Have any of you watched a stone being set in real life?

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

I got to do something very interesting today!

I mentioned on here some time ago that a friend of mine bought a stone for his girlfriend and went with a custom ring design. In India frequently the practice for bigger stones (his was around a 4ct), if it makes a client more comfortable, is to have you present and watching while the bench sets the stone in the ring. I’ve never felt inclined to do so personally for myself, but my friend took the jeweler up on the offer. Except he has no idea of what constitutes good finish etc. so he took me

I thought it was really interesting. The setting was made off of measurements that the jeweler took of the stone when he bought the loose diamond some time ago, and then he got to take the stone home while they worked on the setting. Once the setting was made, we went in today (things got delayed a bit because of travel etc) and the setter carved the seat for the stone and set it. What I found really interesting was that they barely use any electric tools at all, at least when the solitaire stone itself is being set. I’m sure a lot more electrical tools are required for the setting of the pave etc. but that was done before we got there. It took almost an hour! I couldn’t really see everything though as my friend kept talking and I didn’t want to disturb the setter by getting up and going close to get more of a look. And the polishing, rhodium etc. took another 1.5 hours or so but for that they asked us to leave the workshop area.

The final ring was gorgeous. His girlfriend is going to be one happy camper

There wasn’t much point to the post, I just wanted to share my experience. To round off and turn it into a discussion I’ll put some questions:

1) have you ever watched a stone being set in real life? What did you think?

2) Would you want to be present while a bench sets your stone, if such a thing was offered? Why - out of interest, or because it’ll make you feel safer about it?

 

[MissGotRocks]

Only in videos. It always seems a bit more intense and rough than I imagined when the prongs are bent and polished!

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

Only in videos. It always seems a bit more intense and rough than I imagined when the prongs are bent and polished!

The sound of the excess bit of prong being snapped off scared the absolute daylights out of me!! I thought the stone had cracked!!

Also they let us look at it once it was set and before it was polished, and I was taken aback that this pear that had looked so lovely and sparkly when we picked the stone looked so dull and flat. And then once it was cleaned and polished it looked so unbelievably sparkly and fiery! I think the gold dust and the fingerprints etc had completely killed the sparkle in the stone. A good reminder to always clean your jewelry

 

[Jopdrop]

Yes I have many times when I was in the trade. Most setters work best when they’re not being watched. It was routine to leave high value or high risk (large emeralds etc.) setting jobs for the weekend so that a single setter could come in and set them without the added stress of other jewellers and setters observing. It was a running joke that these types of jobs required a change of pants afterwards .

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

Yes I have many times when I was in the trade. Most setters work best when they’re not being watched. It was routine to leave high value or high risk (large emeralds etc.) setting jobs for the weekend so that a single setter could come in and set them without the added stress of other jewellers and setters observing. It was a running joke that these types of jobs required a change of pants afterwards .

I bet it would be! The setter who did my friend’s ring had done a 10ct Marquis in a half bezel setting that morning - talk about nerve-wracking!

The way it’s done at least at my jeweler’s is that they have a large workshop where there are many other artisans (? I actually don’t know what to call them in English. Artisan is the English translation for the Hindi word karigar, which refers to the people who actually make the jewelry). But when these sort of “client’s watching” projects are done, the work is done in another workshop, located in the premises of the shop itself, where the setter works alone (though the client is in the room with them).

It was really cool meeting the setter, polisher etc. by the way. You never really get to meet the people who make your jewelry, so that was really cool.

 

[canuk-gal]

Yes.

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

Yes.

Do you mean you have seen it? Could you share more about your experience?

 

[LilAlex]

2) Would you want to be present while a bench sets your stone, if such a thing was offered? Why - out of interest, or because it’ll make you feel safer about it?

Nope! Would you want to be watched during the most intense, stressful, high-stakes part of your job? (I mean maybe the answer is "yes" if you're in the NBA or NFL but not so much for us mortals.)

Case in point: When our first was about to be delivered, the OB pointed out that I would be able to "cut the cord" when the time came, etc., etc. Unexpectedly ended up being a bit of a crash delivery and she stopped mid-crisis and, with her voice quavering, turned to me and was like "...uh,uh,... would dad like to..." and I just said something like "Please just do your thing, ignore me completely, and I'm gonna stay out of your way." I went and stood on the "north" side of the drape. They do not need that kind of extra pressure. That little blue baby will be starting grad school in the fall.

It is fun and eye-opening to watch the setting process on IG reels and YouTube videos -- and I find it has given me a much better understanding of what can and can't be done at the bench.

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

I

Nope! Would you want to be watched during the most intense, stressful, high-stakes part of your job? (I mean maybe the answer is "yes" if you're in the NBA or NFL but not so much for us mortals.)

Case in point: When our first was about to be delivered, the OB pointed out that I would be able to "cut the cord" when the time came, etc., etc. Unexpectedly ended up being a bit of a crash delivery and she stopped mid-crisis and, with her voice quavering, turned to me and was like "...uh,uh,... would dad like to..." and I just said something like "Please just do your thing, ignore me completely, and I'm gonna stay out of your way." I went and stood on the "north" side of the drape. They do not need that kind of extra pressure. That little blue baby will be starting grad school in the fall.

It is fun and eye-opening to watch the setting process on IG reels and YouTube videos -- and I find it has given me a much better understanding of what can and can't be done at the bench.

I don’t think I’d like to be watched, but I found it amazing how relaxed the setter was. He even took a couple of phone calls (on speaker) discussing other projects with other people in the workshop while setting the ring for us. Meanwhile I was afraid to breathe too loud and disturb him!

All in all I don’t feel the need to sit there and watch while something is being made but I do find it super interesting and I’m glad I had the opportunity. The time also just flew by. Each movement was so precise, it was amazing to watch. Imo even more captivating than the YT videos - but I do enjoy watching those!

 

[dk168]

No, as bezel setting takes longer to do than prong/claw sets, and I have seen videos of how laborious they can be.

DK