Old 18 Karat ring. => 7 photos

 This ring was crafted in Russia many decades ago, with the "Hammer & Sickle" trademark and is (750) 18K gold. 

 These are the two identification numbers that the manufacturer used for their records.

 These claws are holding the 'thick' stone as best as possible under the circumstances.

 The girdle of the stone IS NOT UNIFORM IN ITS WIDTH, and this can be a major problem during the stone setting procedure.

  In this photo of the Girdle, the girdle appears to be 'moderately thin'. The gemstone setter must have had a challenge deciding where to place the stone and into which series of claws to set it.

 

 Why is this ring so interesting? It's unusual to see a ring with 14 claws holding the Amethyst center stone.

 The 'Fish -Tail' setting appears to be VERY WELL CRAFTED & DESIGNED.

 This process of stone setting, in my estimation, has been 'A WORK OF ART'.

                     ---------------------------------------------------

The thickness of the 'Crown & Table Facets' then thin on the other side must have been an ongoing challenge to the setter. 

 He had to be rather careful in placing the stone into the claws and making allowances for the odd-shaped faceting that took place.

 I know from the history of earlier faceting programs. Most, or all of the gemstones were 'hand faceted', thus leaving much to today's setter's ability in setting these odd-shaped stones.

   I know for a fact that all of the areas of this ring were polished BEFORE THE CENTER STONE WAS SET. 

How to drill into "V-shaped-Claw" settings => 6 photos

  This "three-sided stone" has many problems to watch for.

====================================

1) When holding the round bur, it is advisable to keep that bur in a horizontal position. You must allow the bur to drill & cut DEEP into the metal. The placement for the first bur drilling is in the Centre of the "V" claw.

2) Sweep the round bur along the cage of the basket, leading one claw to the next. This is where the Pavilion of the stone will sit.

3) When you are drilling into the claws, always be cognizant of the point of the stone and where it is sitting. In this photo, there is a slight error as one drilling point is higher than the other. This will lead to a permanently crooked stone.

      

 4) I suggest you use a Bud Shaped bur to excavate the metal, as this will give you lengthy cutting along the basket. There should be little or no metal touching the stone.

                           =========================

         REVIEW OF IMPORTANT "BUR CLEANING" FACTS.

 I would (as an accomplished Diamond Setter) use a long-shaped bud bur. I need to have the bur laterally slice off a LONG & DEEP cutting of metal in between the two V-shaped claws.

  The inside edge of the 'basket' needs to be made thinner. The reason is that the Pavilion of the stone must NEVER TOUCH the metal. 

  The size of the round bur must be larger than the dimensions of the combined angles of the Triangular stone. 

Another piece of information is to prepare a lateral seat for the Girdles of the stone on EITHER SIDE OF THE ROUND BUR SEAT. Basically, no part of the Triangular stone should rest upon metal where no bearings have been made.

 "Diamond Setting" is one of the most labour intensive skills within the jewellery profession.

 If you are hesitant in doing any of the techniques being shown anywhere in my tutorial blog. Don't try and do these for yourself. Give your jewellery to a qualified stone-setter and avoid any problems. Gerry Lewy!

Channel Set Rings - (Instructions with each photo) => 24 photos

 Channel Setting looks easy, but it isn't. The difficulty is in the placement of the gemstones.

                                            =======================================

 When I finish setting the stones, I make a genuine habit of "Bright Cutting" the inner wall of metal. This will clean any rough metal that is remaining where the hammering took place. 

  I will 'ink' exactly where the center of the channel wall is located. From this point, I have a center point where to set the stones. 

 You can now see the 'Bright Cutting' along the inner wall. This process will allow the stones to look larger and there won't be any metal appearing to be covering the stones. 

 You can see that I haven't put my hammer anvil any closer than what is shown here, why is that?

 I want the Square "Princess cut" stones to be seen with no or little spaces in between any of them.

  It appears that the intense hammering broke one stone, why did this happen? The answer is quite simple.

 The hammering hit the corner of the stone, and it had to be replaced immediately. The hammer anvil was vibrating fiercely on the metal, and this also shattered the stone. 

 

After many attempts to tighten the stones there might have some flat spots appearing on the top of the channel wall.

1) This can be easily repaired by using a file of #4 grit and round the top of the channel wall.  

2) The other suggestion is to very lightly hammer the top of the channel wall, thus making the two channel walls smooth again. 

 Here is a great photo of the hammer anvil not getting too close to the delicate stone.

 The anvil IS NOT HITTING THE METAL; IT IS ACTUALLY MOVING THE METAL 'AGAINST AND OVER THE GIRDLE' OF THE STONE.

 Every channel in this ring needs to be polished before any stones are set. Obviously, the polishing wheel can't gain access when the stones are already in the ring, agree?

 In my photographs of burs preparing to set a stone, this photo is high on my list.

 You can see the teeth of the bur preparing to cut a seat in the metal for the stone. But the first thing is to clean the hole and including the Pavilion area where the stone will be soon sitting. I would even pre-polish the inner-channel wall.

