Is ParaWire Good Jewelry Making Wire?

Is ParaWire Good Jewelry Making Wire?

Deciding on jewelry wire is a quite vital part of the jewellery producing system.

Collection of handmade stacking wire rings made with ParaWire

 Jewelry wire can affect

  •        how quick it is to make your undertaking,
  •        the visual charm
  •        the price of earning the jewelry and therefore the
    rate (if you are offering) and
  •        how prolonged the concluded jewelry will past.

With so significantly dependent on the wire you opt for, it will make
perception to come across a great high quality jewelry building wire. Read on for my new encounter employing ParaWire.

A little history 1st. I commenced off working with sterling silver wire. Sterling silver was fairly low cost at $8 an
ounce. My jewellery generating progress was stagnant for lots of yrs.

When I switched to bare copper electrical wire, it felt like
I discovered new daily life in jewelry earning. 

plastic container with wire scraps from jewelry making

I wasn’t scared to experiment or spoil wire. As you can see from my latest scraps, there is certainly plenty of experiments in my craft wire scrap bin – not so much in my gold fill scrap.

Craft wire didn’t utilised to be as nice as it is currently. I recall the valuable
steel hues looking bogus and it obtaining scratched effortless. And it was possibly much too flimsy
to hold condition or too hard to bend. 

I’ve also utilized jeweler’s
brass wire. It is a more difficult mood than copper so it was challenging on my fingers, and
uncoated (raw) copper and brass both of those can transform your pores and skin inexperienced when you have on it. 

ParaWire is a single of numerous makes of non-important (base)
metallic craft wires on the sector. It is broadly utilized for wire
wrapped jewelry together with producing results and jump rings, but also for intricate wire
weaving and braiding together with wire crochet, kumihimo and viking knit.

A spool of black colored ParaWire Craft wire

ParaWire is an especially great wire for starter jewellery
makers. Because I adjusted in excess of from sterling silver, I normally advise inexperienced persons begin
understanding jewellery creating applying craft wire. It is affordable which would make it easy
to experiment.

ParaWire has been around due to the fact 1998 when they commenced presenting
tarnish resistant coloured copper wire and tarnish resistant silver plated wire,
but the company has a a lot for a longer period heritage in metallic generation.  ParaWire is made
in the US, which I truly like, by providers that have been generating steel
items these types of as metallic wire, sheet steel and tubing made from copper, brass,
aluminum, nickel silver, stainless steel, and other metals considering the fact that 1916. Which is a
extended time, and I’m positive their working experience results in a superior product.


I begun utilizing ParaWire continually final yr
while I was doing the job on the tasks for my ebook Wire Wrap Jewellery Building for Newcomers. The stacking rings in the top photo is a single of the ring tasks for the reserve.

I wished the e-book to use elements that are greatly available, very affordable, straightforward to use and give good results. I like that ParaWire has so lots of
distinctive shades offered. You can decide on a diverse colour to regulate the assignments
and make them to go well with your personal model.

If you would like more data about the principles of choosing wire for jewellery producing, these kinds of as the meaning of mood and usually applied wire gauges, the short article in the website link will aid.

Unless of course in any other case indicated on the packaging or their website,
all ParaWire is gentle temper. Smooth temper wire is effortless to bend and shape with
minimum spring or bounce again. 

The product employed to make ParaWire is direct-absolutely free
and nickel-cost-free. Nickel is a metallic that can bring about pores and skin discomfort from metal
allergy symptoms. No lead in the products suggests you do not have to fret about prolonged
call with your pores and skin producing guide poisoning.

ParaWire color options

ParaWire helps make coated colored wire in what would seem like the
whole spectrum of the rainbow and a substantial assortment of organic hues (i.e.
gold, silver and copper). 


Most ParaWire has a coating to make it tarnish
resistant. The ones that are not tarnish resistant are indicated on the website
that they will patina with age.

