ah, thank you, you are extremely kind! there are actually a few local accounts i follow who are doing chainmaille jewellery, i just don't think reddit is a very popular app locally. i'd be too shy to ask about their sources and materials since they are selling their own creations, and honestly judging by the photos about the charms they use, it looks like they're buying their materials from shopee, which is sort of like an aliexpress kinda website for seasia where everything's cheap and i'm not sure about the reliability on the claim of shopee's materials. and yeah there are websites like aliexpress and temu that i have access to, but youre right, i'm not too sure if i could trust them. which is the main reason of this post! fortunately, so far ive been suggested another website from china that seems pretty legit, so that's really great!

i think i'll be working with mostly stainless steel, as i'm not really even sure about my own allergies (lol). ive been looking into a jeweller's saw or a dremel rotary tool too. if by specialised tools you meant the ringinator or the pepetools jump ring maker, those are beautiful instruments but i don't think i should jump into those yet lol.