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Making Crown Collets

#1

A while ago on Orchid there was a discussion on how to make crown
collets. Co-incidentally I was working on two How I Do It (Hidi’s) on
that subject. Finally, in a fit of lethargy, I finished them.( it is
low season here in St Maarten)

http://meevis.com/jewelry-making-class-making-a-crown-collet.htm
http://meevis.com/jewelry-making-class-making-a-crown-collet-tubes.htm

This is the way I was taught how to make them. I am sure that there
are many other ways to do them.

Mr. Supin mentioned that he also knows how to make them. It would be
very interesting to hear of different methods and designs from
the,ahem, older jewellers on the forum.( the assumption, maybe
incorrect, is that the younger jewellers would buy them in) I have
searched the net for different designs and found surprisingly little
I was probably not looking in the right places, though.

Cheers,
Hans Meevis
http://www.meevis.com
http://hansmeevis.blogspot.com

#2 
ahem, older jewellers

Ahem indeed!

Awhile ago I was asked to make a three stone ring with that sort of
head, duplicating a worn out ring that survived the Titanic, or so
I’m told. I made it in a similar manner as you Hans with a few
challenges thrown in.

The center was six prong but the sides were five prong. The five were
not evenly spaced in the original. The two inner prongs of the
satellite stones had to meet up with the two side prongs of the
center. These four prongs were really the intersection of flats made
in the basic cone, so that there were essentially walls or bulkheads
(this is what gave the ring structural integrity) that flanked the
center stone (this area not cut out like the balance of the prongs,
resulting in V shape tips where the outlines of the 3 diamonds
converged. And these settings were lower and more flared than the
bezel punch could make so between my two 17 and 28 degree sets and a
few ball punches (if memory serves I used a tapered hole just barely
larger than the base of the cone and then dapped the prongs outward)
I eventually got the look of the original. Oh, and the cross section
of the prongs was thicker at the base and finer at the tips. Oh and
the stones were old european with pretty wavy girdles.

The underbezels I did not attach individually. After I soldered the 3
heads (cones) together I attached a single chunk of gold. (prongs
were plat) This allowed me to carve things up true to the original.
Come to think of it I may have carved out the scallops between the
prongs after I had the 3 cones together as the splay between prongs
was not symmetrical on the original. Since they were paying for an
exact duplicate (accounting for wear in the process) I couldn’t take
the shortcut of finishing three heads and then plopping them
together, its just a subtly different set of proportions. Sometimes
the hard way is the easy way.

I’ve got pics somewhere but my photography is not fit for public
consumption.

#3 
It would be very interesting to hear of different methods and
designs from the,ahem, older jewellers on the forum.( the
assumption, maybe incorrect, is that the younger jewellers would
buy them in) I have searched the net for different designs and
found surprisingly little

My technique is slightly different. Instead of using strip, I like
to punch out a disk and shape it into the cone using bezel block.
This
eliminates the seam but take longer. If you work with platinum it may
be a worthwhile trade off. Then I shape bottom scallops and solder it
to the base ring. After soldering, I like to seat the stone. The
process is like setting a stone into bezel. After stone seat is
prepared, it is only then I cut the prongs. The reasons for this are
several. Having base ring soldered gives more stiffness to the
setting for cutting and allows for easier holding. The setting can be
worked over with the hammer after the soldering to restore the work
hardening, so when you cut the prongs, they will be elastic, but not
soft. Cutting stone seat in the cone is easier and more level. The
cone is stiff and securely held. No vibration, no wrapping burs
around
the prongs. When everything is done, the last operation is to cut the
prongs. They come out with stone seats nice and level. Setting stone
is a breeze. On my website the “Our Way” pages illustrate the
process.

Leonid Surpin
www.studioarete.com

#4 
different methods and designs from the,ahem, older jewellers on the
forum

Hey who are you calling old, Hans? ;<} Your piece there would be
pretty much how I’d do it - some minor differences. One major
difference, though, is your little part on the bottom, which is
u-s-e-l-e-s-s in most cases. Better is to make your ring shank with
the little part built into it, either cast, welded or carved, then
solder the crown onto that. Solid shank, little piece is built
square and straight into it, pop on the setting and move on. And no
solder in the structure, just a setting solder and a solid shank.
Way better, way easier, way cleaner. This being typically a ring
setting - if it’s for something else and the little bottom cap is
needed, then that’s different.

http://www.donivanandmaggiora.com

#5

Mr. Donivan wrote: Better is to make your ring shank with the little
part built into it, either cast, welded or carved, then solder the
crown onto that.

Mr. Supin wrote:

 My technique is slightly different. Instead of using strip, I like
to punch out a disk and shape it into the cone using bezel block.
This eliminates the seam but take longer. Then I shape bottom
scallops and solder it to the base ring.

Mr Neil wrote:

The center was six prong but the sides were five prong. The five
were not evenly spaced in the original. e.t.c

I have a suggestion.

If you guys would send me pictures of these techniques, then I would
incorporate them into the Hidi ( with the correct acknowledgements,
of course) and once complete, maybe the tutorial could be uploaded
onto Ganoksin’s data base for everyone to use?

Is this possible?

Cheers Hans
http://www.meevis.com
http://hansmeevis.blogspot.com

#6 
If you guys would send me pictures of these techniques, then I
would incorporate them into the Hidi ( with the correct
acknowledgements, of course) and once complete, maybe the tutorial
could be uploaded onto Ganoksin's data base for everyone to use?

My pictures are freely downloadable from my website. As long as they
are not changed in anyway, anybody is welcome to use it.

Leonid Surpin
www.studioarete.com