The Most Popular Stone Setting Styles in Jewellery

Since ancient times, people have been adorning themselves with beautiful gem materials and even now, jewellery dripping in dazzling gemstones are still marvelled at for their beauty and opulence. Our eyes are naturally drawn to the brilliance of the gemstones themselves on the jewellery, but less often do we give thought to the way this is made possible – how each and every one of those gemstones are attached to the piece of jewellery.

Jewellery settings are used to secure gemstones to a piece of jewellery, and stone setting, as the process is called, is an art in itself. Stone setting is not just merely a means to hold stones in place – settings are intrinsically linked to the design of the jewellery

Over time as technologies developed, settings also evolved to better enhance the overall design and elegance of the piece. However, new technologies do not render traditional methods obsolete as old styles of settings are still frequently employed even as new techniques are being developed. That being said, in the article we’ll briefly introduce a few of the most classic setting styles that are still very commonly seen on the market today and how they are made.

Bezel setting

Invented by the Ancient Romans, the bezel setting is still widely used in jewellery today. The gemstone is held in place by a strip of metal that encircles the side of the stone and extends just slightly above it. The extension is then pushed over the top of the stone and then smoothed over, resulting in a very securely set gemstone. Due to the way metal is wrapped around all of the stone apart from the top, this style of setting does not show off the gemstone quite as brilliantly as the prong setting does. However, this does make for a very safe and secure setting that is ideal for everyday wear, and for people with active lifestyles, as there is very little chance that the stone will become loose and easily lost.

Prong setting

This is probably the setting style that people are the most familiar with. Picture in your mind an engagement ring, and you’ll most likely conjure up an image of the iconic Tiffany diamond ring. The ‘Tiffany setting’ was invented by Tiffany & Co. in 1886, to better show off a diamond’s brilliance by setting it up high, held by 6 prongs.

Like its name suggests, the prong setting involves using metal prongs that are bent over the girdle of the gemstone, all around its diameter in a vice-like grip to hold the stone securely in place. The setting style has always been popular because of the way it allows more light to enter the gemstone, causing the gemstone to shine most prominently.

The tip of the prongs can also be shaped in many different ways, much like fingernails can be filed into different shapes, to suit the design or preference of the customer.

Thread or bead setting

This setting style is traditional techniques used to set small gemstones and is very commonly found across many types of jewellery, from earrings to rings to bangles. The stones are placed in holes that have been drilled into the surface of the metal. Engraving tools are then used to raise little beads of metal around the stones, which are rounded off and pushed over the edge of the stones to hold them securely in place.

Pavé setting

Gemstones are set with a similar technique in the pavé setting as in the thread setting. But whereas the thread setting applies for jewellery with one or two rows of gemstones, the pavé setting involves three or more rows of gemstones closely set together. This setting style is often used to cover the entire surface of the metal with small gemstones, creating a carpet of brilliance across the piece of jewellery.

Channel setting

Knowing about different stone settings is useful in many ways. Not only does it expand the designer’s repertoire of jewellery styles, it also allows them to understand the time and expert labour that go into each style, and helps them better appreciate the laborious process that brings their designs to life. For jewellers and metalsmiths, this knowledge is essential for them to use the right techniques to fabricate secure and beautiful gem settings.

If you’re interested in finding out more about stone settings, JDMIS is a leading jewellery training institution in Singapore where you can learn about the wide variety of setting styles used in jewellery design. You can also learn to create your own settings from raw materials in metalsmithing, starting with bezels (in MS100), prongs (in MS200), to advanced setting styles like channel and pave settings (in MS300).

The Jdmis is a unique school in Asia providing Jewellery Design and Management Programs. Jdmis offers Certificate Courses leading to Diploma and Advanced Diploma in both design and management studies.