Black or dark patina INSIDE bezel?

[kraftrourke]

I finally finished this thing yesterday. THANKS everyone for the ideas! Having the dark behind the stone gave it really nice "depth" I think.

I learned many things from it. I ended up remaking a bezel and coloring the inside with a big Sharpie Magnum marker. I used 24 GA Fine bezel wire but this was not ideal due to my lack of skill - or maybe it was just too thick for nice 90 degree angles. Should I have annealed it? I still can't figure out annealing and I know it's crucial.

Originally, I had chipped a tiny bit in one corner of the stone when fitting my original bezel. Since then I chipped it more. Then, when going to finally set it, a sizable chunk came off yet another corner. This was supposed to be my first commission but I ended up just giving it to the her, and she commissioned another ring that I will hopefully not mess up. The broken parts are really unnoticeable to the naked eye but I would not have felt ok selling it. That was my biggest lesson here, don't break the stone.

I worked and polished it a little more after taking these pics. Pictures always seem to reveal stuff I need to fix or improve - reality check.

[Dennis]

Hi, that's quite a good design and the missing bits don't show in the picture, but you can see the many cracks the stone has, which are just waiting to open up.

The bezel thickness is quite acceptable at 0.5mm (24g.), if it is made from fine silver. However, I would probably cut a short way into each corner with a fine saw blade, to relieve the pressure when setting, as stones with sharp angles are the worst for breakage.

Lastly I would use a needle file with one safely ground and polished edge, to tidy up the margins, followed up by several grades of silicone wheel.

You are very good already, but I would recommend practice with copper to perfect the finish.

Lastly annealing, which involves heating a metal until only just glowing in subdued light and then quenching, makes it soft and much easier to work with. In this case though, your bezel wire will come from the suppliers fully soft and will become re annealed at each soldering stage. Dennis.

[kraftrourke]

Thanks Dennis! I've been meaning to make a ground and polished edged needle file. You mentioned it before and I've been slacking on it. I will grab some copper sheet and wire for practice too, good idea!

I'm pretty clueless with the gems. I've only been picking out ones that look cool or call my name. I have some gem books on my amazon wishlists. Are the cracks in this particular stone typically undesirable? Like, would this even be a stone a more experienced person would use or attempt to set? Or did I just manhandle it too much and it should be fine if treated right?

Thanks again for your insights!

[metalsmith]

The "four C's" of gemmology are Colour, Clarity, Cut and Carat-weight. There is a great sliding-scale for clarity at the GIA. Then there is Tiffany's reckon to "go beyond the four C's", to include proportion - I would agree that this is valuable to the aesthetic - and to 'presence' (in which they describe cut and some other mumbo jumbo) but which I suspect really amounts to brilliance, again valuable, but mystified by T's quasi-sciencified blurb to justify higher price tag. Normally these traits would be looked for and rated by any half descent gemmologist and even if unconsciously by any interested individual if given a bag of gems would pick out the sparkly ones and those with intense hues.

This is described with relation to diamond but is true for any stone. Your stone would be I3. Generally flaws are undesireable, but in your work, the cob-webby appearance goes with the halloweeny tone of the piece and sometimes flaws might be included as part of a design, but this would be a divider between 'designer' jewellery and high-class gem set work and equally affects the budget. I think that the stone works really well with your piece, which is not to slight your work, but as previously the intention of the outcome at the outset. The only concern would be for the longevity of it. Hope this helps.

[Dennis]

Hi,
I do sometimes use moonstones, but because the lager ones are inclined to fracture or flake, I keep to cabochons in round, oval or cushion shapes.
I am based in Central London (UK) and my first port of call for stones is AE WArd in Hatton Garden. You might like to browse their site, especially the 'gem room', for information. Regards, Dennis.

[kraftrourke]

Yes, metalsmith, that is very helpful and those links are great. Thank you!

Dennis, your moonstone pieces are awesome! I've seen the AE Ward site but will revisit it now. Looking at a map, it seems I was near AE Ward a few times during our stay in London last summer. I hadn't the slightest idea then that I'd be making metal jewelry or seeking out gems!

[Tabby66]

Very nicely done

I've only just seen this thread and in terms of the black behind the stone, anything permanent that won't dissolve into the stone will work. Many moonstones (and opals) are enhanced with a black backing. I haven't done so often but black permanent marker/poster paint work well.

In terms of http://http://www.aewgems.co.uk register as a trade account, becomes very much more reasonable

[metalsmith]

Very nicely done
In terms of http://http://www.aewgems.co.uk register as a trade account, becomes very much more reasonable

www.wardgemstones.com

[kraftrourke]

Thanks, I just registered an account!