Hey Sara! Thanks for such an informative tutorial on German Style wire and how you like to use the different gauge sizes in your beautiful earring design!
The term 'German' style wire was traditionally used for wire which contains nickel. I was surprised to see that Beadalon didn't contain a warning about this and had avoided using it for that reason, thinking that perhaps because it's sold as a craft wire it didn't have to use the same precaution as jewelry wire.. It's weird that the company hasn't indicated nickel-free on its packaging, but I just checked this out and the company site does say the product IS nickel-free. I suspect the reluctance of many who have taken wire work seriously to use Beadalon's product is due to the historical roots of this term. I recently purchased some for practice, as injuries have kept me from making anything for the last, aargh, decade. You really should suggest to Beadalon that they indicate 'nickel-free' on the packaging, as this is the likely reason for reluctance among those who started jewelry making a while back. I had learned about the nickel composition of German wire from an instructor at the very top of the wireworking community. She had studied under Lynne Merchant, and wrote for Belle Armoire occasionally on wire projects and edited a wire magazine. People flew from all over the US to take classes with her, and I had and have enormous respect for her knowledge base, but, if Beadalon is being accurate, I guess it's important to keep up-to-date.
Beadalon, who is one of Sara's sponsor's, specifies that its GSW is free of nickel. If you find GSW from a different mfr, make sure you have proof that it's nickel-free if you sell your jewelry. Even if you don't mention nickel-free to a customer, you don't want to have to deal with someone having an allergic response.
