Earwire Tutorial

I've been making my own earwires for many years. What follows is a tutorial for a very simple style that is a great way to get started. As time allows, I will add tutorials for several other styles of earwires.

I start with 3" - 3 1/2" of 20 ga half-hard sterling silver wire. If this is your first time trying this, you might want to practice with copper wire before cutting the sterling! Hammer about 1/4" of the end of the wire flat using a chasing hammer and either an anvil or bench block.






Next, using your round nose pliers, make a small loop at the flattened end: Placing the round nose pliers just above this loop, make a bend in the opposite direction, as shown in the next 2 photos. In the 3rd photo below, you can see that I'm making the curve that will go through your ear. Here, I am using a size 13 aluminum knitting needle as a "jig". A Sharpie pen works well too.To finish the earwires, hammer both the top curve and the small curve at the bottom where your drops will go. This hardens the wire and dresses it up at the same time. Don't forget to file the ends and make a small bend in the end, if desired.