Cab setting help!

[Indylady]

Hey all!

I'd like to set my cuprian ASAP, but I've never set a cab before. I have a couple quick questions

Can I set it in a standard mount meant for a faceted stone?
If so, should I go for a setting with an open basket, or a fairly closed basket? I know a lot of cabs are set with a flat backing--which makes me wonder if I should find a setting with a more closed-type basket.

Thank you in advance!

 

[chrono]

No, because the bottom of your cabochon is flat. If you do try to use a standard faceted stone type mounting, your ring will sit up super high and the prongs need to be extra long to be able to hold the stone securely (with very little support underneath).
www.pricescope.com/forum/colored-stones/sugarloaf-3-t154558.html

 

[Indylady]

Makes perfect sense. Hmnn...back to the drawing board then!

 

[Indylady]

Can a jeweler solder in a small inner bezel to give the ring support? Is that more work than its worth?

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Could you post a picture of the setting you have in mind?

 

[Indylady]

Could you post a picture of the setting you have in mind?

Something like these two--what do you think? Is it possible/necessary to back it?

Oval 1 has less of a basket, Oval 2 has more of a basket. I'm basically looking for a relatively cost-effective halo for a somewhat temporary setting--I may change it down the line, but I really want to see it set soon.

 

[jstarfireb]

I doubt the prongs are long enough to go over a cab.

 

[chrono]

I doubt the prongs are long enough to go over a cab.

Ditto.

 

[Indylady]

Thank you so much!!

I'm so glad to know. Back to the drawing board.

 

[Indylady]

Do cab settings with a flat back ever have a hole or space for cleaning?

 

[chrono]

Megeve's cabochon settings have open backs to allow cleaning.
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/finally-my-sugarloaves-rings-are-here.134082/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/finally-my-sugarloaves-rings-are-here.134082/[/URL]

 

[FrekeChild]

Can you set it in a temp custom silver setting?

 

[velouriaL]

I know you didn't exactly asked for inspiration, but I just came across this Adel Chefridi cab setting (http://www.chefridi.com/item/aquamarine_and_pink_sapphire_ring) yesterday and I have been itching to recommend it to someone. I just adore it!

 

[digdeep]

I have one cabochon setting........what I learned is that you need to vet the person doing the work and go through every step with them. My ring is a simple setting, however a good amount of glue was left visible on the bottom of the stone. The spillage is ugly and is a reminder to me that someone didn't clean up when they worked on the ring. Thankfully, the top of the stone is beautiful and untouched. Since that's my only cabochon piece I'm not sure how common this is, but I would assume that with no surface to grip through prongs on facets, the glue becomes the "go to" adhesive. Someone else know for sure? I'd hate to see that beautiful stone have glue streaks on it!

 

[VapidLapid]

there are many many options for open backed pronged settings for cabochon stones.

 

[Michael_E]

Can I set it in a standard mount meant for a faceted stone?
If so, should I go for a setting with an open basket, or a fairly closed basket? I know a lot of cabs are set with a flat backing--which makes me wonder if I should find a setting with a more closed-type basket.

Standard settings usually do not have the upper rail, which holds the prongs together, protruding far enough into the head to give proper support to the cab. As has been mentioned, the settings are usually too high for cabs anyway. So how to use a good quality stock setting that you like? There are three ways that come to mind immediately.

The first is to cut out the upper rail and replace it farther down and inside of the prongs. This gives proper support, but can produce other problems such as making the stone fit into the setting, since the size has to be fairly close to whatever the setting is supposed to hold. The other problem, and one which can be a deal breaker, is that the prongs may not be heavy enough to properly hold the cab in question. If you want to go this route, make sure that the prongs are very heavy, .9mm prongs just won't work unless the stone is quite small.

The second method is to chop off the prongs very low and solder a new bezel or prong head, (even a halo style head), onto these existing prong stubs. This allows you to fit the stone properly and get the height just right, but it could present a problem in how it looks and would require a good bench person to pull it off well.

The third method is to just remove the existing head and replace the entire center section of the ring with a custom made piece to fit it. I prefer this method since you can model the whole works in CAD first, make a 3d model of the whole ring and make sure that it's going to work. the downside here is cost, as the CAD and modeling work is kind of pricey for a trial view...it sure beats the heck out of messing up a nice setting and being unhappy with the end result though.

 

[Indylady]

I have to post and run, but thank you all so much! I'll be back ASAP to write back individually.

Michael E--that makes so much sense. For example, the picture below is probably better for a cab because of the thicker rail. Thank you again!

 

[chrono]

The only problem for that last setting posted is the height. I see a semi-enclosed basket adding to the height so you've got x mm basket height + cabochon height = very high set ring.

 

[Lady_Disdain]

I have one cabochon setting........what I learned is that you need to vet the person doing the work and go through every step with them. My ring is a simple setting, however a good amount of glue was left visible on the bottom of the stone. The spillage is ugly and is a reminder to me that someone didn't clean up when they worked on the ring. Thankfully, the top of the stone is beautiful and untouched. Since that's my only cabochon piece I'm not sure how common this is, but I would assume that with no surface to grip through prongs on facets, the glue becomes the "go to" adhesive. Someone else know for sure? I'd hate to see that beautiful stone have glue streaks on it!

With extremely rare exceptions, a good bezel setting does not need glue and should not have glue! In a bezel, the metal is tightened around the slope of the stone, holding it in place.

 

[digdeep]

I have one cabochon setting........what I learned is that you need to vet the person doing the work and go through every step with them. My ring is a simple setting, however a good amount of glue was left visible on the bottom of the stone. The spillage is ugly and is a reminder to me that someone didn't clean up when they worked on the ring. Thankfully, the top of the stone is beautiful and untouched. Since that's my only cabochon piece I'm not sure how common this is, but I would assume that with no surface to grip through prongs on facets, the glue becomes the "go to" adhesive. Someone else know for sure? I'd hate to see that beautiful stone have glue streaks on it!

With extremely rare exceptions, a good bezel setting does not need glue and should not have glue! In a bezel, the metal is tightened around the slope of the stone, holding it in place.

Exactly!! My ring was obviously handled "wrong"........but I'm sure it's not the only one that has been treated this way.

 

[Fiaind]

Out of many bezel set rings, one needed glue and it was an antique piece where the gold alloy could not be matched anymore and there wasn't enough metal left in the bezel for it to be completely secure. At the time the jeweler apologized that it couldn't be helped. So glue should not be an issue at all on new settings.

 

[T L]

I didn't read all of the responses, so I apologize if someone said this, but a good jeweler should be able to lengthen the prongs to make the cab fit in a standard setting I would imagine. My jeweler has done this on many occasion, especially when I reuse a setting and need longer stronger prongs.

 

[Indylady]

I didn't read all of the responses, so I apologize if someone said this, but a good jeweler should be able to lengthen the prongs to make the cab fit in a standard setting I would imagine. My jeweler has done this on many occasion, especially when I reuse a setting and need longer stronger prongs.

Thank you--no one has mentioned that yet! Could a jeweler also build in, or extend the rail to hold the cab?