Purchased ancient coin, need help w/bezel

[NonieMarie]

I am surprising my fiance with an ancient coin that I will have bezeled into a pendant. I searched for 2 months for the perfect coin. Once I decided on the type of coin I had to find the perfect one. It needed to be as round as possible and still show enough of the image without being too expensive. I found a Half Shekel of Tyre that was just right. David Klass is going to make the bezel for me. I told him that the coin could not be altered in anyway. I was thinking the front bezel would be rounded and 2mm wide which bumps the front to 24mm or 1". The back would need the inside of the bezel to be polished because where the coin wasn't round the inside would show. 4 or 6 claw prongs would hold the coin inside the bezel. Now I'm trying to decide on the bale. I don't want a V, I'm thinking maybe a barrel? on it's side with raised bezels on each end. Would that be too much?

 

[AshleyParker]

How much is it worth?

 

[NonieMarie]

Do you mean the half shekel at current value? It was minted in 21/22 AD. I paid over 500 for it and want to set it in 14k or 18k gold. I'm leaning towards 18k because I like the contrast with the silver. He could wear it with a wg or yg chain.

 

[heliotrope]

I think setting this in an 18ct bezel would be stunning

here are a couple of coin rings for men handmade by James Meyer which are two tone to give you an idea

I have a two tone coin ring myself - with a gold coin and silver bezel - and I love the way I can mix it up with all metals

so for a guy - being able to mix up the chain would look great - perhaps one colour way could be a very simple O chain and the other colour way a more textured chain??

personally I would keep the bezel simple to allow the coin motif to be the focus of the piece

please show us the finished pics

 

[NonieMarie]

Thanks for posting the pics. I was thinking of just rounding the bezel to a width of 2mm, but after seeing the rings, I think a small bezel then a bump of the outer bezel is more interesting. I'm out of town and the package is supposed to arrive today. He will have to sign for it! I know he will wonder what's up when he sees the return address. I'll give him the coin when I return and he can have a say in designing the bezel. I'll be showing him the pics.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Do you mean the half shekel at current value? It was minted in 21/22 AD. I paid over 500 for it and want to set it in 14k or 18k gold. I'm leaning towards 18k because I like the contrast with the silver. He could wear it with a wg or yg chain.

FYI...once you put any coin into a bezel it'll be worth a lot less.

 

[NonieMarie]

I know that to retain the value it should not be mounted. DK is not going to alter it in anyway and the back will hold the coin with small claw prongs. I wasn't buying it as an investment. I just wanted one that looked beautiful and had meaning as far as when it was minted.

 

[movie zombie]

have you thought about 18k green gold for the bezel?

 

[NonieMarie]

I've heard about green gold but have no idea what it looks like.

 

[pregcurious]

You can do a search for green gold in the PS search engine. I think it can be lovely, but I don't see a compelling reason to use it in this case. If you ever have to repair the piece, it may be difficult to get someone to match the gold color exactly as people have different mixtures of green gold. I would stick to a more standard gold for this piece.

Also, some good vendors for bezels are Onegarnetgirl (one Etsy) and Julia Kay Taylor (you can Google her). If you search for their names in the search engine, you'll see reviews from other PSers.