www.riogrande.com/

I've shopped both Rio Grande and Otto Frei. I tend to spend more at Rio Grande.

The problem I had with Otto Frei's supply of Sterling Silver wire was that they couldn't tell me what temper it was - I'd wanted half-hard or full-hard, and they couldn't cite the spec for the product. Based on the results, I'd say that what I bought was Dead Soft (which isn't a good thing for what I was doing).

Advantage is you can get it NOW instead of having to wait for days; they also have an interesting collection of used things available.

Troubles with Rio Grande involve typing orders into their web-based order form. I've found it is much better to call them on their 800 line and talk with a live human.

Also, there's George's in Hayward. I've bought a variety of things from him in the past 10 years or so. A little pricey, but he's got a lot of stuff.

Shop facilities for club members: MGSCV.org, behind the Hayward Airport. Great club, mostly retired, access to a wide variety of skills and the people enjoy sharing their knowledge. I joined to get access to the casting room, and they told me I had to cut and polish a cabochon first. Once I did, I eventually started cutting and polishing opals, and became entranced with them.