Three Stone Cross Basket Ring

This is a project from Stage 9 of the Apprentice program at Jewellery Training Solutions, a stage dedicated to advanced soldering skills and construction, as well as multistone settings. You know a project is going to be tough when the teacher says it’s “fiddly.” This project did not disappoint!

What were the challenges?

The most challenging part of this project is creating the basket setting. First, the bezels have to be exactly the right size so that there are no gaps between the stones, but the stones also don’t touch, once they are formed to the correct curve. Then placing the six different pieces of the basket correctly and so they are all uniform was a bear. In my first attempt, I spent hours trying to get the shapes to fit correctly and soldered on. I then realized that I was fitting them incorrectly and had them positioned wrong. It worked much better once I realized this! Definitely a Duh! moment.

Where could I improve?

The U shapes aren’t completely uniform, and I’d like it a little more of the setting were slightly shorter. Also, after I finished with the final polishing, I noticed some excess solder that I hadn’t seen before. It would also be nice if there was more curve in the shoulders.

What did I learn?

This project was great practice in multi-step soldering. Also, his is the first time that I’ve set stones and felt confident about what I was doing, and everything worked exactly how it should. That is really exciting, and a trend I sure hope continues! I enjoyed making this type of setting, although I will admit that it wasn’t a project I was initially excited about. However, I’m very happy with this ring, and happy that I decided to make it my size!