American Indian Silver

Native American Indian Silver

American Indian silver has been the blood of creativity for Native American silversmiths. Silversmiths would create their plates and wire from scratch from silver coins. Today the can buy silver from a jewelry supplier in premade plates (silver sheets), silver wire, and findings (earrings wires, silver connectors, and silver beads.)

Silver Plate

Silver plate is made by compressing silver into sheets of metal. The sheets are then used by silversmiths to make bezel cups, bracelet backings, or any suface of silver. There are varying degrees of thickness in silver plate. The thickness is from high to low. An example would be 10 gauge silver plate would be thicker than 18 gauge plate.

Silver Wire Plate Wire Frame

Silver Wire

Silver wire is made by pulling it through a special shape. The thickness of the wire is measured in gauges. The thicker the wire the smaller the gauge number and the thinner the wire the higher the gauge number. An example would be a 10 gauge wire would be thicker than 18 gauge wire.

Round Wire

Silver Round Wire Wire Frame Round wire is a shape of silver wire. The wire is round all the way around. The thickness is the gauge of wire. Round wire is used in twist wire and silver drops. Round wire is also used in bracelet shanks.

Half Round Wire

Silver Half Round Wire Frame Half round wire is a shape of silver wire. The wire is a round wire cut in half. The thickness is the gauge of the wire. Half round wire is used in bezels and bracelet shanks.

Triangle Wire

Silver Triangle Wire Frame Triangle wire is a shape of silver wire. The wire is a triangle. The thickness is the gauge of the wire. Triangle wire is used for bracelet shanks and for special enhancements.

Square Wire

Silver Sqaure Wire Frame Square wire is a shape of silver wire. The wire is a sqaure. The thickness is the gauge of the wire. Square wire is used for ring shanks, bezels, or special enhancements.

Special Wire

Silver Half Bead Wire Frame Special wire is shaped like beads or patterns of silver wire. The thickness is the gauge of the wire. Special wire is used for special enhancements but can used for shanks and other pieces of the jewelry.

Bezels

Bezels are silver wires that can used to wrap stones cabochons. The bezels used for cabochons can have different shapes and sizes. Some of the different types of bezels are shown below.

Plain Bezel

Silver Plain Bezel