Jewelry 101: Wrapped Loops vs. Simple Loops

When I started purchasing jewelry, I didn't know much about how it was made.  I just knew what I liked and what I didn't.  It was always disappointing to buy something and have it break the first time I wore it.  The more you know about how jewelry is made, the more you'll be able to assess the quality of the jewelry you purchase.

One of the basic elements of most beaded jewelry is the loop.  There are two kinds:  simple and wrapped.  Here's a picture of a simple loop inside a green circle:

The advantage of the simple loop is that there's not a lot of metal between the crystal beads, so it really shows off the beads.  The disadvantage is that these can come apart with a little pressure.  In fact, you can see this loop is already opening, which means that it's easier for chain, hair, and clothing to get caught in it.  If you tug on it trying to free it from the hair, clothing, etc., you can open the loop and break the piece of jewelry. 

The more secure type of loop is a wrapped loop, which looks like this:

See the coils of wire between the bead and the circle?  That's the wrapped loop.  This puts more metal between the beads, but it's much more secure.  It's a lot harder to accidentally open it, get your hair caught in it, or have it snag your clothes.  All the jewelry I make now uses wrapped loops because they offer more strength, security, and durability.

Jewelry 101: 155 Headpins

Ever wonder what kind of work goes into making the tiny little pieces of jewelry? I took a few snapshots the last time I made headpins (155 of them at once!) to show you.

First, I get a coil of fine silver wire. Fine silver is 99.9% silver (as opposed to sterling silver which is 92.5% silver). This means that fine silver has fewer other metals in the alloy--that's good news if you're allergic. It also means that the silver wire can be melted without creating some black stuff called firescale that needs to be pickled off.  Then I cut the coil of silver wire into 2.5 inch strips.

Using a butane torch, much like you foodies might use for creme brulee, I melt the end of one piece of the wire so that it forms a ball. I couldn't take a picture of this because I need one hand to hold the torch and the other to hold the wire, and I'm just not proficient enough to take a picture with my foot while juggling open flame.

After balling the end, I quench the piece in cold water, put the headpins in the tumbler for 30 minutes, and then polish. Voila!

These headpins are used in pieces like this onyx necklace. See the little silver balls under the onyx beads? Those are the balled headpins!