Tom Hyde, a jewelry artisan from North Carolina, USA is known online by two names - Gemcutter and Chainmaker2. Those two names alone tell a little story about his journey as a craftsman over the past seven years. He started off taking lapidary courses but is now a chain maker too. Get it?

When I browsed through his gallery on Jewelrygeeks.com, I didn't need to be told by Tom how much he enjoys making rings and chain maille jewelry. He is amazed how lovely jewelry can be when made from just lots of simple metal rings. Tom gets his inspiration from the satisfied smiles of the people lucky enough to be able to wear his designs.

What stood out amongst his designs were his wire rings. The top picture shows a pair made in two different metals - rather good as a lovers' or wedding set or perhaps for someone to match different jewelry pieces. The second photo shows how beads can be incorporated to make distinctive designs.

Pictures with kind permission from Tom.

FREE TUTORIAL LINKS

Inspired by Tom's work? Ready to try wire wrapping rings? Then check out these free resources :

Mcfarlanddesigns has a nice variation of the wire rosette design.

Wire wrapped ring video tutorial from Auntie's Beads shows the same style of ring making but uses several wraps. Of note is the use of a large button as the "stone".



Eni Oken's ring tutorial (not free) is for the insanely advanced.

______________________________
Original Post by THE BEADING GEM
Jewelry Making Tips - Jewelry Business Tips