Last week I decided to but my bezel setting demons aside and put some time aside to learn how to bezel set cabochons starting with some stunning turquoise ones.  With this in mind I decided to up my game an create a pendant with a stunning oval Chrysoprase cabochon.

Feeling confident from my last weeks endeavours of turning 2 pairs of oval turquoise cabochons in to a stunning pair of contemporary earrings and a pair of studs.

Full of creative ideas of how I can turn my collection of healing crystal cabochons into stunning jewellery pieces, I turned my attention to a bigger oval Chrysoprase crystal, that has been sitting on my bench for the last 12 months.

I cannot remember when or where I brought it, but I do remember at the time thinking that it would make an awesome pendant, and it was with this in mind that I set about creating a simple bezel setting to hold it.

I wrap 5mm sterling silver bezel wire tightly around the Chrysoprase cabachon, mark where they over lap, cut with shears, use half round parallel pliers to bring the two ends together, and solder like a pro!

A back plate is created, which was then pickled and sanded before I solder the bezel to it, cut the excess silver from the back plate and file down the edges, before checking that the cabochon fits inside, not forgetting the obligatory dental floss to ensure I have a way of getting it out!
 

So far so good

It's at this point I start thinking how am I going to connect the pendant to the chain?

I play around with a number of ideas before settling on creating a twisted jump ring, which I then solder to the back of the bezel plate, and then solder a plain square wire jump ring bail that the chain can feed through:
 
After a dip in the pickle and water to neutralise the acid, it's time to get busy!

This is part I find boring, but unfornunately it's a must, filing and sanding down all the ends of the bezel setting, mask on, making sure that the bezel wall and the back plate are flush so that they appear as one piece, luckily for me my handy dremel and its various attachments come in quite useful and make short work of it.

A polish and then its time to check that the Chrysoprsae cabachon fits within the bezel, which luckily for me it does, which believe you me was a great relief!

Then its the use of bezel setters to ensure that these cabochons are securely fitted ....

 
From my previous experience with setting the turquoise cabochons I remember how sharp the burnishers are, and how tricky it was to get a good grip in order to be able to push the fine silver around the cabochon to securely set it.  Then there was the added complication of the bail that I had soldered to the back plate.

With this in mind I use some masking tab to secure the piece to my bench block, and start pushing the metal around the healing crystal.

It's at this point I realise that this particular cabochon has two characteristics that I had not taken into consideration during the bezel making process.

1. The Chrysoprase cabochon seems to have been cut at an angle and the top is a different height to the bottom, and
2. The top and bottom are a lot more pointed compared to the turquoise cabochons.

The result of the first issue, is that the setting is higher at the top compared to the bottom of the cabachon, the second issue is more challenging, as I realise as I push the fine silver wall of the bezel against the cabochon, it begins to bunch up, which means that I will not get a nice clean setting, unless I modify my technique slightly.

With this in mind I work out that I need to move the silver away from the points of the cabochon as I push it inwards, and so as I push towards the healing crystal I also push away from the top and bottom points to lessen the amount of metal around those areas of the stone, to decrease the likelihood of the metal buckling and creasing up....
 
One thing I am now realising is how much pressure you need to move the metal around the gemstones when using bezel stting, and that you really need strong fingers and thumbs!

It might be my technique, but I getting real fatigue in my hands trying to set this stone.

But as tenancity is my middle name, even if patience is not, I push, rotate, coax with a bit of swearing when I stab my fingers with the pusher, and with a bit of burnishing and a polish here's the finished article:
What do you think?

Please add your ideas and thoughts in the comments below:

Joolz xxx
 

0 Comments

August 10, 2020

Name*

Email*

Message*

LCFCVW

Submit