"Princess-Cut stones" into a 3-stone-pendant - 18 photos

   This pendant was a gift to my wife and to display the design and techniques here it is. This design may be duplicated at no cost to you.

     

  All along the upper 1/3rd edge of the 3-stone bezel a Bud bur is used to create a bearing.

This bearing is where the girdles of EACH of the 3 stones will sit. 

Don't use any round bur, as the round bur just can't create a uniform (straight) bearing. So don't attempt it !!

   We aren't finished with the bearing just yet. There are more carvings to do before any stones go in.

With this setting, we can easily set any thickness of stone Girdles.

The next thing to watch out for is the bottom section of the "Bud-bur" created bearing. This image shows just how dangerous this 'lower lip' can be. This sharp edge must be removed NOW!

         There are two features of the stone-setting to watch out for:

 1) That the tapering of the lower-edge of the bearing should be carved at an angle to accommodate the Pavilion of the stone. (This carving is done with a Bud-shaped bur.)

 2) The Culet of the stone must never touch the bottom of the Bezel. Hence, a hole is drilled through the bottom, just under the stone.

 As the stone is about to be set, we can now start the 'setting processes', but how can we hold the stones tight from moving? 

 I used an Onglette graver #2 and created a little 'hook' just where the facets are located above the Girdle. When the top of the Bezel-lip is hammered over, these 'hooks' will be unseen to the wearer.

 This Onglette graver-created 'hook' will keep each stone from moving, while the Reciprocating Hammer-anvil is doing it's securing & tightening.

 From a distance and seen here, you can see just where these 'tightening-hooks' are located. These hooks are not on, or at the "Table facet".

 Once that these are created (on both sides of the Bezel) there is no chance that any stone will then move. The hammering process is quite rigorous and we don't want any movement of any stone.

   I prefer to 'gently' file the outside edge of the Bezel, as this is where the hammering will be done. I start with a rough file "OO" file then switching to a smoother "O" prior to any hammering.

  I never hammer ON THE TOP OF THE BEZEL only at the 'outside of the lip'. This is where the filing took place. In this photo, you can see the Culet situated just above the hole.

 

 Here you can see where I did the hammering, I attempted to keep my hammering just at a 45degree angle all through this process. The reason will be answered NOW.

  The three stones are so very close together, but NEVER touching. If two, or three touch during the hammering, the vibration will chip & shatter the stones.

 After all of the hammering is finished, the 45degree angle is still been seen. The reason of this will be explained...NOW!

  With my Flat graver of #40, I will initiate the (very important) "Bright-Cutting" inside the Bezel.

   The 'inside bright edge' is the reason of not filing on the top of the Bezel wall.

   In this photo, I explained the 'before & after" finishing.

 In this great photo, I've displayed the actual "Bright-Cut" finish.

On the top of the finished Bezel wall, is where I used my Pumice Wheel to give a nice & clean finish.

 BTW, you can see the numerous indentations caused by the hammer-anvil hitting the metal.

  The Level of Difficulty on this setting is 7.5 out of 10.

 This process wasn't too difficult, but some challenges seemed apparent to the novice jeweller-setter. Just make (darned) sure that the three stones don't touch each other.

gerrylewy18@gmail.com