2020-05-01_Lapidary_Journal_Jewelry_Artist

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F YOU’RE STARTING to explore

bezel setting, this is a great

project for you. The assembly

is pretty straightforward, you won’t

need any super specifi c tools, and

you don’t even need to saw anything

if that’s not your jam. They come

together quickly, and you’ll have

a great time practicing soldering,

bezel setting, and fi nishing.

For the design, I was inspired by

the way concentric circles emerge

when you throw a stone into a lake,

named these Ripple earrings for this

reason. The ripples that appear on the

water aren’t perfect circles but dance

around and converge with other

waves and overlap with other ripples.

When you wear the earrings, the

stones sit a bit below your earlobe,

giving the impression that they’re

fl oating or slowly sinking down to

the bottom of the lake. Have fun with

these and use whichever stones speak

to you!

BEZELS

1a

Measure the diameter of your

stones, multiply that by pi

(3.14), and add about 1.5mm. Cut

your bezel wire to this length. It’s

a good idea to add a little extra to

ensure your stones will fi t well in

the bezels and not get stuck before

you’re ready to set them. If you’re

using 10mm stones, you will cut each

bezel wire to 33mm.

1b

After fi ling the ends fl at, form

your bezel wires into circles

using half-round pliers. Make sure

the ends are fl ush and the bezels fi t

snugly around the stones.

2

Solder the bezel wire ends

together using hard solder.

Pickle the bezels, and then fi le any

chunks of solder off the insides and

outsides. Use a bezel mandrel and

rawhide or nylon mallet to make them

perfectly round. Rub them over 400

grit sandpaper to even out the tops

and bottoms. This will ensure that

they sit fl at on the bases.

3

Use a jeweler’s saw or a disc

cutter to make circular bases for

your bezel settings. If you’re using

10mm stones, you will need 11mm

circles. Try to make them as small as

you can get away with so you won’t

have to do much fi ling or cleanup.

I marked the back of one of the

circles with my logo and 925 stamp.

Circles inside circles suggest the effects of a stone

dropped into a lake By Nina Raizel Hartman

Ripples

1a

3

1b

2

34 LAPIDARY JOURNAL JEWELRY ARTIST

34 Hartman_RipplesEarrings_mayjune20.indd 34 3/16/20 3:41 PM