Stone setting

Stone Setting

Stone setting is an essential part of jewellery making. Stone setting involves attaching stones in a metal casting to serve as decoration. The right setting ensures the overall visual appeal of a particular design and enhancing its brilliance and beauty.

Stone setting showcases and protects the beauty of the stone.

A stone setting's main objective is to hold a stone securely and to enhance its brilliance by showing its cut, clarity and colour.

Enchanted Nature, our dragonfly and ladybug charm, in sterling silver with 2 bezel-set rose-cut clear cubic zirconia.

Bezel Setting – One of the Oldest Stone Setting Techniques

The bezel setting is one of the oldest and most popular stone setting techniques. A band of metal is wrapped around a stone to holding it securely in place from the sides and from a tiny edge along the top of the stone to protect it. Its low, protective profile makes it a good choice for people with active lifestyles. It is traditionally used for cabochons and for displaying phenomenal gems.

1.7 billion stones were set in Pandora jewellery in 2018

Bead Stone Setting

Bead stone setting places a stone directly into a piece of metal jewellery using the tool gravers, which are also called burins. Each hole is drilled directly into the surface and then a tool is used to make a precise concave in which the stone is placed.

Flush Stone Setting

A a flush setting is also called a ‘burnish’ or ‘gypsy’ setting. In a Flush stone setting, each stone is set in a tapered hole on the surface of a jewellery piece. To secure the stone, the surrounding metal is hammered around it to hold it in place, leaving it ‘flush’ with the surface. Only the stone's crown is exposed and the smooth, protective setting won’t snag on clothing.

Bezel Stone Setting

The bezel stone setting is one of the oldest stone setting techniques. A band of metal encircles the stone entirely or partially, and its rim extends slightly above its circumference to help hold it in place. Bezels can be plain or decorative, and the bezels low, protective profile makes it an excellent setting for jewellery worn on a daily basis. It is traditionally used for cabochons and round-shaped stones.

Pavé Stone Setting

Pavé is French for ‘paved’ and a pavé stone setting paves jewellery with sparkling stones, making it both a stone setting and a design feature. Pavé stone settings are used to mount diamonds and other gemstones that are round cut. To create a pavé stone setting, jewelers make numerous imprints on the metallic surface that will hold the gemstone.

A jeweler will fashion small prongs that will hold the jewelry in place very discreetly. With pavé stone settings, very little of the metal is seen and the reflective properties of the stone become more prominent.

The pavé stone setting is ideal for small stones, to make jewellery look as if it has been paved with stones and creating an elegant, glittering effect. A modern variation of the pavé stone setting is the micro-pavé setting which utilises microscopes to secure very small gemstones in place or some design required look and feel of less metal appearance than pavé setting.

Claw Stone Setting/ Prong Stone Setting

This stone setting style features narrow metal supports called prongs or claws which hold the stone in place. The raised setting emphasises the stone to allow the maximum amount of light to enter it. However, it also leaves the stone exposed with little support of its edges. This stone setting requires regular check-ups to ensure it remains secure.

Peg Stone Setting

The peg stone setting is also known as the ‘half-drill’ setting. It is traditionally used for pearls. A pearl or other spherically cut stone is drilled halfway through and attached to a mounting with a peg. The peg is coated with a small amount of adhesive to prevent the stone from moving. The mounting may have additional metal surrounding the stone, but is largely an ornamental feature. Since there are no claws or prongs, the stone appears to float to give the jewellery piece a light and graceful appearance.

Mother of Pearl Inlay Setting

The Mother of Pearl Inlay Setting is created with traditional techniques that require 18 different steps.

Small pieces of mother of pearl are shaped as squares, moons or stars and placed piece by piece onto a resin or acrylic base using a special adhesive.

The colour of the base enhances the natural colour of the mother or pearl, which is then baked in an oven to cure and strengthen the adhesive. The mosaic is then polished to a high shine before being assembled on the jewellery design.