How to wire-wrap stones

Wire-wrapping is the technique of using wire to make decorative mounts for gemstones, beads, shells, and so on, to make jewelry. Not only does this mean you can make jewelry from non-drilled items, but the wrap itself can be a very attractive part of the finished object. Using different wraps, different metals and shapes of wire, adding scrolls or curliques, a huge variety of styles can be made with wire-wrapping. It’s not as challenging as it looks!

Today I’d like to show you my favourite wrap, one of the quickest and simplest to do, and make an elegant wire-wrapped pendant.

When choosing your wire, bear in mind the stone or other object you want to wrap. For larger stones, choose a heavier wire, as the wire has to support the stone without bending and slipping. Jewellery wire comes in different hardnesses as well as different gauges. A very hard wire will be difficult to work with, especially for beginners, but will hold it’s shape well, meaning that wearing your finished piece will not result in it being squashed out of all recognition. For a beginner, wrapping a 2-3cm high stone, I suggest about a 22 gauge medium-hard wire. You may want to begin with cheap copper wire – this is not only much less costly to make mistakes on (once you have coiled and wrapped wire it is very hard to straighten out and re-use), but also looks good, especially with certain colours of stone.

Jewellery wire also comes in different shapes, the most common being round and square. Square wire can be a little tricky, as any twists or kinks are very obvious, but the results can be very stylish.

For todays project, you’ll need:

• A stone – this could be a polished gemstone, a pebble from the beach, a pretty glass marble, or even a large bead. A stone around 3cm tall is a manageable size for a first attempt.
• Around 60cm of jewelry wire of your choice. I used 22-gauge medium-hard round silver wire.
• (optional) about 8-10cm of finer gauge wire in the same metal.
• Wire cutters
• Round-nosed pliers and flat pliers. Actually I’m a cheapskate and use just the one pair of bargain-bucket needlenose pliers, which is why my loops are always somewhat wobbly, unless I form them round a knitting needle.
• Sticky tape
• (recommended) Eye protection – cut ends of wire have a tendency to fly off unpredictably, and can be very sharp!

Begin by cutting three strands of wire, around 20cm long, and make them as straight as you can using your pliers and your fingers.

Lay them side-by-side, and tape them together either side of the centre, to form a flat ribbon.

Cut about 8-10cm of either the same wire, or preferably a finer wire, and holding one end firmly against the long wires, wrap it four or five times around the centre of the wire ribbon, using the pliers to maintain a firm even tension. Pinch the wraps  at the sides with the pliers so they lie right up against each other, then trim off both loose ends and flatten the wraps so they hold the ribbon snugly.

Wrap the ribbon around your stone as snugly as you can, with the wrapped centre underneath the stone, and the ends crossing over at the top. Bend both ends up with the pliers so that they lie flat against each other instead of crossing.

It will probably be easier to set the stone aside for now, while you form the loop and bail.

Bend two of the long ends forward, around 1cm from where the wires meet, then form them into a loop around your round-nosed pliers. Bend the ends down so they lie flat against the other wires.

Take another of the long ends, and wrap it neatly around all the wires, from where they meet at the top of the stone, to directly below the loop, holding the end of the wire in your pliers to maintain a firm tension. Trim the loose end off as close as possible, then use the pliers to flatten it in as much as possible so it will not catch on skin or clothing when worn.

You now have two ends sticking out of the bottom of the wraped bail, and three long ends plus a loop sticking out of the top. Cut off the bottom ends as close in as possible.

Remove the tape from the wires at the sides, and spread the wires out a little. You can now put the stone back in place, and with either round or flat pliers, depending on whether you prefer curves or a more zig-zaggy shape, bend the wires so they hold the stone snugly.

Now for the three long loose ends. You can eithe trim these off close, bend them down over the bail before cutting them off, or form them into decorative shapes, as you wish. My favourite way is to bend the loose ends into three scrolls, and arrange them into a shape like a butterfly wing, but depending on your taste and your stone, you could try knots, curls, zigzags, or other shapes.

You may also like:

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2. Silver wire heart pendant
3. Make a wire crochet ring