Artisan wire wrapped jewelry: A primer

A Wire Wrapped Jewelry Primer
Part One: History

As wire wrapped jewelry composes such a big part of my work, I thought adding a bit of background and commentary about this particular jewelry niche might be helpful. I’ll split the dialogue over several posts for your reading pleasure.

Today’s post will focus a bit on the history of wire wrapping, and I’ll add later posts about tools, terms and resources. I’ll also try to include lots of links to online sources for your perusal if you would like additional information.

Let’s start with the definition of Wire Wrapped Jewelry. According to Wikipedia, wire wrapped "jewelry is made using jewelry wire and findings similar to wire (like head-pins) to make components. Wire components are then connected to one another using mechanical techniques with no soldering or heating of the wire. Frequently, in this approach, a wire is bent into a loop or other decorative shape and then the wire is wrapped around itself to finish the wire component making that loop or decorative shape permanent." Wire wrapped jewelry is differentiated from other types of jewelry making in that it is almost exclusively created by hand. Coiling, wrapping, bending, weaving and twisting wire, making loops and joining components is, by its nature, nearly impossible to automate. Although soldering is incorporated into some design aspects of wire wrapped pieces, typically components are joined via a ‘cold joining’ process, meaning wire to wire versus any soldering techniques.

Wire wrapped jewelry has been around for thousands of years. Again, according to Wikipedia, "the British Museum has samples of jewelry from the Sumerian Dynasty, dated at approximately 2000 BC." I’ve noticed that, while this particular jewelry making technique has been around for eons, it has experienced a revival of late within the artisan jewelry making revival itself. I discovered jewelry making and then wire wrapping about a year ago. After much practice, I’ve determined that the coiling aspect of wire wrapping is a nearly meditative act for me. Additionally, envisioning a practical joining solution to a contemplated design, sort of like solving a structural problem, is quite enjoyable too.

You can find additional wire wrapped jewelry resources at Wikipedia and This History of Wire Wrapping by Mark Case

Next segment: Tools
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