all photos: jbEbert
I have admired bezel settings in jewelry for years, but I had never tried the technique, myself. In the week long class at John C Campbell Folk School (see my two previous posts) we were taught the basics of bezel setting in making a ring. I selected a lace agate cabachon with some interesting markings and purple and lime green coloring. Lace agate is a favorite of mine, and given a choice I always seem to gravitate to it. There is something about the intricate markings that I find fascinating. This stone was interesting enough on the top side, but when I turned it over I found a fairytale world, with a full moon rising above sharp but verdant mountains ... how could I bury that scene in the closed bezel? So I cut out a window on the back plate of the bezel (not to let in light for a translucent stone, as is often done, but to allow a secret peek into this imaginary world). My very first bezel setting became my first handmade ring. It isn't perfect, but it is a victory for me.
After this we were given an opportunity to design and make a pendant using some new techniques cutting with the Foredam drill, using a tube cutting jig, soldering mixed metals, piercing, and making cold connections. I had taken a wonderfully carved and drilled Owyhee jasper cabachon with a honed finish, that had been in my stash for a couple of years waiting for the perfect opportunity. This seemed to be the right time to challenge myself. I did decide to make the back plate for the half-bezel from copper for economy, and to gain experience with mixing metals. Besides, I thought the copper was a nice warm color to work with the jasper stone. The carvings on the stone pierced the material in several places and I didn't want to close those off, so I drilled and pierced the copper after I rough-sawed the basic backing shape. This proved to make fitting the half bezel around the bottom of the stone impossible. Realizing that I had made the job harder than it needed to be, I bit the bullet and decided to begin again. This time I shaped the sterling bezel for the bottom first and soldered it onto the back plate. Then I proceeded to cut around the stone shape, drilled and pierced it, fabricated the tube bail and fitted and soldered it to the pendant body. I dry fit the stone into the setting and marked the two holes drilled in the stone onto the backing plate. After removing the stone I drilled the two holes to match. I pickled and cleaned the metal, set the stone into the bezel, made two round-headed rivets for the drilled holes and set the rivets through the stone into the back plate.
After polishing the piece, I noticed that the cool gray of the silver really didn't blend with the warm colors of the stone as I had hoped it would. After talking to Carol Eder-Smith, one of our instructors, I decided to patina the piece very briefly in liver of sulfur (yep, stone and all) to just warm up the color, since the first dip into liver usually turns the silver a warm yellow/orange. I did a very quick dip into the warm liver solution and then into ice water to arrest the color, then thoroughly dried the piece using a cotton towel and hair dryer. The patina was a nice warm golden ochre to auburn color which I highlighted by soft rubbing with steel wool in high areas. I then took my burnisher and burnished the top narrow edge of the bezel, the round ends of the tube bail and the front corners of the upright part of the bail, and finally the edges of the rivets. I signed the piece and strung it on a simple wire strand necklace. My instructors seemed impressed that I attempted this, and I was so happy with the results. What do you think?
