Gemstone Settings: The Jewelry Maker's Guide to Styles & Techniques

by Anastasia Young

Overview

Gemstone Settings is the most in-depth, technical guide to stone setting. Jewelry makers will enjoy an encyclopedic overview, which features an extensive summary of stone-setting and techniques for creating beautiful gemstone jewelry, from basic bezels and prongs to pave, carre, clusters, and numerous others—including cold joins, precious metal clay, settings for fragile stones, and settings that allow the stones to move.

You'll also discover detailed information about stones and metals—including their suitability, gorgeous photos and illustrations for visual support, what makes a design wearable and durable, and detailed information on pre-made versus handmade settings.

Step by step, learn how to set your most beloved precious, semiprecious, and organic stones with projects that range from elegant diamond masterpieces to earthy pearl or coral everyday favorites.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781596686366
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	03/20/2012
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	491,184
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Anastasia Young is the author of the best-selling book The Workbench Guide to Jewelry Techniques (Krause Craft). She is a practicing designer, jeweler, and artist whose work has been exhibited internationally. Young is a graduate of the Royal College of Art and Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London and lives in England.

Table of Contents

Part one / Introduction
• A brief history of gems in jewelry
• Contemporary gem-set jewelry
• Gem cutting
• Designing settings and mountings—incorporating stones into jewelry designs
• Design considerations—metals and their suitability; stones and their suitability
• Wearability, durability, and other practicalities
• The use of premade settings—compared to handmade
• Outsourcing—for stone-setting, casting, and plating

Part Two /Directory of Stones
• Precious gemstones—diamond, ruby, sapphire, emerald, jadeite, et al.
• Semiprecious gemstones—spinel, garnet, tourmaline, topaz, etc.
• Organic gems—pearls, coral, jet, amber

Part Three/ Directory of Techniques
Introduction
• Getting started—workshop set-up, health and safety
• Essential tools—holding media, engraving tools, burrs
Mounting stones (making the settings)
• Basic fabrication techniques—cutting, filing, soldering
• Advanced fabrication techniques—applied decoration, press forming, forging
• Casting and wax carving
• Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and Modeling—designing and producing pieces using 3D software
Rub-over settings
• Bezel setting—including step bezel, tooled edge, quatrefoil bezel, filed claws
• Tube setting—cabochons and faceted stones
• Dome setting—settings with a curved base
• Collet setting—from templates and from chenier, using a collet block
• Other shaped stones—spherical, square, and octagonal stones
• Flush setting—into domed surfaces
• Roman setting—flush setting for slab-cut stones
• Other variations—open and pierced bezel settings
Prong settings
• Claw settings
• Fabricated collet—from a template and from tube
• Basket setting—prongs made from wire
• Cluster setting—multiple stones on one piece
• Closed back prong setting—to intensify stone color
• CAM prong setting—computer-designed settings
Grain settings
• Grain setting—raising grains to set faceted stones
• Carré setting—square grain setting with cut away background
• Pavé—multiple grain setting
• Illusion—making small stones appear larger
• Channel setting—for calibrated baguette stones
• Pegged settings—for cabochon, spherical, and rose-cut stones
• Multiple pegged settings—for clusters of stones
Fancy settings
• Combination settings—using different techniques in one setting
• Multiple settings—using different settings in one piece
• Closed and open setting—controlling the amount of light in the stone and the use of foil
• Tension setting—including tension-set collet
• Caged setting—including basket setting
• "Wobbly" stones—settings that allow stone movement
• Swiveling settings—single- and double-sided
• Built-up settings—using gallery strip or other devices
• Raised and protective settings—using spacers and barriers
• Setting from behind—securing the stone on the reverse of the piece
• Capping—for drops and briolettes
• Kundan process—pure gold setting
• Caged setting—using laser welding
• Precious metal clay—firing stones in
• Casting—with stones in place
• Soldering—with stones in place
• Setting odd-shaped stones—including uncut, rough stones
• Upside-down setting—stones set in a U
• Riveted settings—cold joining techniques, including screw threads
• Settings for interchangeable stones—settings that can be opened and closed
• Spectacle setting—for fragile stones
• Wrapping—using wire to secure stones
• Mixed materials and other metals—from acrylic and resin to niobium and palladium
Pearls and Gem Beads
• Working with pearls—drilling and mounting pearls on posts
• Stringing—gemstone beads and pearls
• Wired beads—using wire as a support for gems and pearls

Part 4/ Reference--A comprehensive reference section full of essential information about stones, tools, and jewelry-making in general. Includes an extensive illustrated glossary and lists of international suppliers, services, galleries, and organizations.
• Moh's scale of mineral hardness—applied to gemstones
• Conversion charts—weights, temperatures, and measurements
• Tool shapes—burr shapes and graver shapes
• Diagrams of stone shapes—historical and modern cuts, cabochons to brilliants
• Stone size/weight ratios—calculate the weight of a stone by its dimensions
• Geometry formulas—for drawing setting templates
• Templates for settings—square/rectangular collets
• Illustrated glossary—containing terms, processes, materials and tools
• Further reading—other useful jewelry books and magazines
• Suppliers and services—US, UK, and international
• Galleries and organizations—places to see jewelry and organizations that support jewelers

Index and Credits

Editorial Reviews

"If there ever was a book subtly designed to seduce readers into a jewelry-making career, British artist Young's is it. And if slipcased with her first book, The Workbench Guide to Jewelry Techniques (2010), it would be half of an excellent map to the workings and how-to's of the business...Sparkling, and with substance." - Barbara Jacobs, Booklist

"I was very surprised at the amount of information covered for the size of the book. It really is packed with information! And there are all kinds of gorgeous jewelry pieces shown through, whether as examples of the projects in the book or as inspirational pieces or variations on techniques used." - Tammy Powley, About.com Guide to Jewelry Making

"If you're a gem geek like me, or if you just appreciate the interest and pretty pops of color and/or texture that gemstones can add to your jewelry designs, you'll enjoy Anastasia Young's new book, Gemstone Settings." - Tammy Jones, editor, JewelryMakingDaily.com

"A great how-to guide for adding a variety of stones to your jewelry work - in everything from metal clay, traditional metals, resin, and even mixed media jewelry creations." - Stacie Hooder, CraftGossip.com

"Looking for some new ways to use gemstones in your jewelry-making projects? Check out the new book Gemstone Settings: The Jewelry Maker's Guide to Styles and Techniques. You'll find information about how to use your favorite gemstones (and a few new ones!) in beautiful, architectural metal jewelry designs. Learn how to set gemstones in prong settings, bezel settings and grain settings, and with so many valuable references about popular gemstones, step-by-step instructions for making your own gemstone settings and basic fabrication techniques, this is one jewelry making book that you'll refer to time and again." - Beading Dailey

"Experienced jewelry makers will consider this a useful reference to creating jewelry with precious and semiprecious stones." - Library Journal

From the Publisher

UK-based jewelry designer Young (The Workbench Guide to Jewelry Techniques) focuses on the design and execution of gemstone settings in this clearly organized reference. Following an introduction to jewelry design and a reference guide to common gemstones, Young explores a variety of setting techniques, each graded by skill level. Full-color photographs of the steps of each technique, along with photos of inspiring finished objects, are included. VERDICT Experienced jewelry makers will consider this a useful reference to creating jewelry with precious and semiprecious stones.

Library Journal