I am relatively new to this and am wondering the
advantages/disadvantages of using premade bezels. I see them in
the catalogs…I can make bezels but the pre made are so cheap.
I use a lot of smallish round cabs, mostly with sterling and
sometimes faceted stones? Any advice? Thanks, Allison Vezeau in
Costa Rice
Hi Allison, My personal opinion is that there is nothing wrong
with buying bezel settings from a supplier… in fact, i think
it’s a good idea. you will get reasonable consistency and they
are easy to set. A great time saver and no one but you will know
the difference. I will have a set of photographs at my site
showing simple bezel setting and the tools necc. to do the job
quickly … helpful when you have to do a lot of them. The
pictures will be up there in a day or 2 . if you revisit the
site, remember to refresh your browser or you won’t see the new
pics. http://racecarjewelry.com/page03.html Daniel Grandi
Hello Alison, Buy pre-made bezels whenever possible. They are
much cheaper than you can make them yourself for. They are
seamless, which makes them easy to work with. Have fun Tom Arnold
I am relatively new to this and am wondering the advantages/disadvantages of using premade bezels.
Premade bezels aren’t always fine silver, so rolling them around
your stone may be more difficult. Another thing to consider, is
that you have to work with calibrated stones, since those are
the only ones which will fit the premade bezels.
Hello Allison:
I don’t really like working with casted bezels (which store
bought bezels usually are). The are very difficulted to mold
around your stone when you are setting cabs because they are so
hard. For setting cabs I always use fine silver (in pre cut bezel
strips or I cut them myself) that is anywhere between .24mm to 1
mm thick depending on what I am doing. Anyway, making them
yourself is much cheaper then buying them and once you get good at
making them it is a very quick process.
Good luck!
DeDe
The disadvantage of premade bezels is that you can only use
calibrated cabs and stones. If you don’t do lapidary and cut
your own stones, or buy really interesting stones with baroque
or non-standard shapes–I guess you’re ok. But you’re missing
out on a lot design-wise.
The next question to ask yourself is the one about cost of
materials versus cost of your time. Bezel wire is a lot cheaper
than pre-made bezels, but what is your time worth to make your
own?
Cheers
Virginia Lyons
Metalsmith
Dear DeDe (love that name) I do believe you meant 24 to 18 gauge
thick,(1/2 to1mm) Somehow I don’t enjoy using preformed bezels.
Just doesn’t seem right when con- structing a piece by hand. But
then I’m not in production. I also enjoy all your input to
Orchid. J.Z. (Dule)