Handmade Silver Jewelry; How to Create Your Own
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Handmade silver jewelry keeps on growing in popularity. There are many reasons for this. First of all, sterling silver jewelry is long lasting and beautiful. Also, many styles you find in gold or platinum are cost prohibitive, but in sterling silver, they become relatively inexpensive. It’s important to make sure though that you are buying good quality pieces regardless of the price.
In order to understand that, it’s important to know how silver jewelry is made, so that you know what quality to look for. So in this article we will explore how to make your handmade silver jewelry and in the next one, we will explore how to check the quality.
The most difficult part of making your jewelry is actually deciding the design and getting together your tools. First of all, decide what you want to make. In this example we will de a simple pair of gemstone earrings. Get together the following items:
2 Sterling Silver Head Pins
6 Gemstone beads (center drilled)
4 Sterling Silver beads (center drilled)
2 Sterling Silver Ear wires
Round Nosed Pliers
File
Wire Cutters (nail clippers will do in a pinch)
The first step is to string your gemstone bead, then a silver bead, and then again a gemstone bead onto your head pin. Next, take your round nosed pliers and put one of the arms on top of the last bead. Take your wire and wrap it over the arm and wrap it around the head pin. Make sure you leave a little bit of room on top of the bead. Then, remove the pliers and wrap the wire around the straight part of the head pin. You should wrap around going downwards at least three times. Cut off the extra wire that is sticking out with your wire cutters or nail clippers. If you run your finger over the wire that you just cut, you will see that the end of the wire is probably very rough. If it is, then take your file and file away the roughness. You can keep running your finger over the end until you think it feels smooth enough.
Next, take your ear wires and loop them together with the loop you made at the top of the beads with your head pins. Take your pliers and close the loop on the ear wires so that the gemstone part doesn’t fall off.
Step back and take a look at your creation! Congratulations, you are a handmade silver jewelry maker! All you are going to want to do is add rubber stoppers to the back of the earrings, if you want. Stay tuned for how to quality control your pieces so you can be a savvy shopper!
