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Favorite (etsy) vendor for bezeling your gems?

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ladyciel

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I''ve been hunting a bit through threads here and searching Etsy trying to get a feel for the craftsmanship/style of various vendor''s bezel rings and pendants. It seems quite a few of them appear to just use stock tube bezels, though with varying degrees of finesse. Others, like Sally, appear to work from scratch. I''m considering doing both a sliding bezel pendant and bezel ring in the near future (maybe a matching set, depending on what stones I find), but I don''t want to spend a significant amount of money. (i.e. I don''t think I can afford something custom like a JM at the moment)

For those of you who have rings/pendants from more than one vendor, how do the different pieces compare in person? Do you have a preference for one over the other, or are they just "different"? Thanks!!
 
Definitely Julia Kay Taylor for custom bezels. She can bezel pretty much any shape of any stone. I''ve also heard CHenry does nice bezel work, but I don''t have personal experience to back this up.
 
From the pics I''ve seen JKT does some very yummy work - her wait time is just sooooooo long right now. I''ve also been eying CHenry, but it looks like all of her ring bezels have closed backs. I''m not sure how comfortable I am with that, since if any gap develops between the stone and bezel edge, you couldn''t clean it without water getting inside. I wonder if she could do one that was open? I might have to ask...
 
I hope she doesn''t mind me posting on her behalf, but Claritek had bezel pendents made for all her bridesmaids for her wedding by Daniel M Jewelry on Etsy.

The original thread for the pendants can be found here.

Can''t wait to see what you come up with...
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I only have my ring from Sally but I love it so much I'm planning on another bezel ring w/her hopefully next year.

ETA-forgot, I'm going to have her do a bezel pendant for my opal later this year too.
 
Since, to me anyways, Sally and JKT are probably the two most popular Etsy artisans here, can someone tell me who's work on bezels they like better (if they own both). I'd like to know because I'm considering a project with bezels. Are the bezels even and not lumpy on either of their work for the most part. Lumpy uneven bezels drive me crazy.
 
Thanks, Ladies! My garnet is already on its way to Sally for a lotus, so I'm looking forward to seeing her work in person.

I think what my first question was trying to get at, but didn't do so successfully, is both 1) the quality of the work, and 2) how the different construction approaches turn out. If I were to summarize some of the most common constructions I've seen, they'd be:
- A stock tube bezel that sits on top of the shank, with varying degrees of metal smoothness/continuity at the sides where they meet. The style of the band itself varies a lot.
- The bezel seems to be an extension of the band - almost a bulge or something - where the band connects from the sides. Looks completely hand made.
- A stock tube bezel is set down into the band so the band is connected at the sides instead of underneath. In this case the bottom edge of the bezel sits on the finger, and some people argue this blocks light from getting in and darkens the stone. Not sure anybody has proven this for a well cut stone, though.

Then there are the more unique artists, like CHenry, JKT, and Sally, who do bezel designs completely of their own design that don't fall into the above categories.

ETA: Thanks for chiming in TL! That's a good question I'd like to know the answer to!
 
Sally and Julia are the ones I recommend for bezels on Etsy.

TL - I have two pieces from Julia, one is perfect in every way. The bezel is as good as in any other high end piece I have. The other piece has less finish. It''s still acceptable but of very different quality. (She did offer to continue on it free of charge when I mentioned this, so no problems there).

I have many many pieces from Sally, haven''t counted, but up to ten I think. The bezels are high quality, but the quality does vary from good to superb between the pieces (I think this is due to the particular benchman who makes the piece). So with both vendors I would be sure to mention the crispness of the bezel.

Both of these vendors make the pieces entirely by hand (although Julia has access to casting as well, I think), so the work shows that handmade finish but the quality is, in my experience, overall very very good. Both vendors also guarantee their work absolutely, making good if the client is unhappy.

I hope that helped



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MT,
Thank you for the reply.
So Sally has various benchpeople doing the work? It is not done by her or a single person?
 
I''m soon to have a sally bezel ring coming my way, will let you know which I prefer after that! I do recall my JKT bezel being very well done, but the over all finish wasn''t as nice as Sally''s.
 
TL, Sally has a benchman, Pomme, who made my ring, and I''m pretty sure she has others..she''s mentioned her "team" before, but I''m not sure how many there are.
 
I have seen Daniel M's work (he just made a bezel pendant for my BFF) and that sucker was pretty well done. I'll attach a pic of that in my next post. He does use the tubes I believe, but I think thats a labor/time cost saving measure, and if someone wanted a handmade one, he'd probably do that, it would just be more expensive.

I only have JKT's, so my experience is pretty limited, but the bezel work on my key is "less finished" (thanks mariedtiger!) than I think it could have been. I have never complained about it because I know Julia was in a rush to get it out and had huge time constraints. Not to mention there were NINE bezels on my darn key. I know that they are all handmade, and one got messed up, so she had to redo that one. Also, as you'll see in the picture, the ones that look a little choppy are the squared ones.

Having said that, I like that it looks handmade, because it WAS handmade. Here is a (massively blown up) pic.

IMG_8251 freke2.jpg
 
As I understand it, Sally has a couple of benchpeople to work the gold and silver pieces that she designs.

I also agree with MTG.
 
That''s a great example, Freke! Well put.
 
Sorry for the delay. Here is the Daniel M bezel. He sourced the stone for me because I didn''t have enough time to wait to source one and then ship it out there. The camera doesn''t really capture the stone color very well.

Daniel M amethyst necklace collage freke.jpg
 
Thanks for the photos, Freke! In my opinion, the handmade look just somehow fits on your key, but I think I''d be less thrilled with the same bezels for a single stone in a ring. At the same time, I know I''ve seen bezels from JKT that are a lot more polished looking. D&T''s peridot bezel pendant comes to mind. https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/concave-peridot-bezel-pendant.120697/

Though I''m surprised to hear Sally has a "team", I guess it''s not so surprising if you consider just how much work she manages to pump out in a month compared to, say, JKT who we know works alone. I don''t care either way, as long as there''s some kind of quality control to make sure you get what you really want in the end.
 
Here is what Sally writes about her team in the profile of her shop:

"Heart of Water Jewels is an association of a professional jewelry designer and colored stones gemologist, two master goldsmiths and a stone setter. [snip] We do not use casting in our workshop; every one of our pieces is literally cut from a sheet of gold or silver, and shaped by hand, using skills that are by and large a vanishing art."

Edited to add; just to clarify, a bit off topic, sorry.
 
Date: 4/25/2010 12:17:37 PM
Author: FrekeChild
I have never complained about it because I know Julia was in a rush to get it out and had huge time constraints.

Freke,
Thank you for giving your honest experience. It has been my feeling with JKT that while her work can be quite beautiful, time constraints have been an issue with some of her pieces, and it can show.
 
Janishjewels has some seriously gorgeous bezels. Flygirl had her Barry star rose quartz bezeled by Janishjewels, and overall her craftsmanship looks excellent.
 
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