As far as the etching of the stone, wouldn’t you always just remove
a stone before soldering if it is set in a pronged setting?
J. S. Ellington
JS, This is probably the safest way to go. Even though many of us
have successfully repaired various settings with the stone left in,
there is ALWAYS the possibility the stone can be damaged.
I normally cut out cabs as well. Usually I cut perpendicular to the
stone at the end of the setting, spread it apart and remove the
stone. Then, after the repairs, I insert a small piece of sheet into
the cut to attain the original size, solder it in, resulpt the bezel
and reset the stone. Prong setting can be a problem too. In my
view, it is often best to remove the entire head (if it is separately
soldered on) and replace it with a new one. That way, you don’t take
the chance of damaging another prong that can come apart later. It
depends on a number of factors including what kind of metal the head
is–platinum is easiest to work with with least damage usually, white
gold is the worst, 14KY can be a problem but 18KY is ususally not a
problem.
Cheers from Don at The Charles Belle Studio in SOFL where simple
elegance IS fine jewelry! @coralnut2