Bezeling an emerald--

[Indylady]

am I asking for trouble?


I'm guessing I shouldn't. What do you all think?

 

[ooo~Shiney!]

The advice I got from a Jeweler who is going to set my Emerald is that
she would prefer that I insure the stone prior to her setting it.
I am planning a prong setting at this point....
HTH

 

[Indylady]

Thanks OooShiney!

I had an emerald set in a prong setting at the end of the summer and it was chipped during setting. It was really tragic.

Hmnn..

 

[Indylady]

Nevermind.

I had a pretty emerald in mind, but the vendor just informed me that the emerald in question is lighter than the pictures show and more of a 'spring green' rather than the deep green shown. Double, triple boo.

 

[ooo~Shiney!]

Oh, that's too bad

Now you have me worried about setting my Emerald ~ ugh!

 

[m76steve]

when stones are set in any setting u must have a tech who really knows his smithing-emeralds especially-i always use 18 kt gold for the emeralds cause its a little easier to work with & less stress on the stone-yrs ago i had my goldsmith set a peice of andesine in 14 kt yel-that day my usual smith was busy & the backup picked up my stone & attempted to mount the stone in the setting-my main man was sitting at the bench & heard the slight crack when the 2nd worker placed the stone-the shop repolished/cut the stone-lost @ 1/4 ct of material & changed how the stone looked-i told my smith from then on-FOR UR EYES ONLY-no problems since-you have to trust your goldsmith & know their work-steve...

 

[ooo~Shiney!]

Ouch, Steve, that's a scary story!

 

[chrono]

Bezeling an emerald will not prevent it from being chipped, other than protecting the girdle area only. If anything else, the risk of chipping during the bezeling process is increased.

 

[Indylady]

If anything else, the risk of chipping during the bezeling process is increased.

Just what I was afraid of.

 

[Michael_E]

Bezeling an emerald will not prevent it from being chipped, other than protecting the girdle area only. If anything else, the risk of chipping during the bezeling process is increased.

Hmmm, my feeling about this is just the opposite. If the stone is set deeply enough into the bezel, then there are no forces on the edges of the stones girdle and so there is less of a likelihood of chipping. Of, course the setter has to be careful not to place stresses on the other facet junctions on the crown of the stone, but I've always felt that bezel setting is the safest way to set any stone.

Prongs, while you can see what you're doing more easily, are inherently more difficult since they always place some stress on the girdle edges and that's where the chipping usually takes place, (it's kind of like making an arrowhead, put enough pressure on that edge and POP, you get a little flake coming off the crown or worse, running all the way down the pavilion to the culet).

 

[LD]

Again another view here! How often do you see a bezelled Emerald? Hardly ever. I believe there's a good reason for that. (1) it needs a certain skill to do it and (2) apart from protecting the girdle, it doesn't stop the stone from being knocked or damaged on the top.

IF you ever decide to do this in the future, you MUST go to a benchman who has experience of setting Emeralds, then you need to get the stone assessed beforehand - by you and the Benchperson together - to determine whether there are any inherent fissures or inclusions that may cause a problem during setting so that you understand the risk. If at all possible, I would most definitely get the Emerald insured beforehand "just in case".

Although Emeralds are generally less durable than others, it is most definitely possible to wear an Emerald every day and for it not to suffer much damage. With a caveat of course - if you're prone to knocking your rings then expect the worse! My Mum wore her Emerald every day for at least 50 years and with the exception of a tiny chip on the girdle it's in pristine condition and it's well over 100 years old!

 

[Circe]

Bezeling an emerald will not prevent it from being chipped, other than protecting the girdle area only. If anything else, the risk of chipping during the bezeling process is increased.

Hmmm, my feeling about this is just the opposite. If the stone is set deeply enough into the bezel, then there are no forces on the edges of the stones girdle and so there is less of a likelihood of chipping. Of, course the setter has to be careful not to place stresses on the other facet junctions on the crown of the stone, but I've always felt that bezel setting is the safest way to set any stone.

