Details on Construction of Featured Jewelry Pieces . . .
Here are some of the details concerning the actual construction of the various jewelry items that were made with the Ribbon Wire Wrapping^TM Jewelry Making System. An effort was made to select pieces with different components so you could more easily see their application. Obviously, a few were left out - and the application task will be left to your imagination.

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Blue Topaz Pendant A square (emerald cut) stone represents a certain challenge for BezelBars in Ribbon Wire WrappingTM because of the sharp corners which tax the gold finish. If done slowly, no cracking occurs. The stone and BezelBar were carefully measured so the Bar ends would butt. Prongs were installed in the approximate location, the Cage was bent to form around the stone and the Bar ends were glued together with metal foil. The bail was then wire wrapped into place for security. The Prong clips were next crimped tight and the topaz gem wriggled in. Finally. the prongs were turned down with a cloth-faced kitchen spoon. Time to make: 23 minutes

Shield Unakite Pendant Here's a classical Ribbon Wire WrappingTM pendant creation, featuring a shield-shaped unakite cabochon, normally a shape that's difficult to design for. In this project, though, the BezelBar was simply wrapped/shaped around the 3" stone, then the Cage's ends were turned up in a tail. The top,square wire was cut longer than the Cage bar so it could later be coiled into the usual wire wrap flower appearance. The tips were temporarily glued and then soldered. A TBail was attached by a jump ring. Two 4-loop HR Clips were installed at the bottom angles and the wire was twisted over the stone lengthwise from the top. Clip platforms provided the cabochon's base support and a steel paste epoxy fillet was inserted at the top of the cage for extra base support. Time to make: 23 minutes

Triangular Montana Agate Pendant For this Ribbon Wire Wrapped design, the BezelBar was wrapped/shaped around the 2.5" agate, then the Cage's ends were glue-foil secured and wire wrapped with a 3-gem bail mount. Once the plastic gaskets were epoxy installed in the Cage base, the stone was adhesively set, too. To finish, three 3mm cubic zirconia gems were Snap Tite mounted and the settings were glued into the bail's receptacles. Time to make: 17 minutes

Ribbon Wire Wrapped Jasper Pendant It took only four components to produce this classical Ribbon Wire Wrapped jasper pendant. The top square wire and the measured Cage were connected with a pair of 6-loop HR Clips at the 5 and 7 o'clock positions along with additional strengthening provided by the wire wrapped PBail. The jasper cabochon was wriggled snugly into place atop the clip platform extensions and then the top wire was twisted over the gemstone to lock it into place. Time to make: 21 minutes.

Blue Lace Agate Prong Pendant Cabochons (it means "egg shaped") present few problems. Just measure them and cut the BezelBar to fit. Four CProng clips were slipped onto the straight BezelBar and the latter was shaped around the gem. The matching ends and the bail were glued on (this isn't the strongest attachment) and the clips were glued-crimped onto the bar. The stone was slipped in, placed on the clips' platform extensions. The partially finished pendant was next held against a flat surface so the prongs could be easily bent over with a wood pusher. Warning: glue isn't the best atachment medium for a platform bail (this bail failed quicky and hot tip solder provided the rescue). Consider spending a few minutes to wire wrap or solder the attachment. Time to make: 14 minutes.

Malachite Bead Ring Here's a quick ring construction - and a pretty one at that. Two small holes were drilled into a measured length of BezelBar and their location was situated where the top of the ring would be. The shank's butted ends were soldered with a small soldering iron tip. Then a 6" length of 20-gage half-round 14K GF wrapping wire was looped three times on the outside of one hole, pulled up from the bottom so that three 5mm malachite beads could be threaded on the wire. Then the open end of the wire was pushed down through the opposite hole and the wire was again wrapped three times around the BezelBar shank. Time to make: 15 minutes

Sapphire Melee Ring For this design, a 3-gem mounting clip was slid onto a length of BezelBar which was then wrapped around a ring mandrel to a size 7-1/2. It called for solving two challenges: 1) the shank's ends were loose and 2) this long, relatively heavy clip mounting doesn't bend all that easily or well (with bending pliers, it was curved slightly - but be careful of pressure marring). Once the shank was completed, a tinned solder tip locked the ends and mounting in place. A trio of 6mm Snap Tite mountings, featuring faceted sapphires, was finally glued into the mount's three cavities. Time to Make: 17 minutes

Ruby-Amethyst Pendant Five Ribbon Wire WrappingTMcomponents were used to make this lovely pendant - a length of BezelBar, three prong clips, a 3-cavity bail. The prong clips were first slipped onto the straight, measured length of BezelBar which was subsequently shaped around the 15mm diameter amethyst. The prongs were soldered in place as was the Cage ends. A 3-cavity bail was then wire wrapped for aesthetics and strength. The final task was wriggling the amethyst into the prong notches, tightening them down, and then snapping three small rubies into Snap Tite mountings which were epoxied into the bail. To promote stability, a paste epoxy fillet was inserted at the top of the stone's base (called the pavilion). A highly polished, small section of foil was positioned between the gem's surface and the epoxy e.g., to inhibit the epoxy from impairing the gem's reflection ability. Time to Make: 22 minutes