Inspirations: Woven wire jewellery
At London Jewellery School we always surrounded by drawers and boxes full of wire of all different types. Wire is an essential in jewellery making, whether sterling silver wire for as the basis of a stacking ring or for chain making, wire used in enameling or with metal clay, or the copper and plated wire we use for cocktail rings or wire wrapping we use it all the time. And one of its most interesting uses is in woven pieces. Wire weaving is addictive and allows for lots of variation and adapation to create stunning pices of jewellery.
We’ve picked out some interesting examples to inspire you.
Wire weaving is often associated with showing off interesting large gem stones. Here weaving adds detail to the band setting for this Inidan Emderald in a pendant from Vimala Vita
Crystals or smaller semi precious stones also work well with woven wire as in this piece by Sarah Thompson who uses woven and hammered witre in her multi-layered word. This fine silver pendant is embellished with Swarvovski crystals
Wire weaving techniques are also very adaptable and can be combined with other jewellery techniques such as silversmithing as can be seen in Marie Scarpa‘s award-winning Nautillesque pendant…
… and Sally Craig includes woven oxidised silver and gold wire sections in her fine jewellery pieces
And finally, it is worth noting that you don’t need to include stones and crystals for create interesting effects as in this textile weave bracelet by Linda Chandler using gold filled wire
If you would like to try wire weaving for yourself, click here for details of our beginners’ workshop.