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Choosing
an Appropriate Setting Style
What
setting style is best for your diamond(s) and why? To answer
this question, you'll need to know what styles there are to
choose from and what advantages each has to offer. Described
below are five basic styles:
Prong
or Claw This is the most common type of setting, especially
for ladies' solitaire diamond rings . It involves fitting
the diamond in a metal head or basket and securing it with
a minimum of three prongs or metal claws. There are many decorative
variations of this style. Cluster settings which allow diamonds
to be grouped together like a bouquet of flowers, frequently
use prongs to hold the stones.
Bezel
or Tube A bezel is a band of metal soldered onto the mounting
to surround the diamond and hold it in place. In the past,
bezel settings have been used mostly for dome-shaped stones
(cabochons) such as jade and star sapphire. They are being
used more often now as attractive settings for diamonds.
Channel
This style is often used for wedding bands. The diamonds are
suspended in a channel of vertical walls with no metal separating
the stones Bead or Pave In this type of setting, diamonds
are fit into tapered holes and set almost level with the surface
of the ring . Then some of the surrounding metal is raised
to form beads which hold the diamond in place. This style
is frequently used for women's.
When
there are three or more rows of diamonds set in this way,
it is called pave; which, in French, means paved like a cobblestone
road. The jewelry trade often refers to any type of bead setting
as pave: In order to give the impression of a continuous diamond
surface, it is customary to use white gold metal to support
pave=set diamonds even if the rest of the mounting is yellow
gold. Rhodium plating is added to further heighten this effect.
If diamonds are yellowish, they tend to look better set in
yellow gold without rhodium plating.
Flush
or Gypsy Flush setting is a popular style for men's rings.
The diamond is fit snugly into a tapered hole that is grooved
to hold the girdle of the stone. Then the surrounding metal
is pressed and hammered around the rim of the opening to secure
the diamond . In a gypsy ring mounting, a center stone is
set in a moderate to high dome at the top of the ring.
Cluster
settings which
Almost
all gemstones
Withstand
the pressure
Flush
setting could
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