Wire Wrapped Stone Pendants

I really love gemstones, so what better to do than make a pendant with them! By wire wrapping the stone, you can personalise the pendant, yet still see all the beauty the stone has to offer.

I was a bit insecure about writing this instructable, since there are a lot of great wire wrapping tutorials on here, new ones are even being published while I'm typing this. But, I just figured everyone wraps a stone differently :) I hope you like it!

2020 update: I revisited this project and made a new instructable about it! Check it out here :).

Step 1: Materials

To make a pendant like this, you will need:

- a stone / probably the most common location I see these is on markets, but you can also find them online (e.g. here)

- wire, for a stone of about 2 cm high I used 25 cm of wire

- pliers

Step 2: Start With a Swirl

Take the piece of wire and hold it with the top of the round nose pliers. Turn it around to make a loop. Holding it with flat nose pliers, you can now continue your swirl, until it has reached the size you want it to be.

Step 3: Getting the Stone In

Take your stone and hold it as shown in the second image. Place the swirl you just made against it with the remaining wire pointing down.

Step 4: Wrapping the Bottom

Place your thumb against the swirl, so it can't move. Wrap the wire around the bottom to create a kind of bed for the stone. Stop wrapping after about two or three rounds.

Step 5: The Top Needs Wire As Well

To bring the wire to the top of the stone, bend it up on the back of the stone. Start wrapping the top by just bending the wire to the side on the right height and wrapping it around again. Here you can also wrap about three times. I adjusted the position of the swirl here as well, I thought it was just a bit too low.

Step 6: A Loop to Finish It

To make sure you can put this charm on a necklace, bend the wire straight up and make a loop using your round nose pliers. I prefer to make double loops, this will also prevent the charm from falling off your necklace.

Step 7: Done!

That's it, you're done! I hope you liked it, and maybe will try it yourself :)

Comments

[DorothyC31]

What gauge wire to use

[Beady25]

Do you think it would be harder to wrap a stone that was slightly irregular in shape? and have you made any of your spirals bigger than the one pictured?

[c001quip]

this thing is a total b*ch to make with pliers, if you're gonna skip the loop(which i did to make it easier) i'd make sure to skip one or two centimeters and continue with your hands

[MoonShyne777]

Actually I managed it on my very first try. I think if you take your time with it and practice and as the other commenter said , read carefully, you should be able to do this.

[emilyvanleemput]

Just wondering, did you actually read the entire instructable? If you do, you'll see that the wrapping itself is done by hand, the only parts that were created using pliers are the swirl to start with and the loop at the end.

[TammyO20]

I think this looks simple but very lovely and as someone who's never done this before, I appreciate your sharing your way if doing it. I'm considering buying materials to give it a try. What size/guage wire did you use?

Thanks! ☺

[emilyvanleemput]

Thank you! These pendants were made with gauge 20/ 0.8 mm wire, and I'd definitely recommend at least having that thickness

[SarahT183]

Hi. This is good. The stripy mail varnish on your thumb is a distraction though and makes it hard to work out what's going on on a small screen.

[ChelseaB50]

How do you know what length of wire to use.

[emilyvanleemput]

It's a bit of trial and error at first, but I used about 25 cm for a stone with a height of around 2 cm

[JeanneP25]

What thickness of wire?>??

[emilyvanleemput]

These pendants were made with gauge 20 / 0.8 mm wire!

[Christine Buchar]

what is the wire thickness recommended?

Thank you

[emilyvanleemput]

For a project like this I mostly use 0,8 mm wire, gauge 20

[Debbie Canavan]

Hi! Thanks for posting this. :) I was wondering, though, is this round, half round or square wire? Thanks for your help! :)

[emilyvanleemput]

Glad you like it! It's round wire

[Joshlyng]

wow you made that look easy!! Fingers crossed and giving this a go myself ?

[emilyvanleemput]

You should definitely try it! I'd love to see how it turns out : )

[CodyP7]

Thanks! You made it so simple and practical!

[emilyvanleemput]

Very welcome!