Charmypoo- tell me about your setting experiences!

[Indylady]

I loved seeing your new rings, including the ones you set yourself! Can you share some of your experiences?

I''m interested in learning how to set stones. Do you cut your own seats? Use pre-seated mounts? What pliers do you recommend? I''d love to hear from any other gem-setters as well!

 

[iLander]

Look for a company called Tripps, they have a little kit for $60, that has most of the things you need: that magnifier glasses thingy (I have no idea what it's called), a special pair of setting pliers, even a couple of silver settings, a couple of CZ, a 14K pendent setting and a garnet. It's here:

http://www.tripps.com/contact_us.htm

Tripps must lose money on the kit, but they know you'll be back for the settings. They also have a video on youtube to show how it's done, or you can get the DVD. They offer "accented settings" which are mounts with places for tiny little sidestones (2mm!), as well as simple soltaire settings, pendent settings, etc. You can even do a tie tack if you want. The trick is you have to use gemstones that are "calibrated" which means they are cut to very specific sizes for commercial settings (which is what Tripps sells"). For the first couple, I suggest selecting a setting first, then finding an inexpensive stone to fit it.

Tripps has a large selection of mounts in sterling and gold, so you can basically whip up inexpensive gifts yourself. Once you've set your first few stones from the kit, you'll gain a whole new appreciation of what jewelers do. Then your eyes will open wide at the possibilities of what you can do!

It's not easy if you don't see well (even with the magnifier), and I've actually gotten to the point where my DH does all the setting for me, he's done lost wax and other jewelry type work, plus he's much more coordinated. . .

You can also try PMC, precious metal clay, it's pretty awesome. It's a suspension of sterling in clay that you can shape and mold with your hands. Then you blow torch it, burn off the clay and you're left with solid sterling silver. It is very tricky for stones, though, and there are books specific to this task so I strongly suggest you get one of those. PMC is a lot of fun for charms and simple stuff, but you're not going to get a refined setting, the material starts as clay and ends up still shaped like clay. It doesn't shrink or anything, though. The final result is a matte finish, that you have to polish like mad, I've used a kitchen fork for my best result. Seriously, a fork. My DH has made me some great stuff with it, my stuff came out lumpy.

When you're done with all this, you'll be stunned and amazed at what some of the jewelers on PS do. Every day. . .

I'd love to hear Charmypoo's info!

 

[CharmyPoo]

I am sooooo far away on the other spectrum from being able to set my own stones. I would never ever set a valuable stone myself in a setting that cost me more than a hundred bucks. I much rather pay the $30 to $50 and have my jeweler set the stone securely with beautiful sharp prongs. I am just not experienced enough to work the prongs.

However, I have set a couple of stones myself. I got the flat nose pilers (no ridges) and I use the ready for setting mounts. I got the flat nose pilers from these jewelery making stores in Asia but you can buy them everywhere. I also managed to get a lot of pretty cheap settings from Thailand sellers on ebay for around $10 to $50 each. They are sterling silver but really looked very nice and were well made. If you look up stone setting, you will find a bunch of youtube videos.

Sorry for the brief post but I am about to get off the internet.