Advice for setting teardrop shaped stone

[Dennis]

Well I presume you are talking about faceted stones, Sandra, because cabochons just need a flat back plate with or without a hole in it.

Now if you turn the stone upside down with the collet(bezel) on it, you can insert a thin, springy curved wire at the back, which does not go all the way into the point, but rests on the stone.
The wire would be perhaps 0.4 mm thick.
Then lift the metal so that the stone can be pushed out, or falls out. If the wire, which is the bearer, was springy enough to stay in place, two tiny bits of hard solder will fix it. Better less than more, because it only has to be tacked in.
Once adjusted for height and ready to set, you can attach it to your main piece with easy solder if you are gentle with your torch. Dennis.

[Sandra]

Sorry yes they are tiny gemstones, not cabochons. Ok yes I understand what you are describing, thank you! The only problem is I do not have the thin wire and probably shouldn't spend (more) money on jewellery making materials right now. I'm hoping to cut thin strips from my fine silver bezel wire, hopefully that'll work...

[Dennis]

Yes, that will be fine, Sandra. Just as I described, but using narrow strip instead. Dennis.

[Sandra]

As an update - I got all my little teardrop bezels made nicely & soldered with bearer strip soldered inside each one. I thought it was coming along just great and thanks so much to all of you for the help. But then the soldering to the main piece started, and as they say - it became one hot mess!. I haven't given up on it yet but now some of my teardrops contain extra solder inside amongst other issues. I tried out a couple new burs and bits using my new pendant Dremel to get rid of excess solder, but now I'm afraid I'll have to intentionally texture my entire piece. I still say I need to work with live streaming video so you can all stop me from making so many stupid mistakes!

[Nick martin]

As an amateur myself, and as frustrating as I also find mistakes to be, I often reflect upon things with a smile as it's all a valuable learning curve and comes with practice and more practice.

Nick

[Tabby66]

As my Master jeweller said today,.....people say, he makes it look so easy, they ask, how long does it take you to...(turn up a ring, to size, no plier marks, etc...)....his answer...30 seconds, PLUS 40 years of practise!!!!!

[Patstone]

Yes, that is a good saying, must remember that. I am fairly proficient now at setting cabochons but still struggle making a bearer for faceted ones, I am going to try doing it while still flat the next time, then just cut and solder to size.