|
|
|
Products & Services - Jewelry Settings
Our Stone setting department sets all major classes of
precious and semi-precious stones. One section specializes
in the jewelry setting of Diamonds
in micro settings.
Our setters come from a long line of professionals that have learned at the foot of their elders. The techniques employed have been passed down by generations. Our setters have pride in their workmanship. We are only satisfied with quality that is based on the meticulous attention to detail. Our setters like the creativity of their jobs and they have been selected for their patience and hands-on experience. They are true artists.
Our setters are specializing in:
- European Pavé
- Royal Pavé
- Micro Pavé
- Invisible Settings
- Bead Settings
- Gypsy (flush mount) Settings
- Channel Settings
- Flush Settings
- Full Bezel Settings
- Baguettes Settings
We insist upon excellence. Nothing less will do.
Stone setting
Stone setting is the art of securely setting or attaching
gemstones into jewelry. There are two general types of
gemstones: cabochons, which are smooth, often domed, with
flat backs. Agates and turquoise are usually cut this
way, but precious stones such as rubies, emeralds and
sapphires also may be. Many stones like star sapphires
and moonstones must be cut this way in order to see the
effects the stones have in them. The other type of stone
is generically called faceted, in which the stone has
the general overall shape of the modern diamond, with
a thin edge, called the girdle, the top angling up into
what is called the crown, and the bottom angling down
into what is called the pavilion. In the case of a cabochon
stone, the side of the stone is usually cut at a shallow
angle, so that when the bezel is pushed over the stone
that angle permits it to hold the stone in place and keep
it tight. In the case of faceted stones a shallow groove
is cut into the side of the bezel into which the girdle
of the stone is placed, and then metal is pushed over,
holding the stone in place. Cabochons can also be set
into prong settings of various kinds, but the idea is
the same - it's the prongs going over the angle of the
stone that creates the pressure that holds the stone in
place.
Just as the angle of the sides of a cabochon creates
the pressure to hold the stone in place, so there is an
overlying principle in setting faceted stones. If one
looks at a side view of a round diamond, for example,
one will see that there is an outer edge, called the girdle,
and the top angles up from there, and the bottom angles
down from there. Faceted stones are set by "pinching"
that angle with metal. If you imagine holding the girdle
with the tips of your thumb and forefinger with both hands,
that illustrates it fairly well. All of the styles of
faceted stone setting use this concept in one way or another.
Bezel setting
A Bezel Set Sapphire. The earliest technique of attaching
stones to jewelry was bezel setting. A bezel is a strip
of metal bent into the shape and size of the stone and
then soldered to the piece of jewelry. Then the stone
is inserted into the bezel and the metal rubbed over the
stone, holding it in place. This method works well for
either cabochon or faceted stones.
Prong set diamonds
Prong setting is the simplest and most common type of
setting, largely because it uses the least amount of metal
to hold the stone, thus showing it off to its best advantage.
Generally it is simply some number of wires, called prongs,
which are of a certain size and shape, arranged in a shape
and size to hold the given stone, and fixed at the base.
Then a burr of the proper size, is used to cut what is
known as a "bearing", which is a notch that
corresponds to the angles of the stone. The burr most
often used is called a "hart bur" that is angled
and sized for the job of setting diamonds. That bearing
is cut equally into all of the prongs and at the same
height above the base. Then the stone is inserted so that
it goes into all of the bearings, pliers or a pusher are
used to bend the prongs gently over the crown of the stone,
and the tops of the prongs are clipped off with snips,
filed to an even height above the stone, and finished.
Usually a "cup burr" is used to give the prong
a nice round tip. A cup burr is in the shape of a hemisphere
with teeth on the inside, for making rounded tips on wires
and prongs. There are as many variations of prong settings
as there are stars in the sky - 2 prongs up to 24 or more,
many variations involving decoration, size and shapes
of the prongs themselves, and how they are fixed or used
in jewelry. But the method of setting is generally the
same for all of them.
Channel setting diamonds
Channel setting is a method whereby stones are suspended
between two bars or strips of metal, called channels.
Often when setting small stones and the bars go in a linear
line with the design it is called channel setting, and
when the bars cross the lines of the design, it's called
bar set. The idea is the same, though. The channel is
some variation of a "U" shape, with two sides
and a bottom. The sides are made just a bit narrower than
the width of the stone or stones to be set, and then,
using the same burs as in prong setting, a small notch,
which is again called a bearing, is cut into each wall.
The stone is put in place in those notches, and the metal
on top is pushed down, tightening the stone in place.
The proper way to set a channel is to cut a notch for
each stone, but for cheaper production work sometimes
a groove is cut along each channel. Also, since the metal
can be very stiff and strong, this is a situation where
a reciprocating hammer, which is like a jackhammer but
jewelry sized, might be used to hammer down the metal,
as it can be difficult to do by hand. Then, as always,
the metal is filed down and finished, and the inner edge
near the stones cleaned up and straightened as necessary.
As with all jewelry, there can be many variations of channel
work. At times the walls will be raised - sometimes a
center stone will be set between two bars that rise high
from the base ring - or the channel might just be cut
directly into some surface, making the stones flush with
the metal. It is still channel setting, though.
|
|
