[Jewelry making - Article 00055] - Re: [Orchid] Appropriate gauge for flush setting

[Ian W. Wright]

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>     I worked with an ex-manager of Longines, and he told us that's how
>     diamonds are set into watch dials, except they are press fit and
>     that's all - no rubbing, no burnishing. The seats are
>     drilled/reamed, and micrometer-graded diamonds are pressed into
>     them, and that's it... 

    That is how all the 'modern' watch pivot hole jewels are mounted -
    i.e. those used in watches for the last 60 or more years. The jewels
    are thin flat disks of, usually, synthetic ruby or sapphire and are
    finished to a precise diameter and pressed into holes reamed 0.01mm
    undersize. I.e. a 1.60mm diameter stone is pressed into a hole
    1.59mm diameter. These stones stay firmly in place despite the
    pressure of the working parts on them and the rattling of the pinion
    arbors against them for many years. Indeed, the accurate running of
    the watch depends upon the stones staying precisely in the place in
    which they are put. I have often wondered why diamonds in jewellery
    are not set the same way but have assumed that it is becaus= e they
    are usually set in relatively soft gold rather than the hard brass of
    watch plates and that the decorative aspect of retaining beads etc.
    is part of the overall design. Pressed in jewels would certainly be
    easier to set. 

Best wishes,
Ian
Ian W. Wright
Sheffield UK
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