We stock Beadalon Jewellery Wire

The different reels, 7 strand, 19 strand and 49 strand indicates how many pieces of stainless steel have been put together inside the nylon coating. Don’t be fooled though, this doesn’t mean that the higher the number of strands the thicker the wire;the higher the number simply means the flexibility increases.

Now that you know what Beadalon Jewellery Wire we have to offer, the question is which one do you choose?!

Choosing The Right Beadalon Wire

When choosing which Beadalon Wire is best suited for the jewellery you are making there are two main points to consider; flexibility and  the hole size of the beads you are using.

When making a bracelet you will need a flexible wire as Bracelets are prone to getting caught on clothing. The wire you choose needs to withstand a lot of wear and tear, whereas a simple beaded necklace would not need to be as flexible.

So choose

• Beadalon 49 strand wire if you need your wire to be flexible.
• Beadalon 19 strand wire if you need your wire to be fairly flexible.
• Beadalon 7 strand wire if you  only need a bit of flexibility.

Okay so that’s flexibility covered. Lets move onto diameters.

Basically you choose what diameter wire you need based on the hole size of the beads you are using. The aim is to fill as much as the hole as possible.

Beadalon Wire comes in a variety of sizes from 0.25mm  which would be perfect for use with seed beads, increasing up to 0.66mm which would be great to use with large ceramic or metal beads.

The most common sizes used are 0.38mm and 0.46mm. These are good general purpose wire diameters.

As with everything money is always a factor so it’s worth taking into consideration the purpose of the jewellery you are making. If you are using expensive or heavy beads the 49 strand wire would be ideal, and also useful if you are making jewellery that is going to be worn daily. 49 strand is stronger and can stand general wear and tear. For cheaper, budget jewellery using 7 strand would be fine.

So hopefully this has helped you get clued up on which wire is best for you. Now you have designed your jewellery and you are ready to create, just one last hurdle…… what to use to fasten the ends and secure your piece???

Crimps & Findings

We offer a range of crimp beads, gimp wire and wire guardians for you to secure your wire safely and to prevent any slippage. For those of you who like an all- in- one solution we offer beadalon 3.5mm EZ crimp ends with attached lobster clasp.

All you have to do is place your wire in the end if the crimp and squeeze very hard with a pair of flat nose pliers and this gives you a very secure fastening. The EZ crimp end with lobster clasp will fit wire up to 0.66mm.

The table below shows which end fastenings can be used with various size diameter wires. You have to remember that when using crimps, wire guardians and gimp wire to fasten the ends, the wire has to be able to fit twice through the crimp bead unless the crimp bead is being used for a floating necklace to keep beads in place, then the crimp only has to fit once through the wire.

Fran Perry
In House Designer