I wanted to try something i have seen many times, i wanted to set a
bezeled diamond inside another stone but i need some help and
on how to do it and where to get the right equipment if
i need any extra. I would be very greatful for any help/info
I have had to replace bezel set stones in onyx quite a few times, and
even drill stones and set tube settings into other larger stone a few
other times. It is a pretty straight forward process. First of course
you need to drill the larger stone, and diamond bits are the way to
go. After you have your center hole it makes for a cleaner job to
slightly countersink the top of this hole the same diameter as the
bezel setting, so the bezel sits down into the material nicely, even
down till the bezel is flush with the larger stone is possible. The
reverse of the stone also should be countersunk slightly, or a cross
groove cut to help secure the tube.
I solder the bezel onto a piece of tube (traditionallysterling silver
as it’s soft and easy to flair/tighten, but that is your choice).
This tubing should be a snug fit through the center hole, and longer
than the thickness of the larger stone. I then set the diamond, and
do all my finnishing of the bezel while I can still hold it in my pin
vise. An old watchmaker’s lathe is wonderful for this type of setting
and finnishing of tubes and bezels, if you have access to one!
After the bezel is completed I trim the excess tubing till it just
protrudes a couple mm’s beyond the reverse of the stone. I push the
bezel into place and turn the peice upside down onto my benchpin so
that only the bezel is touching the surface of the pin. I then
gently rock a taperred punch into the end of the tube to flair if,
and then very gently push and then burnish the tube end down onto and
into the countersunk recess to tighten the bezel. I then trim away
any excess tubing metal and pollish. I once had a loose opal to set
that had had a bezel set diamond countersunk into it in this same
way, and although I do not think that I want to be the one setting
tubes into opals it was an awfully nice look!
Jason- In the old days when we made Masonic rings, class rings, and
onyx rings with diamonds in the middle we set the stone in a bezel
or bead set it in a plate. Then we soldered a fine silver tube that
is slightly smaller than the plate or bezel to the bottom of the set
stone. We’d drill a hole the same diameter as the tube into the base
stone with a diamond drill.
Here’s the important part. We then took a round diamond bur to the
underside of the stone to give a spot where we can then flare out
the bezel from underneath. We also made two little notches radiating
out from where we had made our underneath scoop. When burnished into
place the little notches keep the tube from spinning.
It’s important to use fine silver or very high, like oh say 22-24
karat gold. it has to be soft enough to be able to burnish from
underneath without breaking the base stone.
i wanted to use a diamond 2-3mm in a gold bezel, in what ever stone i
will end up setting in the ring or pendant, having not tried this
before and i dont know what to use to firstly to drill the stone and
secondly to keep the bezeled diamond in the other stone i guess it
should be a tight fit but do you use a type of glue to stop it
working its way out, oh and something i just thought of is the back
of the bezel open or closed
many thanks and if someone can help me out with some info i would be
very greatful
Sorry i forgot to say if i wanted to set the diamond in a clear stone
how do you manage that too. My girlfriend had stones like that with a
small diamond set in it and you could just see the gold bezel/tube it
was just slightly or the same length as the diamond it didnt go all
the way through also im not sure if the bezel/tube had a back on it
or if it was open but im sureit only went a few mm,s deep
Tom Dailing won the grand prize in this year’s Saul Bell Design
Awards with “Concave Nautilus,” a pendant whose centerpiece is a red
tourmaline (12 mm diameter) with a diamond set in the center. A 2 mm
hole was drilled through the tourmaline by the cutter, Richard Homer.
Dailing set the diamond in a white gold tube that extends through the
hole and is soldered below to a column on which the tourmaline rests.
Homer’s precise cut and drilling enhance the tourmaline’s brilliance
and make the hole and tube invisible by creating a light "baffle."
Dailing’s design fills the dish with alternating rays of white and
red.
I won’t pretend to understand the science, but the result is pretty
spectacular. See January’s MJSA Journal for more details.
Do a Google image search for “dailing nautilus saul bell” for a small
image from Modern Jeweler. MJSA Journal displays it in much better
detail.
Glenn Lehrer designed his “Taurus” ring stones many years ago. He has
been marketing these beautiful imaginatively faceted stones both with
or without the interior stones already in place. Credit where credit
is due!