Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Hot Off the Wire!

I absolutely love working with wire!  Wire wrapping is one of the oldest handcrafted jewelry techniques out there. The reason I enjoy it so much is because I can create cool unique pieces. I put emphasis on the word unique...pretty much all jewelry designers have the desire create the most "unique" collection in the market.  Unfortunately, that is very hard to achieve when there are so many beads, techniques and jewelers readily available to replicate (and believe me I've had my stuff replicated). With today's technology and easy accessibility to craft store classes, just about anyone can make a decent popular piece of jewelry. But that is not what I'm in the business of doing. 

I am always searching for new ways to keep my designs fresh and unique. This is what the majority of my customers want...a piece that no one else will have!  Of course you will see some familiar designs in my collections...trendy items are always great to have.  But it's important to have the ability to create unique custom pieces. This is why I invest in design school to increase and improve on the skills I have.

Essentials Etc. G-Cleft Bracelet
G-Clef Silver Wire Wrapped Bracelet
Working with wire I can create my own findings or components (earring hooks, bracelet & necklace clasps, headpins, jump rings and rings), and use mix metals...which never goes out of style. The bracelet shown here has a G-Clef as the focal and it's own unique clasp. It's very cool when pretty much anything you shape with wire can form into a fabulous piece of jewelry.

You should understand that wire working is very time consuming and requires more expensive materials, you certainly don't want to use that cheap aluminum stuff when creating your wired pieces. It does not bother me at all the time it takes to create one piece of jewelry, because I don't like to mass produce anything. So spending a little more time on a piece and having my faithful customers getting excited about these unique creations over and over, is a much better option for me. I tell my coworkers that designing jewelry is where I get my butter not my bread! I don't need to create jewelry...I love to! I have a full-time career to get me the things I need, which allows me to keep my focus on creating beautiful quality pieces of jewelry just for fun...that's what I'm most passionate about.  

If you are interested in having a custom bracelet, ring, necklace or earrings hot off the wire...please do not hesitate to contact me.  My design advice and consultations are always free!
Email me at marcia_fleming@essentialsetc.net.

History Lesson...
Examples of wire and beaded jewelry made using wire wrapping techniques date back to thousands of years BC. The British Museum has samples of jewelry from the Sumerian Dynasty, found in the cemetery of Ur that contain spiraled wire components. This jewelry is dated at approximately 2000 BC. Other samples of jewelry from Ancient Rome show wire wrapped loops (one of the important techniques in making wire wrapped jewelry). This Roman jewelry is dated to approximately 2000 years ago. In the manufacture of this early jewelry the techniques for soldering did not exist. Later, as the technique for soldering developed, the wire wrapping approach continued because it was an economical and quick way to make jewelry components out of wire.