ParaWire has two diverse sorts of colored copper wire –
metallic colours and silver-plated colors. 
In accordance to their web-site, the procedure to create equally sorts is the
generally the similar – they apply a tinted, versatile, baked-on coating to colour
the wire and make it anti-tarnish.

Collection of ParaWire metallic colors in sizes 18g to 26g


My evaluation of the change in between the two varieties is the
vibrancy of the color. The silver-plated colors are vibrant and vivid including
very hot pink, turquoise, deep purple, peridot and seafoam eco-friendly. The natural hues
in the silver-plated category are attractive and obvious, ready to imitate extra
costly cherished wire.


The colours in the metallic class are additional subdued and
earthy shades of brown, green, amber and blue. 

For my guide, I utilised the silver-coated wires in gold and silver. I also utilised the normal coloured copper wire with the anti-tarnish coating. I have the rose gold colored wire far too, which is a fairly pinkish gold, but have not built any assignments with it but.

ParaWire craft wire compared to 14k gold fill

If you happen to be curious, the photo previously mentioned displays how the silver plated gold wire compares to 14kt gold filled wire. I considered they may well be a small nearer, but craft wire is a bold gold in comparison to the true point (or as close as I get to the serious matter).

To make jewelry, I use round wire from 16 gauge to 26 gauge the most usually. ParaWire sells round wire from 12 gauge to 34 gauge (which ought to be like a wire thread!). They also have a scaled-down selection of formed wire together with sq., twisted square and fifty percent spherical. 

ParaWire 1/2 round wire and round wires

I have some of the formed wires from ParaWire, but I haven’t utilized them however. I was stunned by the 18 gauge 50 % spherical wire though. I consider it is literally 18 gauge wire split in fifty percent, so the gauge is no for a longer period 18, but much more like 22 or 24 gauge. 

It seems unusual, but I have listened to of other organizations undertaking this. I imagined it would be valuable for you to know. See the image higher than for a comparison of 18 gauge 1/2 round, 18 gauge spherical and 24 gauge round wires.

ParaWire shocked me a bit that the complete retains up to hammering to flatten and harden the wire. I am additional mild hammering coated craft wires than uncooked copper, brass or silver – but I have not skilled difficulties with the ParaWire coating flaking or peeling when I’m bending the wire or after hammering. I really don’t do this extremely generally nevertheless. 

The only small situation that I have expert with ParaWire has to do with prolonged each day don. I often “have on examination” any new jewellery models I make – which suggests I make a piece and then dress in it each individual working day, non-stop to see how extensive it goes right before I encounter some kind of difficulty. 

ParaWire ring after two weeks nonstop wear

I made plenty of the stacking rings in my reserve from non-tarnish silver plated gold and copper ParaWire. I asked my daughter to examination them out. 

Following a little extra than 2 weeks, currently being worn 24 hrs for each working day, the gold wire started off to present signs of donning off and the copper colour started to display by way of on the ring band on the back again facet of the ring. 

It didn’t turn her finger green although, so the inside should not have worn absent as rapidly. The front of the ring even now seemed great.

In my viewpoint, that is not as well terrible because most people today don’t put on their rings each and every working day all day. Also, if you get costume jewellery, even from title manufacturers, they normally will not previous that prolonged prior to the end wears off.

I’ve been pleasantly surprised making use of ParaWire for prototyping designs and for items that I market. It is quick to perform with, very affordable and has a ton of simple and pleasurable coloration and measurement selections. 

In the long run, I program to critique some other similar products and solutions for comparison, this sort of as Creative Wire, Zebra Wire and the BeadSmith’s wire.

Hoping ParaWire’s bright coloured wire is on my to-do record for this year. Do you use ParaWire? If so, I would really like to know what your experience has been employing it in the remarks.

I have also observed ParaWire readily available in local bead shops and often they market at bead and gem demonstrates. 

It does not surface that huge retail chains like Michaels or Joann carry ParaWire online or in their stores.

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