I have a few ideas for making designs in an Art Deco style with rectangular baguettes and square princess cuts joined together. But where would the prongs go? It seems hard to put prongs on the corners. Maybe a metal bar between the stones sort of bezel setting each one? I should probably consult a reference book.
Few thoughts…what is it about the prongs, when you visualize them, that upsets you and your design concept? That they aren’t rectangular? I first thought of bars (channel setting), as you suggested, to echo the rectangularity. Then I thought, "what if you made a channel and then cut out most of the middle of it to leave a rectangular prong? It could be long or short. “The stone would wiggle in one direction”, I thought. “No, not if the seat was cut right”, said my internal critic. Hm-m-m. The “prongs” or abbreviated channels could be long or short and echo parts of the grid. I’m sure there are other options, too. Interested to see what you end up with. I, too, love Deco. -royjohn
1 Like
You should first consult with the person who is going to make the ring and set the stones. Traditional baguette settings particularly in art deco designs are almost always set with end tabs. This gives the piece a clean sleek look.
2 Likes
If you want to set square or rectangular stones girdle to girdle so they fill the field completely, they need to be invisibly set. This is a highly technical, and thus expensive, style of setting.
If you’re in or near a city that is a center for high jewelry, e.g. NYC, Paris, London. Rome, you’ll be able to find a shop that can handle this. If you’re not close to such a town you’ll have a difficult time contracting it out.
1 Like
How does one buy the diamonds for that? Just search for invisible set cut diamonds?
The stones have to be custom cut to fit the design. That’s one of the things that make invisibly set pieces so expensive, that and the time it takes to construct the armature.
Here’s a brief video from Van Cleef & Arpels with one of their mystery setting specialists.
I just don’t see how a prong could fit into the tip of a rectangular baguette or princess cut without chipping the baguette or slipping out. I have done bars before, I imagine I will do that again. An invisible setting is interesting, but I know nothing about it and will have to look into it. But if I have to custom cut the stones that will be very expensive.
First a quick definition of pave. Pave set stones are not invisible set. Paved stones are set girdle to girdle with a bunch of bead setting. Thus the surface is “paved” with gems.
Now ask any bench jeweler who has had to deal with invisible set diamonds and you will hear an audible collective groan. Van Cleef and Arpels pioneered invisible setting in 1933 and they have a patent on it. The gems for invisible setting have notches cut into the girdle of the stones. The stones are almost always individually custom cut to fit the design. Most of the invisible set pieces made by them are earrings, pendants, pins, etc.
Setting invisible set stones in a ring that would receive a whole lot more wear and tear is something to seriously avoid. The vast majority of rings that loose invisible set stones need to be returned to the original manufacturer because they have the appropriate size stones on hand. Pretty much every piece that has been repaired by soldering or gluing and yes even lasering eventually fail. Thus leaving the poor sot who repaired it being married to the piece for life.
2 Likes
Hi,
here are some stone setting books…
interesting fact by jhaemer…about invisible set stones being specially cut, and with notches at the girdle, thank you!
with that being said, although i would never be in a position to have that done, i would find learning about the technique interesting just for the sake of knowing about it🤣
i have not gotten any of these books yet, but they are on my list to buy!
julie
Hi Steve,
perhaps googling will show examples for you to contemplate. (google “images”):
princess cut diamond ring
princess cut cluster ring
princess cut art deco ring
etc
in theory, for stone setting one is trying to captivate the stone, by having metal go inward/ over the crown…
bezels, gypsy, bars, prongs, beads are just different sized metal/ techniques used to captivate the stone…
when points are involved, “relief” areas/ divots are created so that no metal touches/ puts pressure on the actual point itself…
larger center stones can be higher, allowing for prong material to not be too constrained by adjacent stones/ settings/ design…
if you consider these things it might help you conceptualize how you want to set the stones within the design…
balancing the use of metal, relative to the stones and overall design…
alot of art deco designs utilize “bead and bright cut setting”…another setting style to investigate…
julie