Beading Wire
The jewelry you are wearing is only worth the wire it is strung on. If the designer scrimps and doesn’t use a high quality beading wire, it will eventually break, scattering your beads wherever you happened to be at the moment.
So what do you need to know about beading wire to make sure your jewelry piece lasts? Here are the basics:
Diameter of Beading Wire
Not surpisingly, the larger the diameter, the larger the wire. A small diameter is .014 inch. It’s great for lightweight items such as pearls, tiny gemstone beads and seed beads. The larger the diameters (.019 and .024 inch) work better for larger and heavier beads or those that might have abrasive edges.
Number of Strands in the Beading Wire
The number of strands is directly proportional to the diameter of the wire. The larger the diameter, the more strands. So it follows that the higher number of strands is going to be better for larger and heavier items. Also, if you know you will be wearing a piece daily, it is a good idea to just start with a higher strand count to be on the safe side. 21 strand wire is very lightweight and delicate. It is good for stringing seed beads and freshwater pearls if you don’t plan to wear the piece on a daily basis. 49 strand wire is the better choice for heavier beads or heavier wear. Just a note…49 strand wire is 7 individual wires that each have 7 strands of stainless steel woven together. As you can imagine, this is pretty tough stuff.
Coating on the Beading Wire
I use Soft-Flex 0.019 inch 49-strand wire at Beaded Royalty because it is marine quality. On top of the fact that the wire is 49 strands of stainless steel wire, it is coated with nylon and can be worn in and out of salt and fresh water. Several other brands exist that may or may not be up to par with Soft-Flex. Some wire is merely coated with colored plastic. Other wire is not even coated. I have restrung bracelets where the wire was rusted…a disaster waiting to happen.
Bottom line - make sure your beaded jewelry pieces are strung on high quality wire. Cheap wire leads to a bracelet that is not worth much…no matter how much you paid for it.
