Lesson: Commercial Stone Settings

Lesson 5: Commercial Stone Settings
In production jewelry, commercial stone settings can be a valuable time saver. You should use commercial settings for smaller stones (1.5-6 or 7 mm) that have standard cuts- round, oval, baguette. For smaller stones, the time saved by purchasing the settings offsets the costs. As stones get larger, commercial settings are harder to find in a variety of styles.
You should not use commercial settings for any unusual cuts, irregular cuts, or for large stones. For these types of stones, you can make the setting easier, and the stone is a larger part of the overall design, so customization and integration of the setting becomes more important.
Commercial finding are usually made one of 2 ways- die-struck or cast. Die-struck settings tend to be cleaner and more exact regarding size. Cast settings usually require more cleanup of the setting to remove mold marks and usually have thicker walls, but are softer.
Bezel settings:
Commercial bezel settings usually come in 2 different types: bezel cups and open back or tapered tube bezels. If you have a faceted stone, get the open backed settings. If you have a cabochon, you can get either setting.
Remember to drill a small hole in the bottom of the bezel cup so that you can pop your stone out prior to setting if needed.
Prong settings:
Some prong settings also have an option of coming pre-notched. Unless you are certain that the gemstones you are setting are calibrated, I recommend against this. Cutting the notches doesn’t take very long, and that way you are assured of a perfect fit every time. The pre-notched settings are aimed for jewelers who are setting tens or hundreds of the exact same stone.
Prong settings also come in different heights. In deciding what height to buy, consider how high you want your stone to sit up from the piece. If you are setting a stone in a concave shape, you may want a higher setting, than if you were setting it on the top of a ring.
Using commercial settings:
• Make sure that the setting is cleaned up, any blemishes or mold marks removed.
• Check to see that the setting fits into your piece. Adjust if necessary.
• Make sure that your stone fits into the setting. If the stone doesn’t fit, see how close it is to fitting. If it is very close, make the minor adjustments to the setting, then retry the stone.
• If the stone is not close to fitting, order a new setting.
• To enlarge the setting slightly, place on mandrel and tap gently with a mallet. This should open the setting up slightly.
• If it is a bezel, or a prong setting with thick prongs, use a setting bur to remove material from inside the setting.
• For bezels, remove any excess thickness on the bezel wall from the outside.
• Solder the setting into place.
• For prong settings, notch the prongs.
• Once the rest of your piece is completed, set the stones.