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Thread: Making the best of a mistaken buy

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2017
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    470

    Default Making the best of a mistaken buy

    At the weekend I went down to the Rock n Gem fair at Kempton (the snow round here melted by midday on Saturday so I was happy to make the journey there) and did my usual wandering around and bagged myself a nice little haul of rough stones and a few agate cabs. I've no real plans for any of them I just bought them because I liked them but I can see myself having a go at setting them. And then it occurred to me that I should maybe buy a few faceted stones simply because I find them intimidating.

    I started off by trying to pick out specific stones from one of the stalls that had a big tray of random stones and was even intimidated by that so in the end pushed my finger into the tray a few times and popped whatever stuck into my little basket. So now I have a small selection of small faceted stones of various shapes and sizes and I'm still hugely intimidated by them.

    But, what I have realised is that even if I never set any of them I've got a kind of immediate visual guide to sizes and shapes for buying faceted stones if I ever do decide I want to try setting some. There are a few in my haul that I could probably have a play with should I wish to melt lots of silver in the process, but it's more likely I'll just use them as a visual guide in the future so I'm able to justify what I paid for them. £20 is nothing right?

    So I'm interested to know what you all bought and then realised was a mistake? Or what did you think was a mistake that turned out to be useful?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
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    Central London
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    8,845

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    The best thing to do now, is to pick out a favourite within your ability, and set it. If you find that intimidating, then get a CZ of the same size and practice with that.

    My early mistakes have been: finding a crack when I got home, which caused part of the stone to flake off when working with it, or buying a stone with very sharp points which I broke off when setting, or just being too rough with fragile material.

    This soon produced a box of shame, which taught me to be more cautious. Dennis
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Box Of Shame.jpg  

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2017
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    470

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    My ability is around the clunky stage. So there are a couple of 10mm rounds that I'll be happy to play with. I quite like the selection of stones I've got (silver linings and all that) because they help me see what I can actually work with. I'm not a fan a of pretty clawed or grain set jewellery and the worst that can happen is that I give them to my son or daughter to play with.
    But I appreciate your advice, I'm trying to push myself forward whilst trying to work out what I can make.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
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    2,067

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    Ok, here is what I did :
    Offered up an item with a 5mm heart amethyst for sale so I had no choice but to set it as my first ever stone.
    I can tell you that everything after that gets easier
    Seriously, I really did this and when I got around to setting a cab quite a bit later it was ridiculously easy LOL
    So my advice is just do it
    I can recommend going on a stone setting course, it will give you a lot of little tips and techniques which really help ( I did this quite a while after my first few stones and wish I had done it before).
    I can also highly recommend a microscope and block if you do get into stone setting because IMO you will never get it perfect if you can't see it under pretty decent magnification and its very frustrating trying.
    We all have a bucket of shame though Im sure, the trillions and marquise are the worst plus anything thats so soft that it scratches easily like amethyst, peridot etc.

  5. #5
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    Jul 2017
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    Thanks Sarah (I'm hoping Sarah is your real name based on one of your website names? And if you're a Fox then we have that in common, my family name is Fox too).
    My stash includes rounds (2mm 4mm and 10mm), marquise, a square and some pears all of different sizes. I've read your posts about having a microscope and how much difference it makes. I wonder if I can use a macro lens on my phone with a stand to replicate that?

    I really don't think I'm in a place where I would want to sell what I make. I know it makes financial sense to do so but I'm rubbish at marketing (trust me, I've been there and done that with previous creative endeavours) and I'm genuinely just interested in fulfilling a personal creative need.

    So, could I use a phone or tablet with a stand and a macro lens to get the magnification I need to make settings for tiny stones?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Posts
    2,067

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    Yes, Im Sarah Fox
    You should set the marquise first so the rest is easy LOL
    I have no idea about the phone set up as I don't even own one but if not something like this would help a lot:
    http://www.cooksongold.com/Jewellery...prcode-999-GAG
    I also use reading glasses and an LED magnifying lamp for stuff that I don't want to do under the microscope and that makes a huge difference too.
    Ive never needed them for reading but for stone setting it definitely helps unless you have perfect vision.
    For me the microscope is up there amongst my most important tools but it is a huge expense even buying second hand as I did.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jul 2017
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    Thanks Sarah, that's really useful
    Deb

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
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    71

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    I'm sure you already know but there are lots of really good and informative youtube videos on setting faceted stones, that's how I learnt and from information on here. If you're like me it's fear of failure that might be holding you back, I've learnt that the only way to overcome it is to just jump in and do it and if it doesn't work out the way you wanted then at least you've learnt something for the next time. I'm not a fan of basket/claw settings either although it probably would be useful to know how to make them. I find tube setting easiest but you will need the right size burrs (I'm presuming you've got some sort of drill). Having said that learning to make step bezels for faceted stones of different shapes sizes etc. would probably be more use to you at the moment. I've only ever bought stones online so a bit hit and miss as to what actually turns up in the post. One thing I have learnt is to make sure the girdle is reasonably even otherwise it will be a bugger to set!

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jul 2017
    Posts
    470

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    Angmc - thanks for that, yes I guess it is the fear of failing that's intimidating me. Really I need to figure out what I want to use them for so that I can aim for a piece that I'll enjoy wearing so step and tube bezels are probably the way to go. And yes, I'll be doing a lot of YouTube watching and reading until I've saturated my brain with loads of info. Then I'll just see what happens!

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jul 2017
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    Oh! I've just found Dennis's post about making a boat shaped setting for a marquise stone. I feel a plan swirling around.

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