Setting Large Stone

Hi Yall, Do any of you have advice for setting a very large stone in
a choker necklace? The stone I’m working with is a 26 mm x 17 mm
smokey quartz. It is rectangular and either step cut or emerald
cut, and it will be the centerpiece in a multistrand choker of
freshwater pearls, small s/s beads and rectangular smokey quartz
beads. It will go into a sterling silver basket setting made of 18
g wire.

Being primarily a designer, I run into all sorts of unexpected
situations when trying to make prototypes. This time I’m concerned
that I’ll never get that large stone set securely and evenly in its
basket. Funny, it never concerned me when I came up with the
design…

Can anyone help? I’ll be mighty grateful.

Joyce
An Aging Georgia Peach Now Living
Way Up In The Rocky Mountains

    Hi Yall, Do any of you have advice for setting a very large
stone in a choker necklace?  The stone I'm working with is a 26 mm
x 17 mm smokey quartz.  It is rectangular and either step cut or
emerald cut, and it will be the centerpiece in a multistrand choker
 of freshwater pearls, small s/s beads and rectangular smokey
quartz beads.  It will go into a sterling silver basket setting
made of 18 g wire. 

Hi Joyce, You don’t mention how deep the stone is or how you’re
orienting it to the choker: lengthwise or vertically. The biggest
problem with multistrand chokers of small pearls or beads is the
transition from small diameter or relatively flat pearls/beads to a
thick, heavy stone in setting. If you attach your strands near the
bottom of the setting gallery, the stone may tend to topple forward.
If you attach strands to the center of the gallery, it might look
weird with the strands leaving the neck to much. So much depends on
the depth of the stone. Also, if you want a rounded curve to your
choker, the stone may drag it down to more of a “V”.

I think your biggest challenge is to figure out the transition and
the effects of gravity posed by the stone/setting. This may mean
putting some kind of transitional link or decorative element between
the center stone and the strands. It might mean designing in spacers
and or stiffening agents to hold the shape of your choker.

I’m sorry to have dredged up more problems, but they are definite
design considerations.

HTH,
Donna Shimazu

Do any of you have advice for setting a very large stone in a
choker necklace? ...it will be the centerpiece in a multistrand
choker.... 

Hi Joyce, How about this:

. . . xxxxxxxxxxxxxx0||||||||0xxxxxxxxxxxxx . . .
                       |||||||||
. . . xxxxxxxxxxxxxx0||||||||0xxxxxxxxxxxxx . . .
                       |||||||||
. . . xxxxxxxxxxxxxx0||||||||0xxxxxxxxxxxxx . . .

Each row of xxxx represents a strand (or multiple strands) of beads.
Each 0 represents a jump ring attached to a side wire of the basket
setting (and there could be as many as necessary, of course). The
space occupied by ||||||| is where your stone goes. This would
actually be more of a dog collar style than a choker. Would that
work?

Beth