Dear Good people I’am looking for some one who specializes in
Invisible set repairr & tighting . Could you share some of your
experiences?? the Good the Bad & the Ugly!
Thanks Jeff Ellis
I have worked on a bunch of those horrible things I filled in for a
friend of mine one summer while he went on vacation. He worked for a
real lousy chain store in the mall, there is not enough super glue
in the whole universe to keep those rings together. I have made
several invisible set rings but I try to avoid doing it because it
is difficult to get all matching stones with the cut at the same
height so you don’t have high ones and low ones and sometimes the
cut is not deep enough to really get a good bite on the stone. The
large manufactures would have piles of them to sort through to find
just the right stone but I have to make do with what I was sent.
Most of you who have done repair have probably seen how they are put
together and it is a simple idea but it leaves you with only one try
to get the stone in tight and after that you are pretty much
screwed. They also almost always make them out of 18k green because
it is real soft and they get less breakage when setting them but it
sure doesn’t help them stay in. Even when you send them back to the
manufacturer to have the stones reset they just give it to some
knucklehead to glue in and hope they stay in just long enogh so as
they can say it is not their fault. The pieces that I have seen that
where done by Van Clief and Arpels are amazing, They are done by
hand and the gallery work that holds the diamonds in is usually in
platinum and the stones look like they were cut with the setter
sitting next to the faciter and telling him exactly what to cut so
as to get a perfect fit. I think some styles of setting don’t lend
themselves to mass production. just my humble opinion
sincerely Kevin Potter
invisible settings, very expensive to repair! here’s a story for
this method!
I lady came to me and told me one diamond fell out of her, 6 stone
wide, total eternity ring. It had over 150 Princess stones. $25,000
wholesale cost mounting!
So in Toronto, we have one manufacturer with the name of "Mirage"
who deals in this style of setting stones. This fellow said "Gerry,
if I have to replace one stone, I have to remove all the stones AROUND
the missing stone, re-cut by Laser a new stone to fit, and likening a
jig-saw puzzle re-arrange the remaining stone to re-fit again. His
cost to me was $475.00 CDN. As many remaining stones were loose he
would not at all guarantee the others in the mount, nor would he
attempt to tighten any other stones. He said that all of these
stones should be well cared for. No one should abuse jewellery with
invisible set stones. As all of the invisible stones are wax-set,
manual setting is not done and to set just one stone is left to the
mavens in this style of setting. He also said that jewellery like
this must re-checked for security one a year…Gerry!
I find these to be like so many other new ‘designer ideas’. The
original pieces are well designed and well made. The point is
design, not cost. They are relatively expensive, and you will rarely
see one in for repair. As the idea catches on and they become mass
produced, the emphasis quickly swings around to cost rather than
quality. Price point is key. When this happens, I see poorly fitted
stones, poorly set, often with some sort of adhesive in the back.
The heat from even sizing will compromise this and stones start
flying all over the place. The least bit of bending during the
sizing will also pop them all loose. I saw the same thing with
channel setting a few years back. The well made pieces will stay
together through just about anything. The junk pieces look great for
a few days out of the showcase, but are a nightmare from then on. I
usually refuse to work on anything that I am not quite confident of
the construction. Even then, I put customer’s risk on most of it. I
simply cannot afford to reset a whole ring worth of invisible sets
for the price of a sizing, and I don’t have the proper tools or
experience to be doing that resetting anyway. Jim
EIFFEL JEWELRY
Polygon#: 04199)
607 S. Hill St. #749
Los Angeles, CA 90014 USA
800/863-4335 [FAX: 213/629-3039]
Ray Babikian
3d@eiffeljewelry.com
http://eiffeljewelry.com
Eiffel Jewelry, Inc. is a prime source manufacturer in INVISIBLE set
jewelry. We offer full service manufacturing as well as waxed
carvings and platinum castings. Our services are furnished with
lifetime guarantee against manufacturer’s defect.
Original MessageFrom: owner-orchid@ganoksin.com [mailto:owner-orchid@ganoksin.com] On Behalf
Of Ellis Jewelers
Sent: Friday, March 12, 2004 9:11 PM
To: orchid@ganoksin.com
Subject: [Orchid] Invisible set repair
Dear Good people I’am looking for some one who specializes in
Invisible set repairr & tighting . Could you share some of your
experiences?? the Good the Bad & the Ugly!
Thanks Jeff Ellis
End of forwarded message
Invisible setting has posed many problems as it was readily embraced
by manufacturers that really had no clue. Some pieces that I have
seen are accidents waiting to happen. This as particularly true of
the no-wall pieces that have come onto the market. Most manufacturers
ask that you send any work, including sizing back to them. Many state
that they will not work on any piece that has been worked on
previously by someone else. That said, I recently came across an
advertiser in Modern Jeweler magazine (March 2004) that bills itself
in bold headline “INVISIBLE EXPERTS”. “Specializing in invisible set
diamond jewelry” I have not used this service and cannot recommend
them, but I thought that I would pass this along. The
name of the company is Signature Jewelry. 877-8-EXPERT.,
213-624-6026. They are at 617 South Olive St. Suite 302,
Los Angeles, CA 90014.