Nice CZ / Moissanite Settings?

[HDer]

Was thinking of setting one of my wink CZs but don't want to spend a whole lot of money. Anyone know of any good cheap CZ, mossy or white sapphire halo settings?

 

[bludiva]

following...i would love to know how people set their bargain finds

 

[AprilBaby]

Me too!

 

[swaye2010]

Not sure what the ceiling limit is for cheap since this is different for everyone? There is always ebay for cheap silver settings with CZ stones. If you try Tianyu Gems or Starsgem on ebay, you can get a quality 18K yellow or white gold ring in say a 2mm width with 1.8 standard thickness for around $400. Won’t creep up too much more in price for a small melee halo (CZ for moissanite). I have several rings and these are pretty good quality for the price. The beauty is you can switch them out for a quality moissanite or colored stone in the future.

 

[peacechick]

For silver settings with cz, I can vouch for Natcha Creations on eBay. They are great quality at a low price. I’ve had mine for about 5 years and they are still in great shape with nothing fallen out. They come pre-notched so you can set your stones yourself instead of taking them to a jeweller.

 

[HDer]

So I'm currently looking for something maximum $100 or so, which is what I paid for the stone.

A few of the ones I've looked at in the past:

1. Jamminggems. They have pretty cheap silver settings and they'll also set them. The issue is they don't have halo settings.

2. Tripps. Kind of like Jamminggems I haven't dealt with them very much, but someone said on this forum their quality isn't that great.

3. Rio Grande. They do sell some halos for cheap but they are limited in what stone size you can put in them. I'm looking for something a bit larger, 8mm, so I don't see any options there.

4. LOGR and Jewelryhoo/Caimao/Changxing. They're pretty cheap, but they do gold with diamonds, so still out of my price range.

Do Tianyu or Starsgem sell semi-mounts? I've also seen this dealer jewelryhub13 on eBay. Does anyone have experience with them?

Of course, assuming I get a semi-mount, the next question is who I can get to set it. From what I've read ~$50 is a fair price to set the stone?

 

[peacechick]

Here is a photo of my two settings from Natcha. I have a couple more incoming for my new projects.

 

[HDer]

Here is a photo of my two settings from Natcha. I have a couple more incoming for my new projects.

Wow those look fantastic.

 

[bludiva]

Here is a photo of my two settings from Natcha. I have a couple more incoming for my new projects.

could you share a link? i can't find this seller.... thanks!

 

[peacechick]

could you share a link? i can't find this seller.... thanks!

Sure, it’s:
https://www.ebay.com/usr/natcha_creations

And because they are pre-notched, you can get a pair of jeweller’s pliers (with the spring) to set your stones yourself. Of course, don’t risk doing this with any high value stones!

 

[HDer]

Thanks! Do you know if they'll resize the settings if you ask?

 

[Tophat1]

I bought a palladium setting from wink for my wink CZ travel ring. I just don’t like the feel of white gold and didn’t want to spring for platinum so palladium was a nice compromise

 

[swaye2010]

You can send an email to both Starsgem and/or Tianyu. I think they both supply bulk standard settings for retailers. From what I remember, they also do some silver settings although most of what they do is gold. The emails are below. The Natcha Creations ebay link also looks like good value for a cheap setting and you can probably set them yourself with jewelers pliers, as mentioned, for a simple 4 prong setting.

Tianyu (Ella) [email protected]
Starsgem (Cherry Zheng) [email protected]

 

[peacechick]

Thanks! Do you know if they'll resize the settings if you ask?

Yes, they do resize. Just message them. They are helpful too if you are looking for a certain dimension they don’t offer. I asked them for a 6x6 cushion semi-mount and they are making a new design for me.

 

[HDer]

I checked with Natcha and they said they would resize the setting for me for free. It's a little inconsistent. On another setting it said they'd resize for $3. Anyways, I've pulled the trigger on a setting, and will let you guys know how it looks when I get it! Thanks @peacechick

 

[peacechick]

Just finished my new project and I have a new vendor to recommend for prenotched settings, Nipa Jewelry on eBay. They offer settings that are already preset with CS melee/side stones.

This setting was set with six small blue sapphires and I set a 6mm Sri Lanka blue sapphire that I had bought for a very low price (it has a visible chip). I’m pretty happy with the result.

