Backings on pendants/earrings

Opinions, please.

As I move into working more with gold, I’m torn about the metal to use to
back pendants and earrings. I use lapis, very good picture jasper,
azurite, chrysocolla etc. etc. cabs. I have been embellishing the silver
pieces with bits of gold. Now I am doing the bezels in gold and I can
see that soon the entire front of the piece will be gold. My question is
about the backing of the cab. Somehow it doesn’t seem right to have the
back of the piece silver, but on the other hand, it seems to be a waste of
gold (dollars) to back the piece in gold. If I were using faceted stones
on small pieces, I would never question the use of entire gold, but on the
larger necklaces, pendants and earrings with semi-precious stones,
well???

Hi there

You can use a ‘step bezel’- a bezel with a ledge on the inside for the
stone to rest on. These are open-backed. Or you could use thin gauge gold
sheet, 30 ga. or thinner, this would be ok if the thicker gold is not
needed for stability & strength

Good luck, Tom Tietze
The Artisan Workshop
Jewelry Creations & School
Fresno, Ca

Would using gold as the backing, but then cutting it out be the answer?
Most settings don’t really need full backings, unless the stone is not
flat (in my experience with stones such as lapis, Picture Jasper, and
such . . )

Dear Isadorn,
last century, jewellers were setting diamonds in silver
backed onto gold. Don’t worry about backing your beautiful gold work with
silver to save a little money. If you’re in a situation where you have to
hallmark, just make sure that both metals are acknowledged in the
hallmarking. Regards from Rex in Oz.

Somehow it doesn’t seem right to have
the back of the piece silver, but on the other hand, it seems to be a
waste of gold (dollars) to back the piece in gold.

How about using a bi-metal with the silverside toward the stone and
the gold side showing on the back of the piece?

Kathi Parker
MoonScape Designs

hi isador,

IMHO transparent faceted stones should have an open back. any bars too far
into the center or not close enough to the side of the stone show thru.
transparent cabs should have a stepped bezel.

opaque to transluscent gems can have a wire ‘x’ (like an x inside of an o)
or bar spanning the diameter of the bezel. i prefer the ‘x’ for flat back
gems for strength.

best regards,

geo fox

Here in England, whilst it would not be illegal to use gold on the front
and silver on the back, it could only be marked as the lesser value metal,
that is to say it could only be legally described as silver. All
jewellery here has to be hallmarked, which means it is sent to an official
assay office, tested and stamped, so there is no way round it, if you are
doing it professionaly.

Kevin

Kevin Eva, Northern England, UK
@Kevin_Eva (home)