Very newbie question - setting for garnets

[MidModMin]

Hi everyone! I've already learned so much just reading the forums, but now I have a question of my own. Definitely a very newbie, basic question, but it's something on my mind - thanks for being patient, you probably get these types of questions a lot.

I'm planning on making some garnet multi-stone earrings. I'm in the very preliminary brainstorming stage and haven't chosen all the stones for it, but I bought some chrome pyrope garnets, which are my starting place. The stones are 4mm.

My questions:

1. This is probably a dumb question - but bezels are doable on 4mm, stones, right? I mean, geez, just looking at these little guys, it seems like it would be so fiddly and hard to put bezels on them, but I am also not a pro, so maybe it's actually straightforward.
   
2. The garnets are a very vivid red! The color is quite intense, but they are garnets, so they definitely darken down in different lighting. In that case, would a bezel setting not be recommended and a prong setting be better? Or are there certain types of bezel settings that are more open than others?

I generally prefer bezel settings in jewelry but am happy to brainstorm an idea around other settings if it would be better for the stones. Once I make a general decision on doing bezels vs. prongs, it will give me a better idea of what direction I want to go in.

Thanks!

 

[shinyrocks]

Seems like a bezel would work, but keep in mind that with smaller stones, the bezel will "overlap" a larger percentage of the stone. You also bring up a good point: bezels are usually not recommended for dark stones, as they can cause them to look even darker due to blocking a bit more light from entering the stone.

 

[MidModMin]

shinyrocks, I'm glad you pointed that out. I didn't realize that bezels overlapped a larger percentage of smaller stones than larger stones. That's definitely something I'll think about while musing about this!

 

[chatoyancy]

Are you thinking of cluster earrings that don’t dangle or chandelier earrings?

 

[MidModMin]

chatoyancy, I thinking more along the lines of drop or dangle earrings, but not something too long or swinging. Something like a cluster that dangles off of french or bishop's hooks.

Yvonne Raley's 3-stone petal earrings have the general shape/danglyness/vibe I've been thinking about, except I think I want 4 stones...maybe not, I'm not sure yet. For each earring, I have 2 chrome pyropes, so I'll probably end up looking for 1-2 additional stones to add to the cluster, depending.

I'm open to other designs/earring shapes if they help maximize the color and sparkle of the gems, though.

 

[chatoyancy]

chatoyancy, I thinking more along the lines of drop or dangle earrings, but not something too long or swinging. Something like a cluster that dangles off of french or bishop's hooks.

Yvonne Raley's 3-stone petal earrings have the general shape/danglyness/vibe I've been thinking about, except I think I want 4 stones...maybe not, I'm not sure yet. For each earring, I have 2 chrome pyropes, so I'll probably end up looking for 1-2 additional stones to add to the cluster, depending.

I'm open to other designs/earring shapes if they help maximize the color and sparkle of the gems, though.

That sounds pretty. Are your chrome pyropes the Ant Hill garnets?

 

[MidModMin]

Yes! They are Ant Hill garnets. I got a pair from mastercut gems and then saw another one the same size at litnon.com, so I had to snag them both.

 

[digdeep]

I'm sure your earrings will come out fine, however I'll add this as a point to consider, it's often aesthetically better to do odd numbers in settings (just like in flowers)............ 1, 3, 5, etc........