Following the iron brush

Okay, you guys. Attached is a sketch of something I'm thinking about trying to make.

The green is a piece of chrome chalcedony, the purple colors indicate amethysts. I was planning on making a gold bezel for the chalcedony and gold prong settings (or tubes) for the small amethysts. The pendant will be a florite crystal, gold and amethyst.

I was thinking about drilling all the way through the stone and riveting the small settings in place, or alternately, belling out the bottom of a hole, spreading out the gold tubing and then opening the prongs out in the front (with epoxy) to help hold it in place. What I can't figure out is what to do about the back.

The only difference in color of the green stone will be in the depth of it. Where it is thicker, it will be darker. There will be no backing to the piece, the bezel will have prongs front and back to hold the stone. I initially thought about carving the back and repeating the leaf motif. But I'm stymied about how to deal with the larger amethysts: Should I carve out for them and epoxy them in place or carve all the way through the chalcedony and try to set them with gold and epoxy? I intuitively think that a carved back would be uncomfortable to wear. I could go all the way through with the amethysts and still stay flat.

Any feedback would be welcome, be it for design or construction. I'd like to know what you guys think.

Debbie K

Hi Debbie, thats really a complex piece of work you are planning.

Although I´ve not worked with carved stones (yet) some thoughts come to my mind....

First thing is, I dont think a carved back of your pendant will cause discomfort (assuming you will carve it in shallow relief).
The way how you may set the amethysts depends -I my opinion- mostly from the thickness of your chrysoprase. If thick enough I think carving a recess for the amethysts is the most elegant way (depending of course also on the quality of your stones... I would be a pity if you set a perfecty translucent stones that way).

To fasten the goldsettings a UV curing glass glue would be cool (I dont like the bilging of epoxy) or - more traditionaly- kundan technique. Maybe the stone carvers around here have some more and better ideas.

Karl:

The Kundan setting is a really good idea. I've never used the process, though I've read about it. Have you ever done one? I guess I could just try an experiment and see how difficult it is.

I'm not familiar with the UV curing glass glue. I'll see what I can find out.

As far as the stones are concerned, the chalcedony is translucent and the amethysts are transparent. I was concerned about the appearance of the amethyst if backed by the green chalcedony, as the color would show through. But, if I used a Kundan setting on them also, and backed them with gold foil, it would be much less of an issue. It would also require a little less than perfect fit, a much easier task.

Thanks so much for your response.

Debbie K

Looks like it might be a interesting challenge Debbie.. not my thing.. Stone setting so can't offer any advice but keen to see how this develops.
Regards
Clive

Don't worry too much about the back Debbie. It's the back.
To avoid any unwanted turning of the pendant you could provide it with another ring at the top left.
Kundan setting sounds good. Your idea of golden tubes is also possible, just plug them on the backside with some chalcedony.

Let us know wich way you are going.