Gem Cluster

I need some ideas on how to do something that is probably routine in
this craft but I don’t know where to begin and can’t find what I need
in the catalogs I have.

I have 3 different projects that could use this same setting.

First of all, I want to decorate a large silver plated chalice (
actually it looks like a brandy snifter) with gems. Cabs are easy
and findings readily available but faceted stones stick out like
warts with all the heads I have looked at.

My idea is to make something like a broach with a large cab ruby in
the center and four or more 8mm CZ SRB’s surrounding the ruby. The
whole thing would have to stick out to clear the SRB’s but they could
be set into the broach and protrude less.

I have never used it but PMC seems like an interesting possibility
but forming it into something attractive would be an issue for me.

Any other ideas here?
js

The store I used to work at decorated a chalice for someone. We
used both cabs and faceted stones set in bezels. It looked really
cool. The bezels were clustered together (I think we had a star
sapphire cab with four 20 point diamonds surrounding on one of the
clusters). Once the bezels were soldered together, shaped to the
curvature of the chalice, stones were set and the whole thing was
soft soldered on. We also set stones in the base (bead set on a
cross that was then rivoted and soft soldered on).

Leslie I think using heads might be “scratchy” when holding the cup
to drink from—just my opinion

Leslie Anne Wright Macy