For Beginner Jewellery Hobbyists

As a babe in the woods of jewellery design, I have a couple of suggestions for anyone just starting out. Don't go overboard buying a bunch of professional quality tools and materials until you know you're going to stick it out. Of course this works for any endeavor, but making jewellery can get quite expensive if you let it. And you don't want to get stuck with this stuff if you decide it is not for you. As an example, I met a woman who tried her hand at wire wrapping. She started out using sterling silver and gold wire, and was disappointed when her early pieces didn't work out as she hoped. On top of wasting some expensive materials, she also decided wire wrapping wasn't for her, and ended up stuck with the remaining materials. Of course she may find a use, or be able to sell them, but it's doubtful she will get back her full investment.

So, you ask, what do you suggest?

I started out wrapping mostly just using my fingers and very soft polymer coated craft wire (you can find it at Wal-Mart for around $10 CDN, less if you find it on sale). I wasted some for sure, but it didn't hurt so much when it wasn't terribly expensive. After some successes, I found I needed tools to progress further. Again, I started with the basics. Not to sound like a Wal-Mart advert, but they sell a very useful little pair of pliers, which in fact I still use. These pliers are a combination tool; round nose at the tip, flat in the middle, and a wire cutter at the base.

If you will be doing chainmaille, you can also make coils of rings on these pliers; using 20Ga wire they make perfect size rings for doing European 4-1 or Byzantine. However, you will need a couple of other tools: a) a separate pair of wire snips with a good point that will fit inside your coils to cut them into rings, and a second pair of flat or chain nose pliers to assist in opening and closing rings:

These few inexpensive tools should get you off to a good start in your jewellery making endeavors without putting a huge dent in your pocketbook. If you manage to outgrow them and still want to make jewellery, then you can start spending your money on the fancy stuff. Mountain Gems and The Ring Lord are a couple of good places to start when you decide to add tools. I would also consider looking for some items at Lee Valley; although they are not specifically jewellery or chainmaille oriented, they have quite a variety of useful, good tools.