Stays On Jewelry Wire Ear Wire -- Jewelry Making Project -- Page 1

Have you ever had a problem with losing an earring because the ear wire slid off your ear.  When you make earrings that are light weight, this can be a serious problem. 

We have had ear wires with the conventional shepherd's hook design for thousands of years.  In all that time there hasn't been a serious improvement  in the design.  That could mean that the design was perfect as is.  We choose to believe that the design could be improved.  Unfortunately, the improved version takes a few more steps to make. 

The ear wire that you see left and right above appears quite different from the conventional shepherd's hook ear wire.  The interesting thing is that this ear wire, when worn, appears almost indistinguishable from a shepherd's hook ear wire.  The one difference is that it will appear that the hole in the wearer's ear is slightly lower when wearing this Stays On design. 

The reason that this ear wire stays on better than a conventional ear wire is pretty obvious.  The notch at the top of the ear wire fits the ear lobe better and makes the earrings less likely to slide. 

In the sample ear wires shown above, we included a 4mm bead in the ear wire.  We strongly suggest that if you are making these ear wires that you include a small 2mm to 4mm bead in the ear wire in a color that matches or compliments the color of the beads in your earrings.  The reason for this is simple -- when you add that bead, it says to everyone who sees that ear wire that this is custom made.  This will help differentiate your jewelry from something that is mass produced.  The "stays on" feature will also help to differentiate your jewelry from all of the other jewelry in the market place.  This will help to stimulate sales. 

Our instructions for making these Stays On Jewelry Wire Ear Wire begin on the the following web page. 

Skills Required:

• Ability to cut wire with with a flush cutter.
• Ability to straighten wire with nylon jaw pliers.
• Ability to make a "P" Loop in wire.
• Ability to use a WigJig tool to make wire components. 
• Ability to make an open loop in wire.
• Ability to open and close loops to connect wire components.