Prongs, while you can see what you're doing more easily, are inherently more difficult since they always place some stress on the girdle edges and that's where the chipping usually takes place, (it's kind of like making an arrowhead, put enough pressure on that edge and POP, you get a little flake coming off the crown or worse, running all the way down the pavilion to the culet).

Ditto to this. I quite like bezels for the added security they offer. They might not protect the crown, but what will? Every additional bit of security helps ....

 

[Indylady]

I'm considering getting the emerald even though its lighter than what I was looking for.

Another question (and a wishful one at that): Will bezeling "deepen" the color of my emerald?

 

[Lee Little]

Since a bezel closes out light a stone certainly looks darker with this type of setting as opposed to prongs. I agree about the bezel being a good option as it is much more protective. Any stone can be bezel set almost as easily as they can be prong set. If the stone is flawed enough it may break either way so there is little additional risk in a bezel setting. Once set into a bezel it has virtually no chance of being knocked loose like it could quite easily be in a four prong setting. Best regards, Lee

 

[Arkteia]

I'm considering getting the emerald even though its lighter than what I was looking for.

Another question (and a wishful one at that): Will bezeling "deepen" the color of my emerald?

I have a very light emerald which I bought over the summer, nothing to write home about but it is shiny and bluish. I wanted to bezel it to deepen the color. I wrote to Sally and asked if they could work with emeralds. She said they did a lot of work with these stones, specifically because in Thailand the "big three" were so popular, and were quite skilled at setting them. The reason I did not go with it was that I did not want to spend $$ on setting not-so-great a stone and invest into buying a better one. Now I am going to ask her about bezeling, because I may end up in your situation. Many stones around are beautiful but too light.

 

[Cabochon1]

Again another view here! How often do you see a bezelled Emerald? Hardly ever. I believe there's a good reason for that. (1) it needs a certain skill to do it

This is really interesting. I have looked at many many emerald rings now, because I am still not sure how to set mine. I can definitely say that in Germany at least half of all emeralds are bezeled and the jewellers unanimously recommend it.

 

[marymm]

When I noticed the title of this thread, I was so hoping to see some pics of bezelled Emerald pears -- a few months ago I came across a beautiful pear-shaped Emerald solitaire ring and silly me I did not bookmark it, and I've been trolling around Google every so often trying to find it again.

This Platinumsmith ring is the closest I've come, but the ring I recall had a slimmer band which reverse tapered to the Emerald -- very very elegant.



My simple prong-set Emerald pear solitaire was very nicely made for me just this past spring (stock Stuller shank and head in White Gold) -- but I so wish I had bezelled it! Even back then I was intrigued by the idea of a bezel, but I hadn't seen any in real life or in photos. I am convinced I would wear the ring more often if it was bezelled, and I really really like the look. And the color deepening side effect of the bezel setting is a plus+. I do plan to have the setting re-done, but unless I can find another stone to put in the original setting (hey, a new quest!), I feel like I should wait out a year (I'm not exactly sure why, maybe a penalty for not going with my first instinct when I had the original setting made?).

So thank you for this thread - I've learned a lot and have appreciated everyone's thoughts and opinions (and setting plans). But please, post some pics!

 

[Arkteia]

When I come to setting an emerald, I shall bezel it and see what happens. It was cheap anyhow.

 

[Indylady]

When I come to setting an emerald, I shall bezel it and see what happens. It was cheap anyhow.

I'm looking forward to it!

Sally has some bezeled emeralds..lotus seed rings and I think a different design too. I am really curious; I'm still waffling between getting the lighter emerald and bezeling it, or waiting.

 

[Indylady]

Ok--I ordered the darn thing!


A 6mm round emerald coming my way. Hopefully it will be nice.

 

[ooo~Shiney!]

Oooooo I can't wait to see it!

 

[chrono]

Keeping my fingers crossed that it will look better than the pictures because emeralds are notoriously difficult to photograph.