Here is a tip for determining the length of bezel wire you need for your stone! In this example I’m using a gorgeous American Mined™ BlueBird Turquoise™ 10 x 8mm Oval Cabochon from @riogrande Stone height will always vary on hand-cut stones, and for that reason you will want to have several bezel wires on hand to tackle a variety of projects. Once you have your stone, a quick and easy way to figure out the length you need is to wrap a piece of paper, tape or even string around the stone. It works particularly great on freeform cabochons and other uniquely shaped stones! Mark the paper and then lay it flat and mark your bezel wire. Always leave yourself a little extra - this gives you some room to file and even out if the ends aren't flush! Once the bezel length is cut, you can use shears to trim the bezel wire to the appropriate height, if needed. After it's soldered closed, take it to a piece of sandpaper taped to a flat surface and even it out on both sides. (With gallery wire, like my example, I only sand the bottom!) I hope everyone has enjoyed this small series of guides to buying and using various metals, please visit my blog for a round up of all the info from the previous posts, next week I will also have a step by step tutorial to make the ring featured in this post so stay tuned! Huge thank you to @riogrande for sponsoring this series. Let us know what you want to learn about next by commenting below! #sponsored #riojeweler #americanmined #metalsmithsociety