Bold wire captures provide an unconven-tional approach to traditional pearl earrings. 18 x 21 mm(11⁄16 x 13⁄16 in.).

Pearls don’t have to be demure. Why not spotlight these lustrous beauties with edgy, gothic-inspired wire wrapping? I’ll let you in on a secret: The tapered clawlike

prongs only appear to be clutching the pearls. Cleverly con-cealed head pins are actually doing the heavy lifting. To finish off the pieces, you can fabricate your own hoop-post findings using basic torch skills. Or, forgo the torch, and forge simple ear-wire hooks instead.

Capture a Pearl in Wire-Wrapped ProngsEdgy earrings hang from handmade hoop-posts. by dona diCarlo

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©2011 Kalmbach Publishing Co. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher.

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Capture a Pearl in Wire-Wrapped Prongs

Cut square wire. Use flush cutters to cut four 31⁄2-in. (89 mm) pieces of 18-gauge (1.0 mm) square wire. Use a fine-tip marker to mark the midpoint of each wire. You’ll use one pair of wires to make each earring.

NOTE: Determine the length of the square wires based on the size of your pearls. I used 10 x 12 mm pearls. To accommodate larger pearls, cut four pieces of square wire that are 4 in. (10.2 cm) or longer.

Make a U-bend. Using large round- nose pliers, grasp one pair of wires at their midpoint marks. Pull the ends of the wires down to make a U-bend.

Keeping one jaw of the pliers in the U-bend, pull one side of the U up against the second jaw of the pliers to bend that wire tail outward [1]. Repeat with the other side of the U [2].

Wrap the U. Cut an 18-in. (45.7 cm) piece of 24-gauge (0.5 mm) fine-silver wire to

use as wrapping wire. Starting on one side of the U-bend and leaving a 2-in. (51 mm) tail, use the wrapping wire to make tight wraps around the pair of wires [3] until you’ve wrapped the entire U-bend.

Close the U. Use chainnose pliers to squeeze the U closed to form a loop and a neck below the loop [4].

Wrap the neck. Grasp the loop with small roundnose pliers, and make a few wraps around all four wires at the neck [5]. The square wires extending below the neck will be the prongs.

Position the prong wires. Using chainnose pliers, position the prong wires at 12-, 3-, 6-, and 9-o’clock [6].

Begin weaving to make the cage. Using the working end of the wrapping wire, make one underhand wrap around a prong. Keeping tension on the wrapping

wire, make a single underhand wrap around the next prong. Continue until you’ve made four rounds of wraps [7].

Position the pearl. Thread a pearl on a 3-in. (76 mm) head pin. Thread the head pin through the woven prongs next to the neck [8]. Pull the head pin to snug the pearl within the center of the woven prongs, and wrap the head pin around the neck a couple of times to secure the pearl.

Bend the prongs. With the pearl facing up, use chainnose pliers to grasp one prong above its last wrap. Carefully bend the prong toward the pearl until the prong is nearly parallel with the pearl. Repeat to bend the other prongs [9].

Finish the cage. Using the wrapping wire, wrap the prongs as before, being careful not to scratch the pearl. Make four or five rounds, leaving two-thirds of the pearl uncovered. Do not cut the wrapping wire.

Part 1: Earring component

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Cut the prongs. Use chainnose pliers to align the prongs evenly around the pearl. Measure 5 ⁄32 in. (4 mm) below the last wrap of one prong, and mark this point with a marker. Repeat to mark the other prongs. Use flush cutters to cut each mark at a 45° angle [10].

NOTE: To add a patina to the wire, see “Patinate the Wire Capture,” before you proceed.

File the prongs. Use a flat needle file to carefully smooth the cut prong ends [11].

NOTE: Because the prong ends are angled, you should be able to position the file to avoid scratching the pearl. To be extra careful, use a safety-back needle file.

