  Setting
Gemstones in Rings
With the appropriate settings, setting a gemstone in a
ring is no more difficult than setting the gemstone in earring or pendant
findings. The ring shown above-left is a style of ring that we call
a Swirl Ring with a six prong snap in setting. The ring shown
above-right is a Tiffany style of ring, also with a snap in setting.
In this web page we will provide instructions for setting a gemstone in
the Swirl Ring. In the following web page, we will provide
instructions for setting a gemstone in a Tiffany style four prong setting.
Setting a gemstone in this swirl type ring is very easy
and is a project that it entirely suitable for beginners. What you
require is a Swirl Ring Setting like our
item 3259 for 10mm
gemstones or item 3260
for 8mm gemstones and the appropriate 10mm or 8mm round gemstone.
These settings make a size 7 ring suitable for most adult females. The steps involved in setting the gemstone are described in the following
 paragraphs.
Step 1: Place the "table" or flat side of your gemstone on a
table or cutting board as shown at left.
You can view the terminology
for the parts of a gemstone here.
Step 2: Position the ring finding with the 6 prong setting on
top of the gemstone as shown at right. Grasp the ring firmly in your
thumb and forefinger of your dominant hand. All six prongs of the
setting should be touching the gemstone. If the setting seems loose,
the prongs can be bent in individually using your fingers or using chain
nose pliers. The goal is that the diameter of the setting should be
less than the diameter of the girdle of the gemstone so that the setting
will tightly grip the gemstone once it has snapped into position.
 Step
3: Push down on the ring finding until all six prongs of the
setting snap into position. Once all 6 prongs are tightly gripping
the gemstone, you are essentially done.
 Step
4: The final step in making the ring is to visually check to
verify that all six prongs are positioned appropriately. View each
prong in turn. The groove in the prong should be gripping the
gemstone at the girdle of the gemstone. See the picture at right.
Step 5: If you notice a gap between the setting and the
gemstone, you can use your chain nose pliers or bent chain nose pliers to
gently squeeze the gap closed. Try to position the flat side of your
pliers along the opposite side prong of the setting. See the picture
at left for how to orientate your pliers. (The picture at left is a
Tiffany Ring and it is easier to show the proper position of the pliers on
this ring.) Be careful that you do not over squeeze.
Also be careful while squeezing so that your pliers don't slip.
Slipping of your pliers can leave a "tool mark" on your ring and this
should be avoided.
Please see page 18 to view how to use our
gemstone setting pliers
to help bend the prongs on your setting in.
Problems?
Due to chaos theory it will happen that for a very few rings, these
instructions won't work. The prongs in the setting won't be
positioned correctly to fit the gemstone snugly. If this happens to
you here is what you need to do. First, if you have a
jeweler's
file, file the notches in the prongs to remove any extra metal in the
notch. (This will only work with a jeweler's file because you need a
very small file to get into this confined space. If you don't have a
jeweler's file, don't worry, you can still set the gemstone.)
Second, sometimes in the casting the very tip of the prong is not
positioned properly to hook on the girdle of the gemstone. This is
the last 1-2mm of the prong. Using your
bent chain nose pliers
or your gemstone
setting pliers, bend
the last 1.5mm of each prong in toward the center. Looking at the
picture above right with the aquamarine gemstone, you can see how the end
of each prong needs to be bent in to hold the stone. You want to
make sure that each prong is bent in as shown in the pictures above.
Once you have done this, in almost all cases, you will be able to set the
gemstone using the procedures described above. Finally, in very rare
circumstances you may need to bend each of the individual prongs very
slightly in toward the center. If this happens to you, grasp the
entire prong in your bent chain nose pliers and bend it a very small
amount in toward the center of the setting. Normally, these
techniques won't be required.
In the following web page we provide directions on how to
set a gemstone in a Tiffany setting. |