Step 5 - Stone Setting and Final Forming
/earring embedded into jettset, ready for stone setting.
When the polishing is completed, it's time to set the stones. The delicate nature of the earrings makes stone setting especially challenging. To compensate for this, I use a thermoplastic mold compound (JettSet) that allows for a temporary hold. I'll embed the earring into the JettSet so that it's solidly held but the settings are not clogged.
Completed setting ready for final forming and finishing
Set all stones as you normally would any round bezel setting. I like to use burnishers rather than pushers or rockers as I feel I have more control with a burnisher. Sometimes I'll use a bezel setting punch to get the setting started, then I'll finish with the burnisher.
Once all the settings are completed, heat the JettSet in water until it's soft, then pull the earring out of the polymer.
Final forming completed, all ready to ship
Now all that remains to be done is the final forming of the ear-wire and then any final polishing. Since I'm working with a hard stone (garnet), it's safe to tumble the earrings for a few hours to harden the silver; this will also add a high-shine, burnished finish.