| Q&A
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What is gold wire jewelry, I've never heard of it?
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Wire jewelry has been around for thousands of years.
Evidence of it goes back more than 5000 years to ancient Egypt and other
areas, where artisans created jewelry items that were worn by high
religious officials and political leaders. Today’s artists use gold
wire, usually gold-filled wire, to create sculpted jewelry pieces, which
might contain precious and semi-precious gemstones, crystals, cameos or
beads. Wire Sculptors create items that are considered to be lifetime
pieces of jewelry.
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Isn't gold filled really the same as gold plated?
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No! Gold-filled wire is created using an expensive
process that bonds a layer of pure gold to a base metal, usually
jeweler’s brass. It contains 100 times more gold than gold plated. By
law gold filled, which is sometimes referred to as 14/20 gold filled,
must contain 20% gold. To put this in perspective, 24kt pure gold
contains 58% gold.
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Why do artists and crafters even use gold
filled wire, isn't real gold better?
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The reason most wire jewelry artists and sculptors use
gold-filled wire instead of 14,18 or 24kt gold is cost. The 14,18 and
24kt gold wire is very expensive, many times more expensive than
gold-filled wire. A piece of jewelry created using gold filled wire is
much more affordable and with proper care, can be considered a lifetime
piece of jewelry.
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Where can I buy gold wire jewelry? I
don't seem to be able to find any stores that carry it.
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Wire jewelry is fast becoming a very popular craft item,
There are quite a large number of artists who now make and sell wire
jewelry. You can find many of them displaying their art on web sites and
at craft show and gem and jewelry shows all over the country. Some wire
artists sell wholesale to stores and shops. But many limit their sales
to craft and gem shows. I feel that more artists do not open store
fronts due to the fact that a store usually adds a layer of overhead
that must be passed on to the consumer in the form of higher prices. We
at DeGraff Studios have chosen to confine our sales to craft, gem
and jewelry shows and to our website, this limits our overhead and we
can pass the savings on to you, the clients.
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