ABOUT US
I have spent my life working with my hands – creating and designing with wood, leather and metals. In 1999 I began to experiment with lampworking borosilicate (boro) glass. Working with boro glass in a flame provided a challenge, but as my technique improved, I was soon creating the most astonishingly beautiful glass beads.
In 2001, my son Jeff and I founded Rocky Mountain Beadworks. Over the years we have created thousands of lampworked beads which we have sold on the internet and shipped all over the world.
The formation of Wired On Glass in 2006 seemed a natural progression – I created the beads and had the desire to create simple, yet elegant jewelry. All of my designs are crafted using sterling silver. Many of the silver findings have been made on forming tools that I have hand built in my metal shop. These handmade findings add another level of uniqueness to our jewelry.
I have had several customers comment that they would love to wear my jewelry but they have had an allergic reaction to sterling silver. I researched this problem and came up with a solution that involves electroplating the sterling silver with Palladium. Palladium is a noble metal in the Platinum family. Research shows that in most cases it can eliminate the allergic reaction with the sterling silver. Palladium also prevents the silver from tarnishing.
A good friend of mine who is extremely allergic agreed to give the electroplated earrings a try. She wore them day and night for two weeks and was amazed that she did not have a single reaction to the silver. I am now confident that we can offer Palladium plated earrings for sale, as an option for those with allergies to sterling silver.
The handcrafted jewelry designs that you see on this site are the result of my quest to create simple, elegant and unique wearable glass art.
Ric Grant