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I want to set stones in patinated pieces but pushing bezel edges down tends to remove the patina and re-applying is a bit hasslesome. Is it possible to set the stone and then patina or would los and platinol damage stones like malachite and moonstones?
Thankyou!!!
Dear Coco,Quote:
Originally Posted by Coco
Yours is a common problem, but first of all recognise that any darkening of the setting will change the appearance of the stones. Some are improved, such as garnet, but many are made worse. This means that you might have to clean the setting internally with a pencil glass brush before inserting the stone. In fact it might even look better if just the rim of the bezel were left in silver.
Platinol is particularly bad at getting everywhere, so dipping once a stone is set will make a right mess. the only remedy is to finish and bevel settings as neatly as possible first and then use a softer pusher made of brass, to limit the damage to the patination. After that you can but touch up any bare metal with a synthetic art brush.
To back track, many of us use Platinol for the ease of application, but it works best if allowed to act slowly by dilution and by keeping it cold. otherwise it is disappointingly flaky.
Regards, Dennis.
moonstones will particularly cry and look bad if they get it on them.
I use platinol extensively! As Dennis says, sometimes the silver lip looks even better.
I use a curvy agate burnisher to do the setting and a cocktail stick that I've splayed the end of slightly to apply platinol on any silver bits near a stone, whilst covering the stone itself.
It works pretty well
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