Have you ever had your solder just ball up and refuse to flow or not even ball up at all? Possibly your metal turned bright red, but that li

Top 5 Reasons Silver Solder Doesn't Flow

Solder not flowing? Find out the reasons why. Jewelry soldering can be frustrating at times, but with the right knowledge, you can quickly troubleshoot the problems.

This guide covers pattern wire and gallery wire used in jewelry making. What are they? What is the difference between them?

by Erica Stice

Pattern & Gallery Wire Guide: The 411

Explore pattern wire and gallery wire used in the jewelry studio in this overview guide on essential materials for your design practice.

Julie Sanford is the Halstead Catalog featured metalsmith! She stopped by and gave us some great tips for sawing in the jewelry studio.

by Ashley Maldonado

Learn Sawing From Our 2019 Featured Metalsmith, Julie Sanford -

We are proud to present Julie Sanford as the 2019 Halstead Catalog featured metalsmith. Learn more about Julie, check out her tips for using the jeweler's saw, and watch her demo video in this article.

Learn about solder here. We cover the types of solder, soldering techniques, metal alloys in silver solder and more. This is a great reference guide!

by Erica Stice

Types of Silver Solder Used in Jewelry

Many jewelers remember falling in love with metalsmithing at their first torch soldering experience. That mercurial silver flash when solder starts to flow is magical. But, what is actually happening at that moment? What is the science behind soldering?

Using a rolling mill in jewelry. From imprinting designs and rolling your own gauges to the main problems that occur if your not careful.

by Erica Stice

5 Ways to Use a Rolling Mill in your Jewelry Studio and Maintenance Primer -

Rolling mills and jewelry studios go hand in hand. Some jewelers use their rolling mills to imprint patterns on an annealed metal sheet. Others use a rolling mill as the raw material workhorse of their studios. See these and more uses in action.

Don't get stuck with the wrong chain length! A fantastic way to upsell your jewelry is by offering necklace chain extenders which will exten

by Erica Stice

3 Types of Necklace Chain Extenders

Don't get stuck with a too-short necklace! Whether it's by a customer's need or desire, longer necklaces are a must to carry. Necklace extenders can help take any pre-made design and add length. Learn about some of the most popular types of extenders Halstead offers.

Learn about Halstead's Jewelry Quality Assurance Program using precious metal lab testing as part of a regular quality control plan.

by Ashley Maldonado

Halstead Lab Testing for Quality Control: A Jewelry Quality Assurance Program

We understand you only want to give your customers the best. That’s why we take great care in our jewelry quality assurance so all items we sell are up to standards. In addition to only buying from reputable vendors, we send items for quality control lab testing. Read more about our quality control procedures.

Laboratory-grown diamonds are a great alternative to naturally mined stones. In this article, we discuss what these stones are and why they're great for jewelry.

by Ashley Maldonado

5 Reasons to Choose Laboratory-Grown Diamonds and Colored Stones

Laboratory-grown diamonds and gemstones are an ethical, affordable way for jewelers to add sparkle to their jewelry collections. Find out why these stones make the perfect alternative to natural mined stones.

Best how-to necklace lengths guide. Match neckline styles to necklace lengths! Learn the official names of the various necklace lengths. Download the guide.

by Erica Stice

Necklace Lengths Guide - How to Measure & Choose a Necklace Length

Our necklace length guide can help you and our customers quickly make jewelry decisions based on the neckline style you're wearing. Read the article, watch the video and save the infographic. Print it today!

Learn tips on untangling jewelry chain! Jewelry footage and finished chain tend to tangle also we'll cover how to package and store them to prevent tangles.

by Erica Stice

Untangling Jewelry Chain: Tips, Tricks & More

Read Tips & Tricks from the Halstead team on untangling chain plus how to properly store chain to prevent further tangles from happening. We've added a few tangled horror chain stories as well.

Shaping fancy and pattern wires, soldering tips and choosing the right jewelry making tools to shape and form the wire links with.

by Erica Stice

Fancy Jewelry Wires: Shaping & Soldering Wire Links

Fancy wires are versatile jewelry studio materials. Check out this week's blog to see design ideas and learn how to shape and solder fancy wire links.

Learn about metal alloys for jewelry making including the atomic structure and other properties that impact the material.

by Erica Stice

Metal Alloys Used in Jewelry

Learn how the structure of metal and the properties of different alloys impact common materials in jewelry creation. As a jeweler, there is nothing more rewarding than learning how to take your designs from paper to metal form.

Learn about different types of gold material used to make jewelry. The nine options explored in this article include alloys as well as layered materials and base metals.

by Erica Stice

9 Types of Gold Metal Used in Jewelry

Gold is seductive. The luminous metal has inspired artists and wearers throughout human history. This reference article will explore different golden materials used in the jewelry arts.

Check out our infographic with 7 inspiring tips to spice up your jewelry ring designs in the studio. Learn fresh ideas for making silver rings now!

by Erica Stice

Jewelry Ring Design Tips & Ideas

Fast & Fabulous! What better way to explain our seven ring tips & trends that are featured below. Summer is the perfect time to show off silver rings for stacking, pattern wire bands or embellished charm rings. At Halstead we offer ring making materials and simple ready-to-wear rings in sterling silver, gold-filled and rose gold-filled.

Stopper beads are the ideal findings to make adjustable bracelets or lariat necklaces. Use stopper beads to create slide clasps for your jewelry.

by Erica Stice

Add Value with Adjustable Slider Clasps

Learn how to use slider beads to create adjustable tassel bracelets and lariat necklaces. These clever jewelry findings open up new design possibilities.

Keeping your flex shaft in peak condition is a must for any jeweler. Follow these 14 easy steps to maintaining your jewelry making flex shaft.

by Erica Stice

Flex Shaft Maintenance

Keeping your flex shaft in peak condition is a must for any jeweler. Follow these 14 easy steps to maintaining your jewelry making flex shaft.

Erica Stice details a claw stone setting project that stretched her metalsmithing skillset in the jewelry studio. Read how she overcame the challenge.

by Erica Stice

Claw Pendant Setting: Highlights & Headaches

Erica Stice shares her insights on using a claw setting for a complicated stone specimen... here are her headaches and highlights that she encountered with this marvelous, fragile stone.

Improve your jewelry studio practice with metalsmithing skills tips from Michael David Sturlin. Consider the benefits of repetition and honing your craft.

by Michael David Sturlin

Jewelry Studio Insights: Practice Makes Perfect

Michael David Sturlin talks about the necessity of repetition for optimal results in your jewelry studio practice as you build metalsmithing skills at the bench.

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