When are new beads created & positioned? =>16 photos

This essay is about how the stones are positioned.

Use your dividers and position the stones on a flat surface. Remembering that all of the stones should be of the same colour (and of course) the same size.

 Keep your tools well organised on your setting bench. If you drop a stone, you can find it in a moment, instead of rummaging through all sorts of tools.

From the measurements taken from the 8 stones, you can transfer that spacing to this ring top.

 Kindly scribe where the beads MIGHT BE CREATED. The two words are 'Might BE'. This all depends upon the sizes of the stones.

  We've just drilled the holes and set the stones where the beads were intended.

The first bead should be located at the corner, as shown here. We have to make this look interesting and not just 'put a bead here and walk away'. We are always thinking of designing.

 The front of EVERY BEAD MUST BE SITUATED HALF-WAY COVERING THE GIRDLE OF THE STONE. That bulge of metal is the true bead. That shiny hole was where the bead-raiser dug into the metal.

   In this photo, I decided to burnish first each new bead, as this alone will give strength to the bead. The four diamonds went in the corners first.

 I tried to decide where each set of Garnets might be placed. This is why there are multiple holes in some spots. Spacing is very critical.

 I found that there was more space in certain areas of this rectangular ring. Therefore, the largest stones went in, as shown.

 In every hole, I counter-sunk as I wanted the Pavilion to be resting against the walls of every hole. 

Each hole used two sizes of burs; the first bur was for the outside diameter, and the second bur was to open the Culet of the hole.

 You can now see that the close proximity of the two Girdles was overlapping. Therefore, I lowered the Garnet deeper into the metal.

 After I successfully completed the drilling process, I completed the bead-burnishing process. By burnishing each new bead, each bead was then made stronger and less prone to getting damage

  

 I decided to ignore the inside areas where the 12 stones were sitting. My main concern was the 4 rectangular walls of the ring.

 Upon cutting, I discovered that the width of the four walls needed an additional line. 

 Filing the walls thinner would make the pattern look like poor taste.

 I engraved four lines, using a #1 Onglette graver, and carefully cut around the 4 outside walls.

This blade is shown on the right of the photograph.

 These additional 4 lines are shown in this photo.

                              

 For the inside of the 12 stones, I decorated the remaining metal by just 'touching' the surface using a round bur.