools to avoid marring and chipping the plating.

Wire Elements

Sterling Silver Wire

Silver Plated

Any of these types of jewelry making wire can be used to create wire elements. It will just depend on what look you are going for, whether is elegant, or on the more crafty side. The lower gauges and harder wires will make for better elements. (Thin, or soft wires tend to pull out of shape too easily.)
Click here to learn how to make wire elements

Wire Wrapping

Sterling Silver Wire

Silver Plated

Once again, any of these wires can be used in your wire wrapping. The same thing as wire elements applies, use the lower (thicker), harder wires for the wraps you would like to stay, and the thinner, softer wires for wrapping other elements or for portions of your wire wrapping that will not be subjected to much stress. Definitely do not use the thin, soft wires to make clasps or to hold heavy beads and pendants in place. (They would be fine for a delicate, light pair of earrings, though) Click here to learn more about wire wrapping