this video confirmed what I always suspected that all tutorials on
invisible setting, all of them were done on computer, is simply
BS. Now we know the truth.
I too found that video enlightening. (the visual portion, at least.
Some of the narration was, shall we say, a bit “hokey”…) It
explains well (without actually bothering to do so) why the invisible
setting done by Van Cleef, Cartier, and perhaps other firms of
similar repute and historical association with invisible setting,
seems to be of a totally different caliber in terms of look and long
term durability, than much of what is seen done today. The notion of
making rails into which the stones slide in sideways (the video
called them “drawers”) makes much sense, and would be far more secure
than the way much of the modern stuff is done.
However, I’d caution against assuming all tutorials are BS, only
that they may not be showing this most excellent method. There’s no
particular reason why an instructional video has to be showing the
best or right way to do a thing, and I suspect the BS videos you
refer to simply show the more common and cheaper methods often found
done today, rather than being done on a computer or otherwise being
faked. There is little doubt in my mind that most of the invisible
setting done today is not done in the painstaking way shown in the
video, but rather is done by somewhat quicker, and less secure means.
I’ve seen too much of such shoddy and fragile invisible setting to
question that, and those pieces I’m thinking of did not have the sort
of careful, substantial, and durable “rails” or “drawers” shown in
that video. Which would be why so much of such work finds stones
loose if one sizes a ring, or so much as sneezes in it’s general
direction.
In the end, though, just as with a number of other general setting
styles, I’d say there are likely more methods of getting to the end
look of invisible setting than most of the craftspeople who do it,
are likely to admit to. I suspect some is done as shown in the Van
Cleef video. Some other work which may be equally durable which I’ve
seen (I’m guessing that the method based on what I saw when repairing
the piece I’m thinking about) may be made possible by laser welders.
The piece I’m thinking off appeared to be made by fitting rows of
stones into onto series of paralell wires, with each row then having
a small flat wire pushed into the lined up grooves, that wire now
perpendicular to the first set of wires. that latest wire is then
welded to the first set of wires, and a new row of stones pushed up
onto it, another wire added, and also welded. The end result is a
grid of wires, with one direction being only support and structure,
while the other direction is the flat wires actually in the grooves
in the stones. I’ve only seen one piece done this way, so it may not
be common. But it certainly worked. The repair I did on that piece
was due to it’s being badly bent out of shape by accident, and none
of the stones had loosened or come out, either in the accident or
during my repair work to straighten it and fix the breaks that had
occured.
At the other end of the spectrum I’ve seen so-called invisible
setting clearly done as “cast in place” work. Looked good in photos,
but I wouldn’t trust it much further than that.
Peter