Common stone-setting styles: flush and channel

Expert Columnists - David Peters - Counter Points from JA

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Common stone-setting styles: flush and channel

By David Peters

October 13, 2009

David Peters, director of member services for Jewelers of America.

This is the fourth in a series of "Counter Points by JA" articles designed to help professional sales associates better communicate common jewelry repair processes and repair-quality factors to customers.

One of the more common bench procedures today is stone setting. In this section, we review two popular stone-setting styles: flush and channel settings.

Flush Setting

What It Is: Flush setting, sometimes referred to as "burnish setting," is a relatively new style of stone setting, which has grown in popularity in the last few decades. Flush-set stones are actually sunk into the mounting until they are level or flush with the surface. The technique of flush setting allows the jeweler to scatter gemstones across a piece of jewelry without the need for prongs, channels or groupings of stones to hold the gemstones securely in place, providing a modern, stylish look.

At The Bench: Flush setting begins with the cutting of an opening or seat into metal. The seat must exactly match the diameter of the gemstone. A well-cut seat is so tightly cut to match the diameter of the gem that a brass pushing tool must be used to pop or push the stone into the seat. Because of the need for strong pressure to push the stone into place, only very hard and durable gems such as diamonds, sapphires and rubies are used.

Once the gem is in place, an appropriately sized burnisher is used to push metal from the edge of the seat down over the gemstone. Very little metal is actually pushed over onto the stone, so it is the tightness of the seat itself that helps hold the stone in place. Once a narrow bezel of metal has been created around the diameter of the stone, the burnisher is turned upright and run around the edge of the gem, further pushing the metal onto the gemstone.

What To Look For: When inspecting a stone that has been flush set, it's important to note that the stone and seat match perfectly and that the small metal bezel, created by pushing the edge of the seat onto the gem, is consistent all around the stone's edge. The metal should not extend past the very tips of the gem's bezel facets.

Channel Setting

What It Is: In a channel setting, metal grooves or channels hold gemstones securely in their mounting, offering a continuous row of brilliance with no metal separations in between. The finished appearance is sleek and sophisticated and the nature of the style leaves no metal prongs to catch on clothing.

At the Bench: To create a channel setting, a jeweler places the desired stones table down on a steel block in order of their crown height and girdle thickness, then transfers them to the top of the mounting, using wax to hold them in place. Once satisfied with the arrangement, the jeweler uses a sharp tool to mark each stone's position on the mounting. The jeweler then cuts individual grooves or seats for each stone--often a time-consuming process, because each seat must be cut to account for a stone's unique crown height, girdle thickness, and, in some cases, pavilion depth. Once all the seats are cut, the jeweler begins the setting process. The stones are first angled into place in the mounting (lightly waxing the gems can help), and then the channel walls are lightly hammered downward to secure the stone in its seat.

What To Look For:

Diagrams 1 and 2 (shown in the PDF Flush and Channel Settings) illustrate common errors that occur with channel-set gems:

Diagram 1 shows a ring with channels too narrow for the size of the stones. The jeweler over-cut the seats to fit the stones, causing the channel walls to become scalloped.

In Diagram 2, if stones are set too low (stone A) it will be difficult to bend the channels down onto them in a uniform and attractive manner. The stones may become loose and the metal edges of the channel won't appear crisp and even. The middle stone (stone B) is seated to the correct depth. Setting is easier, and the finished appearance more pleasing. Stones that are set unevenly (stone C) will not be as secure, because the metal over the high end of the stone is thinner and will wear faster. There will also be bumps that you can both see and feel with your finger. The lack of uniformity will cause light to reflect unevenly off the surface.

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Expert Columnists - David Peters - Counter Points from JA

Common stone-setting styles: flush and channel

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Expert Columnists - David Peters - Counter Points from JA

Common stone-setting styles: flush and channel

Expert Columnists - David Peters - Counter Points from JA

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