Parawire, a US manufacturer, has a huge range of premium craft wire and they are back for another awesome giveaway (and a special reader discount)! The type I have been using lately are the fine silver plated copper core ones which are also coated and thereforetarnish resistant. The wire is soft and easy to manipulate.
I received more wire from them for review. Last time,
I compared their fine silver plated wire with other kinds I had in my studio. This time I got to see and use more of their metallic colored wires. These were all coated for protection except for bare copper. I really like their range of luscious colors! Each color can be used by themselves or combined in jewelry designs.
I also found one has to choose which shade of gold to use in designs! Rose gold for example is like a pale copper color. And that champagne gold is more yellow than the regular fine silver plated one.
One reader emailed me to ask if I used Parawire for making the ear wires. My initial answer was no. I had been using solid metal like sterling silver or sterling silver filled, copper, jeweler's bronze to make the ear wires. I thought perhaps a few people may be allergic to the coatings.
But then the penny dropped. The coating is arguably more beneficial for those who are totally metal allergic. Their skin will not be in contact with the metal. I do have some metal allergies myself. So I made some ear wires using 20 G fine silver plated wires and tested them myself. Very comfortable to wear indeed and no problem at all.
I generally use 20 G or 22 G half hard wire for earrings. The copper cored Parawire is soft temper. So if you do make ear wires with Parawire, remember to work harden them. 20G is best as it is thicker and will help keep the shape.
Parawire (and other coated metals) is fine for earrings and necklaces as these pieces do not have the same wear and tear as rings and bracelets. You can still use the coated wire for bracelets provided the pieces are not worn often. I did test out a Parawire wire wrapped ring by wearing it everyday and the coating does wear off after a few weeks of hard wear.
In general I love making jewelry with Parawire for a few reasons. If the trial designs turned out well, then they are saleable and at a lower price point than precious metal ones made in the same way. If not, it's not the end of the world because the wire is inexpensive.
As the coated wires are non-tarnish, they are easy to display without much care for long periods of time. Tarnish is one reason why I found consignment in a store to be tricky.
I had a lot of fun making wire flower earrings with several colors of Parawire. Learn how to use a simple jig to make them in the tutorial which will be out later this week.
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| Titanium and Silver colors |
Giveaway If you'd like to win $50 worth of
any wire from Parawire, please make a comment below. Make sure you leave contact info below if you do not have an online shop or blog.
Email subscribers need to scroll down the post they receive, click on Share Comment and enter your comment. Pick Name/URL. If you don't have a store or blog, leave the URL blank.
This giveaway is limited to US and Canada.
Parawire is also offering a 10% discount for all purchases from now till the end of December 2015. Use this code : bg1215 Extra entries if you become or are a blog subscriber or follower etc. If you also do shout outs about this giveaway, those will count as additional entries too! Please say so in the comments.
It ends in a week's time at
6 pm EST Monday, December 14, 2015 . I will pick the winner randomly and announce the results as soon as possible after. So be sure to leave a contact email if you don't have an online link or make sure you come back and check! Otherwise I will redraw in a week. Good luck!
Disclosure Photography I used my iPhone 6S, the camera+ app and the Modahaus Tabletop Studio TS320 in natural light for the wire spool and final product pictures. Click here for
more information on my How to Photograph Jewelry webinar which will resume in January.
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