Encyclopedia of Wire Jewellery Techniques

Sara Withers has worked with beads for many years, as a collector and maker. Her jewelry is sold in galleries, shops, and at exhibitions throughout the United Kingdom. She also enjoys teaching bead- and jewelry-making, and lecturing on all aspects of bead history. She is the author of five books on beadwork.Xuella Arnold trained in 3-D design and has been a jewellery designer and maker for 17 years. As well as exhibiting and selling her designs across the country, she teaches jewellery making with precious metal clay to adults in the South East of England, where she lives.

Mar 10Most jewelry involves wire even if it is just a jump ring or link, and here is a whole book filled with advice on how to achieve many different effects. Hammer it, twist it, make fancy chains, wrap stones and even knit with it to enhance your creations. This is a book aimed at both the more casual jewelry maker and those who have invested in the more advanced trappings of silversmithing. If this is not you then this is less than a quarter of the book, taking the reader from the more basic techniques to the world of metalworking. So in a way the book can serve as a bridge between two crafts as well as teaching even a novice jewelry maker the basics. From choosing tools that are going to serve you well to making jump rings, through using jigs, selecting wire for knitting and crochet, bending it into fancy shapes, making clasps and working with memory wire. I was impressed by the fact that unlike many craft books this really is one to grow with the crafter as they progress from simple beginnings to the more advanced techniques. There are projects to make, photos of finished pieces to inspire and lots of helpful staged methods with plenty of captions as well as clear colored photographs. At the back is a gallery of what can be achieved, much of it if you work through the chapters and a helpful list of suppliers and societies in both the UK and US. I certainly learned a lot, and however many books there are on the market about beads there are not many on this topic, which is fundamental to being a fully fledged jewelry maker.

• PrelimsIntroductionEquipment and materialsCore techniquesMaking findingsDecorative shapesMaking spacersDecorative chainsMaking hoop earringsMaking beadsUsing jigs and toolsDecorating beadsEmbellishing findingsWorking without holesBroochesRingsTwist and knit wire methodsConstructing with wireUnusual wiresToward silversmithingLinked jump-ring chainsGalleryResourcesIndex and credits