Purchasing Ear Wires: Avoid Costly Mistakes

Purchasing Ear Wires: Avoid Costly Mistakes
By Kim Hatzold
The classroom door swung open striking the sidewall with a clatter. Startled, I looked up from
my class preparations. I expected to see the usual sight—a student whose hands were occupied with a
teetering stack of bead options for the day’s class. But that wasn’t the case. It was simply one student,
carrying a few items, who looked perturbed. Hmmm, not a good way to start the day.
I glanced at the clock. Class wasn’t scheduled to start for another 20 minutes, so I motioned her over to
my table. “You seem upset,” I said. “Is there anything I can do to help you have a better day?” She
plopped down next to me, extracted a small brown bag from her jewelry supplies, and poured its silvery
contents onto the table . . .
“Kim, I spent hours yesterday picking out this great assortment of handcrafted ear wires at the gem
show. When I got home last night, I discovered that none of them fit through my pierced ear holes. I can’t
believe I wasted an entire afternoon and a lot of money on ear wires that I can’t use in any of my jewelry
designs. Plus, I don’t even know what’s wrong them! Do you know what the problem is?”
A Growing Trend
This student’s experience is not an isolated incident. Rather, it illustrates an escalating problem for the
unwary buyer. Jewelry vendors currently import components from all over the world. As a result,
attractive ear wires are now available for purchase in a variety of thicknesses (or gauges)—many of which
cannot be worn by anyone with standard pierced ears.
To demonstrate my point, I intentionally ordered a
selection of lovely, yet unwearable, ear wire styles from
the Rio Grande Gems & Findings catalog (shown at the
right). I spent over $75.00, plus shipping. Rest assured, if
you order products that don’t work for you, Rio Grande
has an excellent return policy.
The ear wires shown in this group vary in thickness from
18-gauge (too thick) to 22-gauge (too thin). What thickness
is just right? Only ear wires in a thickness of 20-gauge
wire (.030” - .032”) should be used for standard pierced
ear openings.
When ear wires are too thick, you’ll know right away because you won’t be able to slide them
comfortably through your pierced ear holes. Plus, this is one area where persistence does not pay off. If
you do manage to slide the ear wires through, you run the risk of stretching out the openings in your
pierced ears.
Purchasing Ear Wires: Avoid Costly Mistakes
©2010 Kim K. Mayne-Hatzold. All Rights Reserved.
http://UntamedSpiritStudios.com
■ Page 1 ■
When ear wires are too thin, you deal with a different set of problems. Thin wire distorts easily, and
through daily use, the ear wires will bend and lose their shape. Worse yet, thin ear wires can lacerate your
pierced ear holes due to the weight and movement of your earrings as you wear them. Ouch!
Can You Avoid Making Costly Mistakes?
Absolutely! The Brown & Sharp Standard Sheet and Wire Gauge
will allow you to cut through the clutter of unwearable ear
wire styles quickly and easily. This straightforward tool
measures the thickness of wire (as well as metal sheet stock).
One side of the tool lists the wire gauges by number: 0 - 36.
The reverse side lists the thickness of each gauge as a decimal
equivalent. The tool is small, portable, and priceless when
purchasing ear wires at bead stores and gems shows. If your
local bead store doesn’t sell this wire gauge, you can
purchase it from a catalog such as Rio Grande Tools &
Equipment: http://www.riogrande.com.
Using the Gauge
Brown & Sharp Standard Sheet and Wire Gauge
(Image not shown to scale)
First, hold the tool with the wire gauge numbers (0 - 36) facing up. The outside edge of the tool has a
series of slots (or openings) that correspond to the thickness of the listed wire gauge. Notice that the
closer the gauge number is to zero, the wider the opening. This means 0-gauge wire is much thicker than
36-gauge wire. When testing an ear wire, use the straight-edged portion of the slot only. The round hole
located between the stamped gauge number and the end of the slot is of no relevance.
Now, let’s assume that the ear wire you want to test is 20-gauge. So,
begin with that slot. A 20-gauge ear wire should slide into the slot
with little or no wiggle room on either side. If the ear wire slides
into the 20-gauge slot and seems to have space on either side, the
ear wire is actually thinner than 20-gauge. So, try the openings for
21-gauge through 24-gauge to determine the ear wire’s width. If
you find the opposite is true on your initial test and the ear wire
won’t fit into the 20-gauge slot, your ear wire is thicker than 20gauge. So, try the 19-gauge and 18-gauge openings to determine the
width of your ear wire.
