I’d like to start this new topic which seems to growing from my last
post (stone setting prices). RISK. Some of you think diamonds are
riskier than cz’s to set. Diamonds pose the least risk of all stones
to set providing that they are of fair quality and cut. If there is
an obvious flaw or white area you can see,or maybe a very thin
girdle,or corners? Then you may say there’s a risk! Being confident
about your skills/ability and applying the Basic setting rules will
greatly REDUCE the amount of ‘busted stones’ no matter what material
they are made of. I put my hand up and say i CHIPPED A DIAMOND
TODAY!! ok it was a .01 size and the other 100 or so i set were fine.
I put this down to natural incidents. Did i worry? not in the
slightest!
Having said all this i still get sweaty hands with BIG emeralds and
expensive fancy stones BUT if you are Confident in what you are doing
then you should be ok! I think stones seem to sense a nervous setter!
also stones will sometimes break if you get ‘cocky’ or over
confident, just to bring you back to earth! Follow the rules,learn
by your mistakes and breaks (best way to find out just how much
pressure an emerald can take)! remember that cracking/crumbling noise
stones make! Most of all don’t panic. confidence/experience will see
you through. ENJOY stone setting and don’t be afraid to ask for help
or advice if your uncertain.
confidence/experience will see you through. ENJOY stone setting and
don't be afraid to ask for help or advice if your uncertain.
If you all can’t tell I’m really enjoying this list. I think it’s
great. Fun and informative.
I also think the timing of this thread is great, becuase as irony
would have it I’m reading it polishing the waxes for rings into which
(once they are cast and prepaired) I will be setting diamonds for the
first time in my little life. For added fun and frolick the rings are
going to be in a metal I’ve never worked with before. Thankfully I
have done the setting style before (gypsy).
Yup first diamond setting, is gypsy in an unfamiliar metal… I
might be panicing if I wasn’t too busy laughing at myself. I honestly
don’t know if I’m a masochist or an idiot.
So anyway other then general advise, which is always welcome, I
gotta ask, nickle white gold (18k) air cool to anneal yes?
Any metal you want to soften by annealing ( cherry red is the colour
you want)! Has to cool down by itself.
If you go dipping hot metal in water you will make it rock hard and
brittle.
If its 18 carat white gold you want to set with any stones DON’T
make the metal hard and brittle or you will be put off setting
stones for good! Takes a while to get used to working with different
metals so don’t get mad if the first one doesn’t go quite to plan!
Let us know how it goes and have fun.
I just gotta put my two Canadian cents into this “thread”. I was
once some time ago setting a.05 diamond. I took usual precautions of
preparing the claws. Placed the diamond onto the setting and only a
half of it remained. From at the girdle the stone stayed in place,
the top half actually fell into my bench. Was it broken or chipped or
what? Neither, the pressure of the soft claws caused the grain of the
diamond to separate. It was like someone took a knife and split the
diamond into two equal halves, just at the girdle. It could be
called misadventure. How did this happen? The natural grain of the
stone was waiting to break, it was no ones fault, it was just a
weakness at the grain of the stone!
A workshop diamond polisher was attempting to polish an ultra-large
diamond, every day he would put the diamond back into the shops’
safe and go home. In the morning he brought out this humongous large
stone out of the safe and it slipped out of his tray and fell…well
the rest is history, it fell to the floor and broke. There insurance
company refused to pay the multi-million dollars of settlement. This
heart broken polisher nearly died of the spot. How did this happen?
The diamond fell right on to the “grain of stone”. So now that
company has two very nice smaller stones to polish. This story was
published in an American jewellery newsletter…(name not to be
revealed at this moment)…
Any metal you want to soften by annealing ( cherry red is the
colour you want)! Has to cool down by itself. If you go dipping hot
metal in water you will make it rock hard and brittle.
This is not altogether accurate. It really does depend on the metal.
Both sterling silver and yellow golds (but not white golds) will be
softer if quenched while hot. That’s hot, not red hot. Quenching red
hot is problematic and will lead to brittleness.