Could anyone share with me how to achieve a bezel that looks like the ones in the this photo? The metal that is framing the stones has such a rounded edge and it appears to be a thick-walled bezel. Is it cast? Is it fabricated? How do you make a bezel setting look that way?
I’m hoping someone can shed some light and point me toward the right methods to hopefully be able to make something that looks this fancy.
The image is a screenshot of @numiolive jewelry.
Enlarge the image and look at the green and purple stones in particular, which are faceted. You can see that the bezel is not pressed down onto the stones’ facets. Any bezel setting of faceted stones that I’ve done do not come out with gaps like that - the metal gets pressed down onto the stone, all the way around. So I’m going to assume these were back set.
However they were set, I don’t like the look of the gaps above the facets and would not consider them well made. If that makes me OCD so be it.
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Like Neil says, they are likely set from behind. Does the description talk about an open back to let light through?..Rob
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I agree with Neil A and Rob that these stones are probably back set. But your main question is how to set stones like this. It’s a complicated question because there’s lots of variables and multiple steps.
Blaine Lewis has a DVD on bezel setting fragile gem stones that answers how to set stones like this and is excellent. It’s part of his “classroom in a box” series where you get the materials necessary to learn the technique. Rio Grande sells the DVD for $179. It might be available elsewhere too.
Bezel and Flush Setting with Diamonds and Fragile Colored Stones, DVD, I
tem No. 560685
Blaine owns the New Approach Jewelry School in Tennessee, which is an excellent school for learning stonesetting if you ever want to take a class.
I’m sure there’s other places out there to learn bezel setting with thick wall bezels.
I hope that helps at least a little bit! Bezel setting with thick walls is one of my favorite ways to set stones.
Jeff
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I recently took a course with Kent Raible that covered thick walled bezels but these settings look very different from those.
I think you’re right Neil, these are backset bezels- oddly enough I’m not familiar with these. I’ve seen them before but I didn’t know what I was looking at. Now that I know, I’m noticing that they look a bit sloppy but I do really love the way a nice thick-walled bezel looks around a stone. Thanks for everyone’s feedback, very helpful!
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That’s great that you took a class from Kent! He’s amazing!!
Lindsay ,
The question on the so called Fat Bezel- try this technique: Once you have rolled the bezel against the cab, take a flat file that has an edge with no teeth on the side so that it doesn’t dig into your stone and make marks. Work your way ariund the setting and will give a fatter look to the top edge of the bezel. Faceted gems present a little different problem. Maybe just sections of bezel utilized, or cast in place.
Good luck…~~~*STV
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I really like wide bezels and use 20 or 18 gauge metal for my bezels. I made a tapping tool out of an old chasing tool. Grind the tip into a rectangle about the size of the 45 degree angle, sand the tip to 600 grit and don’t polish it. To set the stone, I hold the piece in thermo plastic in an engravers ball and tap the bezel into place. File the edge of the bezel to a 45 degree angle and tap it at that same 45 degree angle. Slowly work the bezel against the stone till it’s flush with the stone. Finally, file the bezel using a barrett file and polish it with a silicone, pumice wheel. If the stone is fragile, I make the thick bezel out of fine silver.
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I looked at the actual post, and the artist says they used a “chunky 14k bezel cup”, so it’s not back set
https://www.instagram.com/p/DLsZSEPPgqx/?igsh=ZDlidmtkMjZxbTF5
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They may also be cast in place or set from behind. Stuller sells a lot of settings that look like this…Rob
I make bezels like this frequently. They are not back set. Push the walls over the stone with a square pusher opposing sides, and work your way around. Once everything is pushed over you can glide the pusher horizontally around the bezel to smooth it, or if they are thick enough you can skip that step and do it via a silicone disc instead.
The inside is then evened out with a graver, then go over it with a very thin tip burnisher to round it out.
As far as the thick, round look, the walls are either taller or thicker than usual. My guess is a combination of both, which is why you see gaps in some areas between the stone and bezel wall.
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