If I were to compare the two vendors, Natcha offers the higher quality of the two for sure. When i was setting this stone, I ended up warping the undergallery a bit with the pressure (out of practice!). But Nipa offers color variety which is very nice when your centre stone needs extra oomph.

 

[peacechick]

Waiting patiently for their turn.

 

[HDer]

Beautiful! Is it just a coincidence these vendors are both from Thailand, or is there a large silverworking community there?

 

[peacechick]

There are a few usual suspects when it comes to jewellery parts. Thailand is an international jewellery producing hub so there are factories and wholesalers there. A lot of gem dealers are based there too because a lot of the raw material from Burma and Sri Lanka is sent to the gem markets there.

China is quite new to the game I think but I notice they exclusively compete in the arena of low cost gold settings. Possibly as the Chinese population demands gold. India makes both gold and silver but the challenge is often in the communication.

 

[HDer]

So my Natcha Creations setting came in. I bought some pliers and here's the end result.



Here she is with her sibling in the Jamming Gems solitaire:



I'm pretty happy with the quality of the setting, in general. Shipping was a little long, but that's expected coming from Thailand. The biggest challenge was actually setting the stone myself. After a few tries, I think it could still have been better. If I examine it closely, it looks like one side of the stone is slightly lower than the others. Also, @peacechick what do you use to polish the prongs? My prongs are now a bit rough from the pliers.

In general really happy! Thanks for the recommendation!

 

[Rpb]

How did you go about doing this @HDer. Some details would be helpful....

 

[peacechick]

So my Natcha Creations setting came in. I bought some pliers and here's the end result.



Here she is with her sibling in the Jamming Gems solitaire:



I'm pretty happy with the quality of the setting, in general. Shipping was a little long, but that's expected coming from Thailand. The biggest challenge was actually setting the stone myself. After a few tries, I think it could still have been better. If I examine it closely, it looks like one side of the stone is slightly lower than the others. Also, @peacechick what do you use to polish the prongs? My prongs are now a bit rough from the pliers.

In general really happy! Thanks for the recommendation!

I think you did great! The stone looks gorgeous in it. Is that a cushion setting? I just use a silver polishing cloth... the rough parts will buff out over time but accidental scratches/gouges may not disappear. Just consider it as part of the learning curve... the next one you make will be better

 

[pearaffair]

Some
Pliers you can cover with electrical tape so they’re not as rough

 

[kuriso]

Great info, thanks so much. I'm looking for a temp setting for my ACC moissy 7.5mm x 7.5mm. Would I need a 8x8 semi mount? Thank you!

 

[HDer]

Great info, thanks so much. I'm looking for a temp setting for my ACC moissy 7.5mm x 7.5mm. Would I need a 8x8 semi mount? Thank you!

If it's 7.5 x 7.5 ask for a 7.5 x 7.5 mount. The 8x8 was loose on my 8mm asscher.

 

[HDer]

I think you did great! The stone looks gorgeous in it. Is that a cushion setting? I just use a silver polishing cloth... the rough parts will buff out over time but accidental scratches/gouges may not disappear. Just consider it as part of the learning curve... the next one you make will be better

Thanks!

It is a cushion setting, although the stone is an asscher. I'm considering using some sandpaper, but I'm a little afraid it will damage the CZ if I'm not careful. Will microscope it and see how bad the prongs look first.

 

[HDer]

How did you go about doing this @HDer. Some details would be helpful....

There wasn't a whole lot to it. Mostly just take the pliers and squeeze. I followed some online guides, which mentioned that I should hold the stone down with my thumb and work on the opposite angles first. One of the challenges is to figure out where to put the other end of the pliers. Because the whole setting is silver, the prongs are about as hard as the rest of it, and if you're not careful you can deform the bottom of the setting.

 

[Rpb]

Thanks @HDer, glad it all turned out great for your setting...

 

[CaraMish]

I’ve found a few solid 14k settings from Rio Grande and Fire Mountain Gems, however they were all pendant and earring settings.

 

[CaraMish]

I would love to find some mid-range quality gold settings; not Stuller or Whiteflash quality, but not sterling or gold plated either. Don’t like the settings at jamminggems or geolite; would prefer better quality. I haven’t bought jewelry in so long that I forget some of the jewelers besides Wink, moissanite company, Davis Klass, etc...

Will post links as I find them.