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materials ■ Sterling silver wire:

■ 18-gauge (1.0 mm), square, half-hard, 24–32 in. (61.0–81.3 cm)

■ 14-gauge (1.6 mm), round, half-hard, 5 in. (12.7 cm)

■ 20-gauge (0.8 mm), round, half-hard, 3 in. (76 mm)

■ Fine-silver wire: 24-gauge (0.5 mm), round, 36 in. (91.4 cm)

■ 2 pearls: 10 x 12 mm ■ 4 sterling silver head pins: 3 in. (76 mm) ■ 2 earring-back findings

additional tools & supplies ■ Liver of sulfur (optional) ■ Polishing paper: 1200 grit ■ Scotch-Brite pad

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15Bend the prongs. Use chainnose pliers to bend the prongs toward the pearl [12]. The prongs should be close to, but not touching, the pearl.

Trim the wrapping wire. Using chain-nose pliers, grasp the prong that has the working end of the wrapping wire. Make two wraps around that prong [13], then trim the excess wrapping wire. Tuck the tail behind the prong.

Wrap and tuck the remaining tails. Using the original wrapping-wire tail, make vertical wraps around the neck [14]. Tuck the tail inside the neck.

Using the head pin tail, make horizon-tal wraps around the neck, covering the wrapping-wire-tail wraps [15]. Tuck the tail within the wraps.

Make the second wire-wrapped pearl capture. Using the remaining square wires, repeat the previous steps to make a second earring component.

A handmade hoop-post complements the bold wire-wrapped capture and generous pearl.

Head pin tail

Wrapping-wire tail

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Process photos by dona diCarlo.

The following instructions are for making hoop-posts for the earring components. Instead of making hoop-posts, you can forge simple ear-wire hooks .

Prepare the hoop wires. Use flush cutters to cut two 21⁄4-in. (57 mm) pieces of 14-gauge (1.6 mm) round sterling silver wire. Coat one end of each wire in flux, then use a torch to ball up these ends [1] . These wires will become the hoops.

NOTE: These components should be the same length after you ball up the wire. If you end up with one longer piece, trim it to match the length of the shorter one.

Use a flat needle file to flatten the plain ends of the hoop wires.

Prepare the post wires. Cut two 1½-in. (38 mm) pieces of 20-gauge (0.8 mm) round sterling silver wire; these will become the posts. File the end of each post wire flat.

Clean the wire. Use a Scotch-Brite pad and water to remove any dirt and finger oils from the surface of all the wires.

Solder the wires. Using a third hand and cross-locking tweezers, position the filed end of a hoop wire against the filed end of a post wire. Apply easy paste solder to the

Before you patinate a wire capture, remove the pearl from the assembly.

NOTE: You needed the pearl in position while you made the wire wraps to make sure the pearl fit inside the capture. But the pearl could be stained or damaged by the patina, so I always remove the pearl before patinating the wire capture.

Follow these steps to patinate the wire capture and reassemble the earring component:

[1] Unwrap the head pin from around the neck of the assembly, and remove the head pin and pearl.

[2] Follow the manufacturer’s instructions to patinate the wire capture. Then rinse it with water and dry it with a soft cloth.

[3] Use 1200-grit polishing paper to remove some of the patina and create highlights on the wire.

[4] Thread the pearl on a new patinated head pin instead of on the original head pin, which will likely be brittle and kinked from being manipulated. Thread the head pin through the capture, and wrap the head pin around the neck a couple of times.

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Part 2: Hoop-postsjoin. Use a torch to heat the wires above and below the join until the solder flows [2]. Don’t overheat the post wire, or you could melt it. Let the assembly air-cool.

Repeat to solder the other hoop-and-post assembly.

Trim the posts. Use flush cutters to trim the posts to about 5 ⁄8 in. (16 mm) [3].

Clean and refine the assemblies. Pickle and rinse the soldered assemblies. Dry them with a soft cloth. Use 600-grit sand- paper to smooth and round the end of each post.

Form the hoops. Use forming pliers or a large mandrel to bend one of the hoop wires into a hoop shape [4]. Do not bend the post. Repeat to shape the other hoop.

Make a notch in each post. About 1⁄16 in. (1.5 mm) from the end of one post, use flush cutters to carefully make a shallow notch [5]. Repeat in the other earring post. These notches ensure that the earring backs won’t fall off the posts.

Add the claw captures. Thread the post of a hoop through one earring component. Add an earring back to the post. Repeat to assemble the second earring.