Hi Orchid, I have a very nice 3ct ethiopian welo opal that i made an
18k yellow bezel for as the center of a larger argentium pendant. I
usually only set sapphires or other very hard stones in 18k,
otherwise i mostly work with argentium and fine silver but this opal
looked so good next to 18k, i couldn’t resist making the bezel 18k.
So now the piece looks fantastic but i’m wondering how best to set
the stone. I my some what limited experience even with a very thin
(like.2-.25mm) bezel in 18k i cannot seem to close the setting
without a hammer and punch, which is ok with a sapphire or a
chrysoberyl but i couldn’t bring myself anywhere near an opal with a
hammer without risk of heart attack. With argentium or fine silver i
use a bezel roller, but it seems like 18k is much more springy even
when fully annealed, a bezel roller just pushes it around more than
inward and down. How thin does an 18k bezel have to be to be pushed
down with a bezel roller and stay there’this one is thin, less than
.2mm, but i can tell that it would be very hard to push down with a
roller. I hope I can find a good way to set this stone, it’s such a
beauty. Thanks for any ideas you might have.
Douglas at Eclipse Designs