I have had success lining metal beads, and separators with a glass seed bead. This protects the thread from the metal. Seed beads come in many sizes, so you may have to try a few. Thinking that Serafil would give a much nicer drape than beading wire.
In the mid 90's John Tu gave me a spool of this thread. I used it on one of my first knotting projects to get some practice. After knotting 3 30" strands, I was feeling pretty confident. :)
This necklace has probably been worn several hundred times over the ensuing years, sometimes loose and...