Wire Wrapping

Many of the pieces we create here at Elizabeth Sarah Collections are handmade by a technique called wire wrapping, and more often than not, our customers, friends and family are curious to know what exactly that entails. Since we use this technique often, and it's a staple defining our signature pieces we want to give a little insight into the history and art of wire wrapping.

This trade has a deep history, dating back to 1446 BC. It was at the site of tombs of ancient Egyptian pharaoh's that researchers discovered remnants of wire wrapped jewelry, and they believe that this style of adornment may go back even further in time. 

One of the reasons that this style was so popular, and remains so today is that wire wrapping is the only technique used to make jewelry that is completely crafted by hand. It's believed that the ancient civilizations that made wire wrapped jewelry used gold, silver and copper which was easily pounded into flat sheets, cut into thin strips and then rolled into tubes.

This technique does not call for soldering, casting, the use of fire or electricity, which is why it was so widely practiced thousands of years ago. The tools, wire cutters and pliers, are the only ones needed and are fairly easy to use, and were easily obtained by our ancestors.

Wire wrapped jewelry can be used in many fashions, such as to hold gemstones, beads, shells, bone or even other wire in place by bending, twisting and cutting various strengths (or thickness) of wire. By using this technique, jewelry can stand the test of time, as seen from the excavated tombs of the ancient Egyptians. 

Our creations made by gemstone, wire and chain are all handmade and one of a kind, or come in small batch, limited edition collections.

We want our customers to know the pride we take in keeping this ancient technique alive and how we choose to perfect and inspect each and every piece of jewelry before we consider it a finished product.

We feel that the satisfaction of knowing where your jewelry came from and the story behind the hands making it, it is as meaningful to the designer as well as the customer wearing it.

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