How to Bezel Set a Square Stone

Today is a milestone in my journey. It is day 60 in a row of blogging on JewelryMonk.com and I have never done anything for 60 days in a row….. ok I am sure I did something, but never anything as much fun or as rewarding as this. When I started this site, I made a goal of posting content for 90 days in a row and I am 2/3 the way there. After the initial 90 days, I will turn my focus a little, but more of that as we get closer to that benchmark, heck, that is a month away.

Today I will demonstrate how I set a square shaped stone in a bezel. It is a little harder that you would think and special attention must be taken when laying out your design, and if the stone has too much room between the edge of the stone and the bezel, the corners will give you “fits”

First, tumbled the piece in a Magnetic Tumbler to polish underneath the stone and in the hard to get to places, then I place the stone into the setting. I hold the ring in a Ring Clamp and squeeze the bezels together just a bit to hold the stone in place. (which I forgot to take a picture of) Then I place the ring on my Ring Mandrel to support the ring as I press the bezels into the stone, starting at the corners. The corners are the most important part, because if you don’t get the corners tight, there will be a gap.

Next, after the bezel walls are pushed over the stone to hold the stone firmly in place, I tap lightly on the top of the bezel to force the top of the bezel walls tight around the stone. I use my Chasing Hammer and an old bur to do this, but you can use a Hammer Hand Piece to do this as well. I have cut down the bur to a flat surface with just the slightest dap to it. I also sand the end with 600 Grit Sandpaper to give it a little “grip” and so it won’t slip off the bezel as easy. Be careful not to touch the stone, especially soft stones.

 After the stone is tight and the top of the bezel wall is uniformly up to the stone, take a Snap on Sanding Disc and clean the scratches up. If the scratches are deeper, use a #4 Barrette Needle File first. After the sanding, I use a Knife Edge Rubber Wheel to dress it up and take out the scratches from the sanding.

Lastly, I take the piece to the polishing machine and final polish it with Red Rouge.

There you have it, after a few days of wondering what I was up to with all these pieces and parts, I now have a finished piece. The grid work under the stone isn’t really necessary under a cab stone where no light can get through, it just adds a nice touch, but if you have a faceted stone, the extra light it allows will really make it “Pop”.

Thanks again for stopping by and joining me these last 60 days. I am not going anywhere, so come on back.

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Go make someone’s day brilliant!

Doug