It was a compelling ending to the first day of a match which also began in thrilling fashion.
Wilson, 32, got under way in fine style becoming the first player to knock in a century break in the opening frame of a Crucible final since Stephen Hendry made 136 against Jimmy White in 1993.
The Englishman then raced through the gears as he built on his break of 129, with runs of 52, 66, 62, 125 and 90 to fashion a 7-0 lead – delivering another first, with that scoreline last occuring in a final when John Parrott led Jimmy White by that margin in 1991.
Welsh qualifier Jones, who is playing in his first ranking final ever, struggled to settle but arrested that sequence with 65 in the final frame of the afternoon.
And the world number 44 looked transformed when play resumed in the evening, with his confidence visibly growing as he produced breaks of 75 and 52 to get back to 7-3.
While Wilson twice reclaimed his six-frame advantage, a break of 90 saw Jones close the gap to 10-6 and he looked favourite to win the 17th frame and reduce his deficit to just 10-7.
However, after a composed 66 took him 29 points ahead with 27 left on the table, he missed the yellow to the top left corner and Wilson got the snooker required before taking the frame on the black.
