Type of stone setting?

Can anyone provide insight on this type of stone setting? I have
been searching on the internet and books to find a tutorial. Please
help!

Thanks! Andrea

The photo isn’t particularly clear, but it looks to be a normal
rub-over setting.

Regards, Gary Wooding

Looks like a pear or tear drop setting.

John

Looks like open backed bezel setting to me.

-Jo Haemer

its called a bezel setting- though open on both sides the item
looks like the jeweller put the stone in a piece of channel wire and
soldered it to a wire shank. Easy to make. The main thing is
measuring the wire accurately, flattening it to make a groove into
it with a dremel or flexshaft. In fact it looks like the person made
it with the same gauge wire for the shank as the setting- not
terribly sturdy, but appears to be high karat gold. and may be a
stone or beach glass, hard to say from the photo. if you can’t find
:“channel” pre fabricated, allowing for the depth of the stone, and
the overall diameter- so something like the length+ height X pi will
give you the length of wire needed in mm’s, then just measure the
wearer’s finger for the shank, however I would use far heavier wire
than for the bezel, you can also use bezel strip a, or stepped bezel
with a seat already fabricated into the piece. Its easy as long as
there is a girdle around the stone, with a cabochon (what this
appears to be) it’s smooth and thus, “slippery” when you go to wrap
the wire once flattened, around it (if you can’t find channel, or cut
a piece of tubing in half to act as channel)…if you have more
questions that no one addresses feels free to contact me. rer

1 Like

I love that look, too. I think they made a model in wax and cast it,
but I guess you could make the bezel out of half round or round
wire.

I’m sure someone with more experience will shed more light!

Rebekah

I don’t think its cast However you could do it in cuttlebone easily.

just press the stone lightly into the smoothed half of the bone
(sand it smooth outdoors or over a waste bag),then with another piece
of bone make registration marks all around it so you can tape it
together before pouring the metal. remove the stone and use carving
tools to create and clean up the “setting” you want around the
stone’s shape. Since you haven’t pressed the stone all the way into
the bone you won’t need to calculate that amount of metal that would
need to be sawn out once poured…(if the stone is recommended for
firing in place or for metal clay use, then you could press the bone
halves all the way until there is no gap whatsoever then after making
your registration marks remove it to clean up the design or enlarge
it- whatever you like, then replace it into the original depression
before making the pouring well and sprue the right size for the
piece), tape or wire your halves together (,you can use 1/4 " or
longer bits of wood skewer like mould pins to make registration pins
if you are new to the process pressing the marked halves in place
correctly so it all matches up properly,) then melt and pour your
metal outdoors- the smell is revolting and long lasting in a closed
space. or even a ventilated space!,

Use the flexshaft or similar tools to clean up anything you didn’t
intend. If you had a channel you may want to take a diamond bur and
lubricated, run it inside the channel to make it easier to finish
around the stone with nylon jawed pliers, etc. However, anything with
an undercut won’t come out great. you may want to remelt it if its
not a perfect fit and start again keeping your mistakes in mind.

Cuttlebone is essentially a one use material and whatever you carve
into it will result filled with metal For flat backed pieces you can
reuse large sections and secure them to a smooth firebrick for a
single pour. If the stone is not “heat safe” don’t attempt a channel
of any kind -channels will only work for stones that can be cast in
place. it will work great for making settings that have detail, or
entire rings without having to solder shank to setting. In.the photo
you supplied I can’t really see if there are tabs under the stone,
but as I said before, it does appear to be a channel wire around a
cabochon. cabs have smooth edges and a channel you make yourself
would work well. draw a tube down to a size that looks nice and isn’t
as delicate nor as shallow as some of the channel sold by vendors
remember as you draw a tube down it will thicken, and may need
annealing periodically, so reflux/firecoat each time you anneal. you
don’t have to pickle until the point before you set the stone so the
inside is clean and reflects the max. light- unless what you are
setting is opaque. Its one way to easily recreate a piece,
particularly for making copies of something without the casting
equipment- the only drawback is the texture the cuttlebone gives to
metal intrinsically- if you don’t like the unique patterns smooth
them before pouring the metal. It’s far easier than it seems writing
the basics out. I teach kids this and other direct casting methods
all the time. It takes a couple of hours to “master”, and to
elaborate making 3 part moulds a few more hours. the main points are
a well for pouring at least as wide as the piece, enough metal to
fill your design and the sprue, a short sprue as opposed to a long
thin one, gas vents scribed into the bone on the sides away from your
design, good or rather perfect registration between halves, and no
space between the mould halves (,to figure the amount of metal
necessary when copying a piece you can use the water displacement
method if you can’t estimate by eye or weight as weight isn’t static
across karats or metal types…).However for the photo I still say
halved tubing for the stone, as you can always thin the wall to an
appropriate size, or pierce it for decoration, but as you illustrated
with the photo a simple thinnish wire is what it looks like, so a
half tube will easily close around the stone and you can solder the
setting to the shank in one hit and run operation using binding wire
to close the setting to the shank and another or cross locking
tweezers, etc. to solder the shank at the same time. I would use
hard solder for simultaneous soldering…

.If you need me to clarify anything feel free to contact me. rer