Wire Needed to Make Wire Rings

Before you can start to make wire rings, you will need some wire.  Ideally, you want some jewelry grade wire.  There are so many options these days, it is really easy to get started with this as a hobby.  Your choice probably depends on the look you want to achieve or on your eventual jewelry making goals.  I recommend you consider the following types of wire to start learning:
- Colored Craft Wire: These are usually copper base with a (semi) permanent layer of color.  The color can scratch off though, so you need to be careful.  It's a good way to learn to be careful with your tools.  Some to try are Artistic Wire by Beadalon or ParaWire.
- Copper Wire:  Just like it sounds, this is solid copper wire.  If you want to save money you can buy electrical wire by the yard at a Home Center and strip it.  If you buy the really thick wire, you'll find that you'll get several different gauges at once.  I'll have to post more about this later.
- Sterling or Gold-Plated wire or Nickel Silver Wire:  All of these are great substitutes for precious metal wires and can look like the real thing.  I like the Beadalon brand.  It is slightly more brittle than sterling, but otherwise very similar to work with.

Colored Artistic Wire

Absolutely avoid plastic coated wires (telephone wire) or wire from the craft store that has a coating on it.  It can be hard to detect the coating, but this wire is totally unusable for anything but the most amateur jewelry making.  It does not have enough stiffness to simulate more expensive wires so doesn't give you the experience you need and your projects will not hold their shape.  It's just a waste or your time and money.