Amethyst Pendant

[TDA20]

Continuing my quest to learn stone setting I have finally finished this project. Has taken weeks; mainly because the day job keeps getting in the way!

I slipped while pushing the top bezel over. There's still an uneven edge there and I may have chipped the stone . Fortunately hard to see with the naked eye. Think it was made worse by making the bezel wall too high? Any tips on how I can improve?

Thanks in advance,

T

[Wallace]

looks really good.

shorter bezel will work, you don't really need too much metal, enough to keep it in place, so just about 1mm would be fine. Make sure your metal is fully annealed before setting the stone.

you can use stone friendly pumice discs to get rid of tool marks. Cookson sells them now, I believe.

When working with amethysts, peridot and ametrine, a brass pusher / polisher will work well as it won't chip the stone.

trial and error, with lots of practice helps to embed the learning for many. Try some cheap stones, and make mounts for them, it does come with time - keep going and enjoy it.

[TDA20]

Thanks Wallace, that's really helpful! Will order some pumice disks
Do you make the brass pushers yourself or can you buy them?

Thanks again, Tess

[Wallace]

it is really easy to make them. Purchase some brass wire (2mm and 4mm thick) With the 2mm make one end with a cone shape and the other like thors hammer. Polish them up. With the 4mm, make the end into a square and sand the end roughly. You can use this as a pusher for the bigger stones. To stop your hands becoming tired, get some cool morph plastic (ebay sells it cheaply enough) and mold it around the brass and your palm to form a comfy handle that then fits your palm.

[TDA20]

Fab, thanks Wallace. I'll give that a go

[Dennis]

Hi Tess, I quite like the design feature of having a broad piece of metal at the top and bottom of the stone. It's just that I dont think you can achieve it neatly by rubbing the metal over.

If you pursue this, I would make the shape at the outset and insert the stone from behind.
It can then be set from behind, first using a thin oval washer or jump ring and pushing the bezel over that, or pressing home some small lugs, or raising a few grains with a scorper.

One other comment is that I would leave a shallow rim at the sides of the pendant to hide the gap that is usually visible there. Dennis.

[enigma]

Is the chip top right of the stone as we look at the photo?
I like the design but wonder if the metal was too thick for ease of setting as Dennis mentions above.
Its really about practise and having something decent to magnify it to see well enough as you set.
Stone setting has been my biggest challenge and one Im still perfecting but it does get a lot easier with practise.

[mizgeorge]

I just think it's really pretty - something I'd very happily wear

[Ankolosova]

hi! I have seen this one on( I guess now) your Instagram!!!! it's great!!!! well done!!! makes me feel try same setting!

[TDA20]

Hi Tess, I quite like the design feature of having a broad piece of metal at the top and bottom of the stone. It's just that I dont think you can achieve it neatly by rubbing the metal over.

If you pursue this, I would make the shape at the outset and insert the stone from behind.
It can then be set from behind, first using a thin oval washer or jump ring and pushing the bezel over that, or pressing home some small lugs, or raising a few grains with a scorper.

One other comment is that I would leave a shallow rim at the sides of the pendant to hide the gap that is usually visible there. Dennis.

Thanks Dennis. When I get more confident I'll have a go at setting things from behind. I was going for a "naked" stone look but agree that it might be worth adding a small rim.

Thank you for the feedback, it's really helpful