[Jewelry making - Article 00273] - Re: [Orchid] Benefits of ready made tube settings

[Helen Hill]

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>     Tube settings: solder, set. Your basic no-brainer... 

    A thread like this one and its responses has me baffled somewhat.
    Remember the thread a while ago about making one's own stock vs
    buying it ready milled? And all its heated responses from both camps,
    some implying, if not actually saying that you're not a proper
    jeweller unless you make your own ingots, then mill and draw stock
    yourself, then of course fabricate the piece from that stock. Then in
    the middle you have the people who are happy to purchase ready milled
    stock (this includes myself, although in lean times of late I've
    been making my own small sheets from solderless scrap). Then at the
    other end of the scale there are folks who purchase ready made
    shanks, ready made collets, ready made tube settings, etc and solder
    them together. 

    I suppose the idea is that it's okay to buy such ready made things
    for convenience as long as you've travelled the learning curve and
    learned to do it the traditional way yourself first - as that's how
    many of the jeweller's skills are acquired. I fully understand
    Delias's considering buying the settings based on the astronomical
    price of gold but I am surprised that the "you're not a proper
    jeweller unless you......" Orchidians haven't come out of the
    woodwork to have their say. I'm not wanting to start world war three
    here BTW, just as the radioactivity thread has died the long awaited
    death! ;-) I'm just wondering whether I should consider biting the
    bullet and trying some tubing to make my tube settings, as I'm still
    making them from sheet. I'm considering it just from the point of
    view of tubing not having a seam - or does it have a seam? If it's
    seamless, how do they make it? 

    But then again, buying some tube to make my tube settings is fine
    for round stones but I bezel set all shapes of stones so would still
    be fabricating settings for my princess cut, emerald cut, oval,
    trillion- shaped etc stones. But I guess trying some tubing and
    cutting seats is another skill to learn so it's worth a try. I can't
    imagine myself purchasing parts and soldering together though, unless
    my son asks me to make the engagement ring for his girlfriend - then
    I think I would definitely buy the bits and solder! But I enjoy
    fabricating too much to change my methods to that extent - that's my
    favourite part of the whole process. There are bench jewellers who
    need to turn around so many pieces in a given time to earn a crust so
    I guess soldering parts has its place in that instance. I've wittered
    on for so long, just to come up with the conclusion that there are
    many types of jeweller in the jewellery business and there's room for
    us all! Sorry if this reads as a completely pointless post! 

    BTW Delias, sorry for hijacking your thread but I've been a bit
    confused as to what's the best policy with regard to where one
    starts in the whole proces, ie. start from scratch yourself or buy
    ready made at some point along the process. I'd be interested to know
    if you find it works out more economically to buy the settings as
    opposed to using tubing. And I must say, I LOVE your work - it's very
    bold and unique and I especially love your garnet Isabelle gold and
    silver earrings on Etsy - they're beautiful! 

Helen
UK
http://www.hillsgems.co.uk
http://www.helensgems.etsy.com
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