 Which of these two stones gets to be set first? I will always suggest that the top stone, that is nearest to the center stone setting gets set first.

 

  When you are setting square stones, it is always nice to keep a little space in between the stones. The chances of stone breakage are somewhat high. How wide should the space between each stone be? Let me suggest this to be the thickness of a sheet of paper.

 The reason of this, is if you decide on hammering any of the stones, the vibration could and will cause severe breakage to any of the precious stones.

 

 When I was learning my apprenticeship about 65+ years ago, my teacher introduced me to Bright Cutting after every stone setting procedure that was completed.

 Here too is another reason to finish the stone setting, it makes the whole process looking just BEAUTIFUL. 

 Which "Princess-Cut" stone is to be set first, any guesses?

 My answer is simple and to the point, the first stone should be the top stone nearest to the tip of the pendant (where the chain is to slide through).

Again, I would hasten to suggest that it would be nice if the inner settings were Bright Cut. This will make the appearance of having larger stones. 

  ==================================

  There are two major problems here, which are 'a defect in the wax preparation'. I recommend them to be repaired NOW, even before any stone setting is to commence.

 There is a hole in the channel wall, and the end-setting-hole is plugged up with metal.

 If any rings have an 'End Bezel', it is important to the stones be well covered equally of metal. The reason is that the width of each bezel top, be uniform all around the ring.

 It is also nice to the file the 'End Bezel' ends and make each bezel look like claws, (as shown here).

There are two things to watch for:

1) Pre-polish (Rouge) the inside channel setting with a cloth polishing wheel.

2) Try and avoid that any stones are touching each other. As breakage might occur.

 You will notice that the "Reciprocating Hammer Anvil" is making contact in a 'wide' position.

 The anvil MUST NEVER GET CLOSE TO THE DELICATE STONES. The 'hitting' is basically MOVING THE METAL AGAINST & OVER THE STONE.

 In this photo, you will notice that there is space between the stones. The vibration caused by the hammer anvil might shatter the stones at the Girdle Facet.

 It is imperative to leave a little space in between them all.

 

 The wedding band should be fully set first, then polished and soldered to the engagement ring.

 This jeweller had no idea whatsoever how to set baguette stones. They are crooked & poorly set; in fact, one stone fell out.

 The 'shoulder stones' in this ring MUST BE SET INDEPENDENT to the rest of the ring. If not, any subsequent stone setting labour might loosen the 'cluster top' collection. Basically, the cluster top should be set separately and then soldered together. Thus, making this ring be a 3-piece combination.

 Before any finishing of this 3-piece ring set, it is advisable to polish the Channel Setting ring, completely. Each of the 3 pieces should be individually cleaned, set and polished. the last thing to do is to solder the 3 rings together.

 

Where will all of the "Beads" be positioned? =>17 photos

 These techniques are not just random digging into metal to hold a stone. There are myriad rules to follow. 

 In this tutorial essay, I will display them in near sequential order.

                                       =================

 I looked at the initial layout of the Garnets, Blue Sapphire and Diamonds. I first started to plan the entire ring in my mind.

 In this first layout of precious stones, we are looking for a uniformity of colours and sizes.

The second thing 'we' must examine is the 'spacing' of gemstones. This is not a 'guessing game', but a very serious 'plan of attack'.

The four diamonds must not be placed at the corners, but placed further in from the corners. Why is this? I need room for the 'corner beads' and room to cut around the metal. 

              

 I'm using only 3 beads as shown in this photo. These beads are placed that will ensure a good chance of cutting a pattern that will be visually appealing.

  I used my Onglet graver #2 with a rounded point to create these Beads. REMEMBER: THAT THESE BEADS MUST COVER THE GIRDLE OF THE STONE.

 The stone must be in the hole and with NO SPACES ALLOWED.

    WOOPS! Some of these beads are in correctly placed. This is an error on my behalf, but additional labour will cover up these errors. Thankfully! 

 I keep all of my setting tools in close proximity to my setting & working area.

 Always look and check for uniformity of the colour and sizes.                                This is so very critical right now.  

 The top left corner stone is 'too light', and on either side of it are two stones that are 'too dark'. => Always check for uniformity!!!

 The two bigger holes are not correctly placed, therefore the better placements are lightly drilled. These are the holes that will be used.

 In this photo shows EXACTLY WHAT THESE HOLES LOOK LIKE, interesting, eh?

 

  Always drill the hole extra deep & large for the Pavilion of the stone.

  I suggest NOW removing the 'sliver of metal' between any of the stones.

 

  I exchanged all of the stones that were not of equal colour. Now these eight stones look GREAT!

  As you can see why I place the beads just at the corners. That one bead makes the corners more exacting.

 I placed many little 'mini beads' in and around the center stone. 

 Instead of filing the outside of the metal frame, I thought of using my Onglet graver and cutting another thin line.

 Just to hide any misplaced beads, I camouflaged all of them with little round bur indentations.