Does Bezel affect brilliance?

[Corbes55]

Hey guys, I am currently searching for a ruby to put in a men's ring. I kind of had this idea in my head of what I want the ring to look like. My question is this: if I decide to go with a bezel style ring that surrounds the girdle of the stone, will it have a big affect on the brilliance of stone?

 

[Arkteia]

My opinion- yes, it decreases light supply to the stone and kills brilliance. And if it is an unheated ruby with silk in it, the effect is worse. I would assume that only diamonds, sphalerites, sphenes and light demantoids without horsetail could still look well in bezels. In old time, they used gypsy settings, putting silver foil underneath the bezel, this could increase light return.

 

[Bron357]

Here’s my little ruby set ring. As you can see it’s fully surrounded. I don’t know if “brilliance” is such an issue with rubies ? To me it’s more about the richness of their colour.

 

[foxinsox]

My opinion- yes, it decreases light supply to the stone and kills brilliance. And if it is an unheated ruby with silk in it, the effect is worse. I would assume that only diamonds, sphalerites, sphenes and light demantoids without horsetail could still look well in bezels. In old time, they used gypsy settings, putting silver foil underneath the bezel, this could increase light return.

Is this a coloured stone thing or a ruby thing? Over in RockyTalky, I’ve seen it said more than once that a well cut stone’s light performance won’t suffer in a bezel because the light comes in the top through the crown. But I could readily believe that coloured stones are a whole other kettle of fish in terms of how light works. The cutting is already so different

 

[Arkteia]

Is this a coloured stone thing or a ruby thing? Over in RockyTalky, I’ve seen it said more than once that a well cut stone’s light performance won’t suffer in a bezel because the light comes in the top through the crown. But I could readily believe that coloured stones are a whole other kettle of fish in terms of how light works. The cutting is already so different

Well, I have heard it as well from the cutters. And yet ...I have spinel earrings in the bezel. The stones are round cut, and I bezeled them. The job is beautiful but bezeling in general was a wrong idea. The upper stones were light pink, and with the silver foil the light returns was still good but the lower stones were red Mahenges. They are in open bezel, and even this is too much. Bezeling took away half of their brilliance.

It seems that the lighter stone and the higher the RI, the better it tolerates bezeling. So diamond, a white stone with very high RI, fulfills these conditions. A ruby is a very different stone, with much lower RI, darker. And the cut may not be perfect and it is still acceptable. So I would not bezel it.

 

[foxinsox]

Ah that is fascinating. Thanks @Arkteia