Wire Wrapped Jewelry

Wire wrapping is one of the oldest techniques for making jewelry by hand. In wire wrapping, jewelry is made using jewelry wire and findings similar to wire 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. Because of this technique for wrapping wire around itself this craft is called wire wrapping.

History of wire jewelry:

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. 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.

Currently, wire wrapping techniques are not frequently used for mass produced jewelry because of simple economics. Machines can cast jewelry components much faster and cheaper. Artisans or craftsmen are required to make jewelry by hand and in the current mass marketplace, machines are less expensive and perhaps more precise. At this time, using the wire wrapping approach to making jewelry is primarily employed by individual craftsmen and women. The craft of wire wrapping has not been precisely defined and for this reason it is difficult to define unequivocally.