Back setting stones

Hello all, I’m rather new at this jewelry making stuff, but I’ve been
having a good time with it. Recently I found a pendant setting in
the Stuller catalogue (#21389 round filigree bezel pendant) that
says it is a “back set”. I know I’m new at this and I probably sound
like the village idiot, but what the heck does back set mean? I’m
not seeing how the stone is held in place. There are no prongs or
anything to keep the stone from falling out of the back of the
pendant. Can anyone help me? Thanks, Lisa H.

Back setting literally means set from the back. The prongs are
underneath. The front is cut so that the edges of the stone are
slightly larger than the opening of the piece, the stone is placed
in the piece. The prongs are underneath and are pushed against the
pavilion facets or the facets that are on the “belly” of the stone.
opposite of prongs being on top. This method pushes the stone up
against the opening. Hope this helps. Stuller may have some info
printed that they can send you on the method. However if you saw
the piece it would be very clear. Need to have the correct size
stone.

Hi Lisa, As Mary said, these are set using tabs or “prongs” behind
the stone. I fiddled with these commercial settings a while back and
was unhappy with the quality. The ones I had were die struck, and the
word “flimsy” would give an unrealistically sturdy characterization
to them.

On a side note, a few years ago I did a couple back-set pierced
bezel cups for flat cabochons as pendants. The pierced pattern
overlaid the cab, which provided a colored background. Pretty neat
idea, and sold well. Maybe I should revisit the concept…

See the photo? http://www.carolinaartisans.com/shop/overlay.htm

All the best,
Dave
Dave Sebaste
Sebaste Studio and
Carolina Artisans’ Gallery
Charlotte, NC (USA)
dave@sebaste.com

If there are no prongs, then you place the stone in from the back
and raise beads from the inner sides to secure it from underneath.

Marta

1 Like

Dave

 On a side note, a few years ago I did a couple back-set pierced
bezel cups for flat cabochons as pendants. The pierced pattern
overlaid the cab, which provided a colored background. Pretty neat
idea, and sold well. Maybe I should revisit the concept...

I love the way you did these pendants. Can you please explain a
little more how you did the back on these? I understand the metal
front but am still confused as how to hold everything together. I
have also seen similar where the back is stone left uncovered and
some where there is a metal backing. I just was unable to get a good
look at how each was held together.

Thanks a lot.
Karen Bahr “the Rocklady” (@Rocklady)
May your gems always sparkle.

Hi Karen, I’d be glad to! :slight_smile: The flat cabs are hard to find if you
can’t cut them yourself, but go to enough gem shows and they’ll
eventually turn up!

Really the same concept as the commercial design, in that the back
is open and there are tabs (wide prongs) bent down to hold the stone
in. These tabs are extensions of the bezel… literally.

Its all in laying out in sheet to make the bezel. I normally use
fine silver bezel wire, but this adapted reverse bezel cup warrants
laying it out in sterling sheet. Measure for stone depth and bezel
length. Lay that line out along the edge of the sheet using dividers.
Then add another 3-4 mm for the tabs and layout that line. Using a
square, scribe vertical lines from the top line to the bottom to
define the tabs, and saw the bezel and tabs out in one piece.

Form into a circlet and solder with hard solder. Sand flat the edge
without the tabs, form to the stone and solder that down to sheet
with medium solder. Trim off excess sheet, file, sand, etc.

Create your design and pierce, in reverse, from the inside. File and
refine the piercing. Polish, and set the stone from behind by bending
the tabs.

Not especially sophisticated, but effective!

Hope this helps,

Dave
Dave Sebaste
Sebaste Studio and
Carolina Artisans’ Gallery
Charlotte, NC (USA)
dave@sebaste.com

Hi Karen, If you find that the settings do not have prongs in the
back, the stone is placed through the back and then set by raising
beads from the inner wall of the bezel, pushing them toward the
stone, which will secure the stone from underneath.

HTH, Marta

Thank you to everyone that responded to my backsetting question. Using tabs that are cut from sheet with the bezel sounds like an inefficient approach in that you have a lot of scrap. Also, the edge of the bezel might get distorted.
I think Dave Martai’s method of raising beads from the inside is the most elegant solution. I don’t know how to do that but will try it with Alan Revere’s book as a guide.

Thanks again, everyone!

Jan