It's time to set my stones....

[happybear]

I just posted a topic on my dilemma in setting my sapphire into a ring.

Besides that, I have 2 other simple projects in the pipeline: a pair of dangle earrings and a 3-pear pendant.

First, the earrings.
As much as I love Upgradable's dangle earrings, my stones are just too small for all the details to be incorporated. I don't really have the exact dimensions. All I know is the Mumbai garnet from Bob Kast is 1ctw (~5mm), the yellow zircon is a gift from Dana (thank you, again!) is 0.69ctw (~4mm) while the diamonds are about 5 points each (~2.5mm).

I'm thinking of just bezeling the stones whereby only the girdles of the zircons and garnets are covered, so the culets are exposed to allow more light onto them. But would this cause durability issues? As earrings I don't expect them to get knocked and I won't be wearing these everyday. I'm leaning towards using YG for this project.



Next, my 3-pear pendant.
I am not too sure if the proportions for this will work. The bottom pear is a blue spinel I bought from Tan when I first embark in this CS adventure while the green pear is a tsavorite from Gem Trader. The top pear is a diamond I purchased from a diamond dealer and it was picked from a lot of odd colors and shape ungraded diamonds he had. I spent an hour picking a few pieces and this was one of the larger pieces that appeared clean and sparkly. I wish I had chosen a bigger piece but I didn't want to sacrifice beauty for size.
Do you think the top pear (diamond) is too small and makes the pendant look rather wonky?



All feedback will be greatly appreciated! Thank you

 

[kelpie]

I don't know how bezeling affects durability in those stones but i think it's probably not something to worry about. If it survives being set, it will survive dangling from your ear. Yellow gold sounds great. I LOVE the 3 pears together. Doesn't look wonky at all.

 

[happybear]

Thanks for the feedback, kelpie!
I was afraid leaving the culet exposed will increase the chances of getting chipped. But you are right, if they survive the setting procedure, dangling them on my ear should be less of a risk. Looks like I need to discuss with my jeweler if he can bezel with the culets exposed.

 

[pregcurious]

I think the pears look good together.

 

[cokitty]

I like the pears and I think the yellow gold would compliment them nicely.

 

[happybear]

I like the pears and I think the yellow gold would compliment them nicely.

YG for the pear pendant too? I was thinking of using YG for the earrings but have not decided the metal for the pendant.
How should I set the pears? Prongs? The blue spinel may darken if I bezel.

Sigh, gold price is atrociously high now...

 

[cokitty]

I like the pears and I think the yellow gold would compliment them nicely.

YG for the pear pendant too? I was thinking of using YG for the earrings but have not decided the metal for the pendant.
How should I set the pears? Prongs? The blue spinel may darken if I bezel.

Sigh, gold price is atrociously high now...

I think especially the pears, they would just be so sunny and I don't know beachy in the yellow gold.

 

[happybear]

Ok, I ended up setting a totally different stone from the two projects I mentioned

I was too frightened of the high gold price to visit my jeweler's shop. When I enquired about bezeling a 6mm diamond I have back in April, I was quoted about $300 for a simple bezel pendant. I procrastinated till now and the new quotation is 15% higher !! I can't imagine how much it will be to bezel all the stones in my 2 projects

So, I ended getting a standard ring setting from LOGR for my Dan Stair Malaya garnet and managed to set it myself. The garnet goes a little dark with a tinge of brown at low lighting but in normal daylight, it is just red! And even in low lighting it gives out flashes of red

I guess this will curb my craving to set my stones for awhile (maybe for a month? )

 

[chrono]

Unless you start walking into solid immovable objects and bang your head sideways against them, your earrings should be able to withstand normal wear and tear, even being only collet set. The issue however, is finding benchpeople who are skilled enough to bezel set zircons and garnets. Not many are willing to do so.