Note: The ear wire on the chandelier component (shown at the left)
is just a little too thick. For the finished earring design featured in
the Create the Look supplement, I removed that ear wire and
substituted this 20-gauge ear wire instead.
Purchasing Ear Wires: Avoid Costly Mistakes
©2010 Kim K. Mayne-Hatzold. All Rights Reserved.
http://UntamedSpiritStudios.com
■ Page 2 ■
Catalog Shopping for Ear Wires
When catalog shopping for ear wires, you only need to refer to a small portion of the Brown & Sharp
scale—the portion that applies to the thicknesses you’re likely to encounter. Many catalogs in the
United States, list the thickness of each ear wire style as a decimal equivalent, along with the item
number and product description. Below, I’ve listed the segment of the scale that I refer to when
buying ear wires. I’ve also included the millimeter equivalents for each gauge (in case you come
across a catalog that lists the information in this manner).
Decimal Equivalent
.040”
.036”
Millimeters
1.02 mm
.912 mm
Too Thick
**20
.032”
.812 mm
Just Right
21
22
23
24
25
.028”
.025”
.022”
.020”
.018”
.723 mm
.644 mm
.573 mm
.511 mm
.455 mm
Gauge
18
19
Too Thin
Now, let’s practice a little catalog shopping. Listed below are three samples from the Rio Grande Gems &
Findings catalog (2010 edition). Which ear wire style should you buy?
Item
Description
Hammered
with loop &
bead
Wire Size
B2
Outside loop
.036”
C3
Loop & coil
.032”
A1
.025”
Which one did you pick? If you selected C3, you are correct.
Now, I realize some of you may be thinking . . . “But Kim, I really like the look of B2. What if I want to
use THAT style in my earring design?” Or, perhaps you like the look of A1. With a little due diligence,
you can often find the style you desire in the correct gauge. It just takes a little searching.
Purchasing Ear Wires: Avoid Costly Mistakes
©2010 Kim K. Mayne-Hatzold. All Rights Reserved.
http://UntamedSpiritStudios.com
■ Page 3 ■
To illustrate my point, let’s look at our catalog again. You’ll notice B2 from the previous chart with
two additional ear wires that are available for purchase in the same style. Which item number should
you choose?
Item
Description
Wire Size
D4
Outside loop
.029”
E5
Outside loop
.032”
B2
Outside loop
.036”
Did you select E5? Once again, you are correct. And I didn’t have to search far and wide to find these
three ear wire choices. They were located on two consecutive pages of the findings catalog.
What about sample A1 from the first chart? Was I able to find a match for it in same catalog? Well, I
didn’t find an exact match, but I found a similar style in 20-gauge wire.
Item
A1
F6
Description
Hammered
with loop &
bead
Wire Size
Loop & bead
.032”
.025”
To create the same look as A1, you only need to tap the outside curve of the 20-gauge ear wire (ever so
gently) with a chasing hammer. Or, you can look for a hammered version of this ear wire style from
another vendor.
In time, you may want to learn how to make your own ear wires (out of 20-gauge wire, of course). It’s a
nice skill to have in your “bag of tricks”, especially when you can’t find the ear wire style you want in
the correct gauge. But that’s a topic for a different article.
Purchasing Ear Wires: Avoid Costly Mistakes
©2010 Kim K. Mayne-Hatzold. All Rights Reserved.
http://UntamedSpiritStudios.com
■ Page 4 ■
Wrap Up
Have you been wondering how the day turned out for the frustrated student at the start of class? During
our lunch break, she borrowed my wire gauge and dashed over to the gem show to return the ear wires.
Fearlessly, she showed each vendor what was wrong with the items she had purchased from them and
every vendor refunded her money. After class, we all went out together to celebrate a happy ending to
her story.
Are you ready to go shopping? Armed with your new knowledge and your Brown & Sharp wire gauge,
you can now enjoy purchasing ear wires and creating wearable earring designs with confidence!
To measure is to know.
—Lord Kelvin (1824 - 1907), Irish Mathematical Physicist and Engineer
Purchasing Ear Wires: Avoid Costly Mistakes
©2010 Kim K. Mayne-Hatzold. All Rights Reserved.
http://UntamedSpiritStudios.com
■ Page 5 ■