Getting the hang of handmade bezels.
Following on from soldering rings. I wanted to try making my own bezels for gemstones. The oxidised pair above on the left is a shop bought bezel, and the ones on the right are my very first homemade ones. They have considerably more of a handmade look to them, but I love them. I'll be keeping that pair :o)Hand soldered the posts on there too. I am practising like mad and really getting the hang of it now.
I do think the handmade bezels have a completely different charm to them, but they are rather work intensive to make:
First measure the stones circumference, then cut a piece of bezel wire to the right length. File down the ends to make perfect even seams. Solder the circle with hard or medium solder, this is so that when you solder on the backplate and post on you can use a grade that melts at a lower temperature, so you don't mess up the first joint with the torch. Punch out a silver round, file and solder on as backplate. Pickle the now fire-scaled piece.
Cut a post and solder on with easy solder. I find that if I centre punch a tiny indentation on the bezel, the post is that much easier to attach - more contact area in a dip. Pickle again. File the end smooth so the ear doesn't get cut. Now the finding is ready for a stone.
The materials for the handmade one cost more than the finished shop bought finding, but for special projects I will definitely be making my own. It also gives the flexibility of working with odd shapes stones, which I also think have bags of character.
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| Bought bezel on the left, handmade on the right. |
