Marquise Stone Ring

This project is from Stage 7 of the Silver program at Jewellery Training Solutions, a stage dedicated to learning settings for various shaped stones. This was one difficult project! At this point I can safely say I’m not a fan of setting marquis-shaped stones, but maybe after another 50 tries I’ll feel differently…

I love this program. It’s pushing me to make projects that I have previously said I have no interest in making (apparently I was lying to myself). Each one pushes me to the very limit of what I can do, but with that comes so much learning and confidence. I know my desired destination - I just need to be patient along this (slow and sometimes tortuous) path to get there, learning everything I can along the way.

What were the challenges?

Oh, boy, was this project challenging! After three attempts, I finally got something that I’m somewhat happy with, although there are a lot of flaws. Making the bezel itself isn’t too difficult, but making the bezel the correct size and shape is a whole different ball game! Then, getting the bezel to sit tightly against the shoulders of the ring was another issue. Did I mention cutting the seat for the stone was difficult? Yes, pretty much the entire project was a challenge from start to finish.

Where could I improve?

I could improve pretty much every part of this ring. There is a spot where there isn’t a great solder joint between the shank and the setting. There’s a mark on the setting from where the bur decided to take a field trip while I was working on cutting the seat for the stone. I wish that the shoulders flared out more, but this is how they wanted to sit on the setting. The setting is too short - it seemed to shrink at some point during the night while I was sleeping. I could go on and on… But at least in this one, the stone is securely set. Not that much could be said for the first two attempts.

What did I learn?

I think I now understand how to create a tapered, shaped bezel without the use of a tapered bezel block. That opens the door to being able to create any shape setting I would like, which is wonderful. As long as I don’t need it to be a certain size - then I might have issues. My ability to set stones is improving. Slowly. Rather like pouring molasses, but hopefully slow and steady wins the race.