Wire Sculpture
A 5000 year old art, making jewelry without solder or casting from
wire has reached a high level with those artists who have the hands and
the vision. Easy items can be made with wire by almost anyone. However
there are some people who have taken the art way beyond the "wire bending"
or "wire wrapping" modes. We like to set them apart by calling it wire
"sculpture".
Most of the pieces you see here are made using sterling silver or 14 carat
rolled gold wire. Rolled gold items have a mechanically and chemically
bonded layer of solid 14 carat gold. The law in the U.S. requires any item
marked rolled gold must be 1/20 pure gold by weight. The result
is a piece that looks and behaves like solid gold. The surface 14k gold
layer on base metal is more than a hundred times thicker that any plating
process, and unlike plating, will not corrode, turn, or wear off. 14 carat
rolled gold 14/20 items will wear for a lifetime under most jewelry wear
conditions.
14 carat solid gold wired items are available under special order from
our artists, usually at ten times the price of the rolled gold item. 14
carat gold is 50% fine (pure) gold, and 24 carat is all fine gold. Fine
gold is much too soft for jewelry, and is seldom used in any quality jewelry.
Sterling silver is 92% solid silver, with alloy metals making up the 8%
left so that the metal will be harder or more durable.
Occasionally, some pieces are made from fine silver, but usually for technical
reasons that apply to that piece. - Carolique.
Last Updated 1/26/2000 by hm.