Busy week again- only got this one project done. I did get some stones cut and polished this week, though. Early in the week I cut/polished this Australian opal from rough I have had around for a while. It has some pretty green-ish fiery stripes. I fabricated the round tube it sits on, plus soldered in a round wire seat. I also soldered on a back plate to make soldering the mesh shank on easier. The experimental part was the "prongs". I had made a sandwich of 24 gauge copper and sterling silver sheet a number of years ago. I sawed a slice of it, cut that in half, and soldered each piece to each side of the setting. Then I tightly clamped them down to hold the stone. The stone was still a bit loose, so I rotated it a bit and that did the trick. Experimental because I don't know how it will age and wear. Only 2 prongs, but they are wide. I didn't want to use any glue.
I don't have a lot of experience with prong settings- I much prefer bezels. Anyone out there who has a lot of experience with prongs and knows what they're doing?
3 comments:
LOVE the innovative prongs. You mentioned you're not sure how they'll wear -- are you worried that the sandwich might cause problems down the line?
Hi Sharon! I'm not sure if, with normal wear and tear, the stone will continue to be snug in the setting, or, will start to loosen. I'm a little concerned about it. What if it gets banged? That's the sort of thing I worry about...
This is STUNNING! Love those prongs.
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