Glass for jewelry

Jewelry Discussion
1

Hello Everyone, Thanks to all for help with my enamel sample
questions. I am re-asking this one-

I would like to set an old piece of ribbon under glass and set it in
silver to make a pin. Is there a source for glass for jewelry? or do
I just run down to the hardware store? Thanks All- Cherie

2

Dear Cheryl, go to a store that specializes in stained glass crafts -
they are likely to have all kinds of goodies and ideas for your
project (and future projects,too, perhaps?). susannah

3

Cherie, Glass for covering Ribbon: There is a process in Lapidary of
covering fine stone with a cap of clear stone called “doublets” in
the case of two part stones and “triplets” in the case of three part
stones. The cover is usualy a Quartz Cabachon with a flat back to be
epoxied to the precious material. These Quartz caps are available in
standard sizes, from most Lapidary Suppliers. Try your local rock
shop, or consult www.opalsmith.com Hope this helps Art

4

Cheryl,

I think that often, jewlery makers use watch crystals in their
jewelry. I don’t have the names of any watch parts suppliers for
you, though. Another possibility is to use small optical lenses; a
possible source is American Science and Surplus which has all sorts
of interesting stuff in their catalogs. I’m not sure what kinds of
lenses are suitable, however. The web address for American Science
and Surplus is http://www.sciplus.com/. Just check out the section on
optics. Another avenue to try is stained glass suppliers; perhaps
the stained glass people have a use for small ready-cut pieces of
colorless glass.

Also, there are small crystal “caps”; you can find some here:
http://idopalmine.com/crystal.caps.htm and here:
http://www.alpha-supply.com/.

Something to consider when deciding what to use is that plain old
plate glass is flat, whereas watch crystals, crystal caps, and
lenses of various types are domed.

Check out the jewelry of Jennifer Trask; among other types of
lenses, she also uses antique eyeglass lenses; which might be a nice
use in combination with your old ribbon fragment. You can see
Jennifer’s work heRe: http://home.hvc.rr.com/jtrask/

Good luck!
Christine in Littleton, Massachusetts

5 
The cover is usualy a Quartz Cabachon with a flat back to be
epoxied to the >precious material. These Quartz caps are available
in standard sizes, from most Lapidary Suppliers.

The back of these usually is not polished so that the surface is
ready for gluing. The flat surface would need to be polished for
this application so the ribbon would be visible through the cap.

Pam Chott
Song of the Phoenix

6

Is there a source for glass for jewelry?

Hi Cheryl, Microscope slides is the answer you need… Try any
laboratory suppliers - or, for just one or two, your local school or
college.

Best wishes,
Ian W. Wright
Sheffield, UK

7 
 Is there a source for glass for jewelry?

Have a look at these sapphire “windows” http://www.henglian.com

Jon