What are your favorite stores for jewlery making supplies?

January 11, 2010 5:40 PM

What are your favorite sites for jewelry making supplies? I lean toward more vintage and vintage style sites, but suggestions about standard stores that you really enjoy would also be appreciated.

I recently discovered the world of jewelry making and I'm really liking it. I have already purchased from:

Jewelry Supply
Art Beads
Brassologie

I've also come across these websites as well:

B'sue
Vintage Jewelry Supplies
Beadin' Path

posted by MaryDellamorte to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (16 answers total)

Way back when, maybe 10 years ago, I took a few jewelry making classes, and most of our supplies came from http://www.riogrande.com/
posted by mollymayhem at 5:43 PM on January 11, 2010

Fire Mountain Gems is the biggest, best jewelery making site I know.

I also like browsing through papier valise for quirky, vintage findings. I love the collection of tiny lockets and itty-bitty glass boxes.
posted by Alison at 5:50 PM on January 11, 2010

Arg.
tiny lockets
and
itty-bitty glass boxes
posted by Alison at 5:52 PM on January 11, 2010

For vast selection and prices: Fire Mountain Gems and eeBeads
and Art Gems Inc.
For organic beads and beads inspired by other cultures: Beads Worldwide
For Czech hurricane glass beads: Brightlings Beads
For Venetian glass beads: Venetian Bead Shop
For hard-to-find findings: Ornamentea (**You might like their brass filigree**)
For Hill Tribes silver: Shiana
For carved stone pendants: Waly-Beads (ebay store)

For inspiration, captures from Bones TV show (really, who makes their jewelry?!): Bones, Brennan, Angela
posted by Houstonian at 6:08 PM on January 11, 2010 [2 favorites]

I like FusionBeads-- not as comprehensive as Fire Mountain or as arty as ArtBeads, but they have some lovely stuff and a nice free-shipping policy.
posted by Bardolph at 6:12 PM on January 11, 2010

Nthing Fire Mountain Gems. Large selection, good prices on the basics and lots more. Their customer service is very good, and their packages ship really fast.
posted by Janta at 6:36 PM on January 11, 2010

Just dropping back in to add that for precious and semiprecious stone beads, the Supplies section of Etsy is actually pretty good. I've found things there that even Fire Mountain didn't carry, and for very reasonable prices.
posted by Bardolph at 7:12 PM on January 11, 2010

And for something a little different... see my profile.
posted by Kerasia at 8:11 PM on January 11, 2010

gets.cn
posted by Muirwylde at 11:15 PM on January 11, 2010

I have dealt with Shipwreckbeads, they are fast and good. Also, Fire Mountain.
posted by fifilaru at 12:38 AM on January 12, 2010

Seconding Rio Grande.
posted by princelyfox at 3:01 AM on January 12, 2010

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Etsy. The search function takes a little getting used to, but you can find some very neat things there.
posted by elisebeth at 6:43 AM on January 12, 2010

I'll just come in to support Rio Grande. The customer service/support is literally astounding.

IAASilverSmith
posted by cmoj at 11:21 AM on January 12, 2010

I believe Rio Grande only sells "to the trade". Could the poster buy from them if making jewelry/beading is a hobby and not a business for her?
posted by Houstonian at 3:52 PM on January 12, 2010

Response by poster: I actually plan on making this a business venture. I just want to get better at it and learn the market more before I dive in.
posted by MaryDellamorte at 6:13 PM on January 12, 2010

Yeah, they do sell "to the trade," but I think* they're fairly loose about that. You just have to register with them and if you explain what you're doing I think they'll be satisfied.

Like I said, they're very nice and helpful, so they'd be happy to explain exactly what you need.

*I wasn't the one who set up out account.
posted by cmoj at 10:34 AM on January 13, 2010