Purchasing Jewelry Making Supplies

Buying Gems and Purchasing Jewelry Supplies

There's no question that there has never been a greater array of gemstone and jewelry making supplies available on the market as can be found right now.  The explosion of interest in beading has brought us a huge number of local stores which offer a number of jewelry supplies.  The growth of the Internet has brought us a huge number of mail order businesses that offer a wide variety of materials through the World Wide Web at low cost. Many of these stores provide a virtual one-stop shop for all your jewelry construction needs.

I always recommend that when starting a new jewelry art project that one should sit down and map out all the items, including both tools and supplies as well as gemstones that they will need to purchase.  To that end I'm providing a list of businesses that offer a wide variety of gemstone and jewelry making supplies that I've used and done business with over the years. All of these jewelry supply businesses offer sales through the Internet, and have well-developed websites to show off their product lines

One of my very favorites is Tripps Manufacturing of New Mexico. They carry a large number of pre-notched and polished settings ready for your gemstones. This includes rings, earrings, pendants and bracelets in gold and silver for both cabochon and facet cut stones. They also sell the tools needed for setting gems into jewelry.

A well-known supplier that is used by many people is Rio Grande. They have have been in business for many years and offer a full selection of jewelry settings and other jewelry making supplies, including some gemstones and beads.  Their selection is large and they can provide virtually all the necessary materials for many different types of jewelry art projects 

More commercially oriented is Roseco Inc. This company offers a wide variety of settings including rings, earrings, pendants, and bracelets.  They also sell ring shanks that various settings or other items can be soldered onto. Roseco offers a full line of jewelers equipment, including benches and tools.  They also carry a very full line of wax patterns and other supplies necessary for lost wax casting

Another well-known commercial supplier is Hoover and Strong. They carry a wide variety of settings in both gold and silver in both ready to set and forms which require notching before the stones can be set. Much of their business is done with commercial jewelry stores.  This business also offers the facility to refine and reprocess precious metal bearing scrap and jewelry manufacturing materials

Another well-known supplier is Alpha Supply.  Alpha is virtually a one-stop full jewelry and lapidary equipment supplier they carry everything from beads and lapidary materials to jewelry display setups, including all the equipment needed for lost wax casting.  They also carry findings and pre-made jewelry as well as gemstone setting pliers

Of course there are many other suppliers beyond just those listed above and many of them are good businesses that are very reliable.  Simply offered these because I've made jewelry supply purchases from them and had good experiences with those purchases.