Wire-wrapped cabochon

Wire-wrapped
cabochon
Use half-round wire to encase
a stone cabochon, and embellish
it with beads.
FCT-MW-080816_06
by Irina Miech
©2012 Kalmbach Publishing Co. This material may not be
reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher.
facetjewelry.com
materials
Pendant approx. 1 x 2 in.
(25.5 x 51 mm)
• Sterling silver wire
• 16-gauge (1.29 mm), half-round,
half-hard, 36 in. (91.4 cm)
• 24-gauge (0.51 mm), round, halfhard, 10 in. (25.4 cm)
• Cabochon: 1 x 2 in. (25.5 x 51 mm)
• 15–20 assorted 2–5 mm beads
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2
3
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8
tools & supplies
• Wirework toolbox, p. 8
• Stepped roundnose pliers with
5–6 mm jaw
stepbystep
1 Cut four 8-in. (20.3 cm) pieces of
16-gauge (1.29 mm) half-round wire.
Align three of them with the flat surfaces
facing the same way. Position the
remaining 8-in. (20.3 cm) wire slightly
off center on the group of wires. Leaving
a 1-in. (25 mm) tail, make three wraps
around the group of three wires. Trim
the ends on the flat surface, and use
chainnose pliers to flatten them.
2 To begin the wire bezel, shape the
bundle of wires around a cabochon.
3 Using the wire left over from the first
set of wraps, make another set of wraps
on one side of the bezel frame. Repeat
on the other side.
4 Use flatnose pliers to shape the wires
to closely fit the top of the stone.
5 Bend both sets of tails so they point
straight up above the cab and are
parallel to each other.
6 Using flatnose pliers, grasp the tails
right above the cab, and bend each set
of tails outward 90º.
7 Cut 10 in. (25.4 cm) of 24-gauge
(0.51 mm) wrapping wire. Leaving a
short tail and starting at the top of the
bezel-wire “neck,” wrap the bezel-wire
tails. Trim the short wrapping-wire tail
(not the working wire).
8 Identify the front two bezel-wire
tails, bend them out toward the front
of the bezel, and trim each to about
1⁄2 in. (13 mm).
9 Using a 5–6 mm jaw of a pair of
stepped roundnose pliers, grasp each
front tail and roll it up over the bezel
neck to make a double bail. Adjust the
loops as needed so they are identical.
9
10 Using one of the remaining bezelwire tails, make a loose spiral (How-Tos)
to cover the bezel neck. Using
the remaining three bezel-wire tails,
make additional spirals as desired;
trim the tails, and tuck them into the
work as desired.
10
11
15a
12
13
11 Using roundnose or chainnose
15 Wrap the wire around the bezel wires
pliers, make decorative bends at the
bottom of the front two bezel wires.
Make small bends at the top of the
front bezel wire.
(15a), bring it to the back of the stone,
12 Place the cab facedown into the
bezel, and make a few decorative bends
in the wire on the back of the stone as
needed to keep the stone in place.
13 Bring the wrapping wire from the
back through an opening between two
bezel wires.
14 String beads on the wire as desired,
15b
14
and angle it down toward the other side
of the stone.
wrap a few times around a wire on the
back of the stone (15b), and trim.
Irina Miech owns
Eclectica and The
Bead Studio in
Brookfield, Wis.
She is the author
of several jewelrymaking books. www.eclecticabeads.com.