I am designing some stud type earrings. Right now I am considering
them in silver, 18K and maybe 22K. Basically some bezel set stones
with some small ornamentation around the bezels and post backs. Some
stones will be faceted and I am wondering about how to do open back
settings when you have a post on back. They may be too small to
position the post just above the open back. So other thoughts would
be to have an open back but with a strip of metal across the center
for the post to attach to. Or to have a closed back and have some
sort of pierced bezel. I want to keep my stones clean of course.
Those of you who might make studs like this, do you have some
advice? Thanks for all your help. I looked back through the archives
at our discussion from last year about open back bezels, but it did
not directly address this problem.
I’ve seen some ‘faceted’ bezel-set stones in earrings of this
nature. One thing you should be always aware of is; is the culet of
the stone going to be touching the ‘cross-bar’? If this is the case,
allow for the ‘cross bar’ to be slightly domed AWAY from the bezel.
Have it then curved to give freedom to the culet. You might have to
make some measurments from the girdle of the stone, that is 1-2 mm
"below" the top of the bezel wall to the bottom, of actual earring
itself.
Lets say the total earring depth is 4 mm’s and the stone is 4mm’s
too, You will indeed have a major problem, why? Glad you
asked!..You must always allow for the stone to be lowered from a
distance of girdle INTO the bezel…this is, the ‘table’ should always
be situated when finished at the bezel top!..If you move the bent
’cross-bar’ away from the culet, the post will be off-center.The
final result would be that the earring will hang further down as
originally planned…:>(…woops!
If you are going to have a “solid backing” try not to do this! Your
stone will look a shade darker, I would have a “smaller opening” to
allow a shaft of light to ‘brighten’ the stone. This will also allow
for some minor changes in the choice of stones’ depth in time of
setting! Nothing is perfect !
If you are selecting Cabochon stones, I prefer, my opinion here
again, to have a slight opening. Others might differ with me, designs
warrant your final choice of post arrangement. You should really
allow full freedom of light to get to the stone at all times.
I would suggest the open back also but not because you want light to
enter the back (which it cannot do when on the ear or finger anyway)
but because it makes cleaning the piece possible. With opaque
stones an opening is not necessary.