In this segment, we're going to start drawing from an actual mounting.
More often than not, when you're counter-sketching for a customer in a store, this is what you'll
actually be doing, drawing from a mounting that caught the customer's eye.
If you sent in your sketches and your questionnaire for assignment three, and requested your first
set of mountings, you should have mounting set A. There are two mountings in it.
A1 is a nugget ring.
A2 is a relatively simple free-form ring.
And you're going to need the same materials you needed in assignment three, as well as
your tracing master for rings, and this plastic mandrel.
Let's start by learning to use the mandrel.
Roll it up into a little tube with the vertical lines on the outside.
That means you'll start rolling at the other end, like this.
Roll it fairly tight so you can slide it inside the shank of the mounting you want to draw.
Square the edges until the three horizontal guidelines line up, and the vertical guideline
is straight up and down.
If you look at the special tracing master for rings, you'll see that the ovals and guidelines
on the mandrel match the ones on the tracing master.
When you slide a mounting on the mandrel like this, you'll see the mounting in an ellipse
view, just like the bands you've been drawing in the first three assignments.
The ovals and guidelines on the mandrel will help you when you first sketch the outline
of the mounting on your paper.
If you haven't read the section in assignment four called Sketching Complex Mountings, read
it now.
You'll see there that we're making a basic distinction between what we call geometric
rings and curvilinear rings.
The trick is to find the basic shape, which then becomes the foundation of your sketch.
Look at mounting A1, the nugget ring, and try to see the basic shape.
Ignore the shank right now and try to visualize the nuggets as a group.
You'll see they form a sort of kite-shaped box.
It's a little lopsided, but it's there.
It's not based on a simple form with a name, like a circle or a square, but it's clearly
a geometric ring.
Let's draw it.
Tape a piece of tracing paper over the tracing master for rings.
Slide the nugget ring on the mandrel and square the edges again until the horizontal guidelines
match.
On this mounting, the shank is higher on one side than on the other.
Find the lowest point on the shank.
This time it's on the back.
And position it just above the center horizontal guideline.
Make sure the shank is in the correct position.
Then turn the mounting around the mandrel until the nugget design is centered over the
vertical guideline.
Find your mandrel in your left hand, if you're right-handed, and tilt it until the ovals
form by the lines on the mandrel match the ovals on the tracing master.
Keep the mandrel and the mounting in this position as you sketch.
Look carefully at each side and see where the front of the ring disappears behind the
mandrel.
You'll see that the shank actually curves.
The front of the ring is higher here, where it turns behind the mandrel, than it is here.
Make a mark here and here at the corresponding spots on your tracing paper.
Your marks won't be equally spaced and they won't line up exactly with the horizontal
guides.
Now find where the highest and lowest points of the nugget design fall on the mandrel.
You'll see that the lowest point is right here on the bottom guideline.
Mark that on your tracing paper.
The highest point is above the top line, so you'll have to estimate that distance, like
this.
Finally, look at the width.
It nearly covers the width of the mandrel, but not quite.
Take a couple of light guidelines on your paper to indicate this distance, the width
of the design, on your tracing paper.
Now sketch out the basic form by connecting the guide marks you've just made.
And here it is, the kite shape figure we saw a moment ago.
You can use the basic shape as a guide to sketch the bumpy outline of the nuggets.
This doesn't have to be exact.
It shouldn't be exact.
Here it's enough to suggest the rough irregular outline, which after all is part of the charm
of this mounting.
You don't have to duplicate it.
Never forget that a counter sketch is just that, a sketch.
You want to create an impression of the ring, something that will both make it clear to
your customers what they'll be getting and fire their imagination.
Finally, add detail by sketching quick irregular circles to represent nuggets.
Again, they don't have to match exactly.
You might think in terms of a general number, 10 or 12 on the ring, 10 or so on your sketch.
Now sketch the sides here and here, and then draw the shank and join it to the top of the
ring.
Finally, sketch the back of the shank.
Don't expect your first sketches to be perfect.
Take a few more, concentrating on the shape of each line before you pencil it in.
Also, pay attention to how the lines flow together to form the shape.
Now let's add some stones.
Put a fresh piece of tracing paper over your sketch and try around brilliant.
Here perhaps.
And some side stones.
Here and here.
Try some different arrangements.
Here's a marquise as the center stone.
Here's a pear.
Leave enough room around your trial stones to sketch the finished ring later.
When you find one you like, add the mounting.
Let's use the marquise.
Trace the outline of the mounting, but not through the stone.
Again, it doesn't have to be exact.
You can add color and texture to your sketch of the nugget ring following the same steps
you learned in the last assignment.
Blot your drawing with your kneadable eraser.
Then color the area with your colored pencils.
Use your number 916 yellow pencil first.
Since this is an irregular form, I'm just putting in the color more or less at random.
Just a touch here and there to give it some texture and dimension.
And then use your number 942 ochre.
Again, just add a bit here and there.
This is a flat band, so we'll shade in from the sides.
Cover the inside of the shank wherever it's visible.
And then use your number 942 ochre to cover half the yellow.
And there it is.
Here's another thing you can do.
Trace the stone and the mounting, but not the detail of the nuggets.
Instead, use your stylus to draw in the rough pattern the nuggets will form.
Then color over them with your ochre pencil only.
See how the nugget pattern forms?
Don't forget the shank.
Do a few more versions of the nugget ring until you feel comfortable working with your
mandrel, transferring the form to paper.
Try different stone arrangements, too.
This ring has lots of possibilities for different ideas.
Then, in the next segment, we'll look at mounting A2.
In this segment, we're going to continue doing what we started with our nugget ring, sketching
from a real mounting.
This time, we'll use mounting A2.
Pre-form rings like this one are the most popular types of mounting sold today.
You'll find yourself drawing them again and again in the course of your counter-sketching
career, with many different designs and many different stones.
The technique for sketching a pre-form mounting is much the same as for the nugget ring.
The difference is that the irregularity of the nugget ring means you don't have to be
quite as precise.
Remember, though, we're still sketching.
You just want to communicate your idea.
First, once again, roll up your mandrel.
You want the vertical guideline to be outside, so start from the other end when you roll
it up.
Then slip the mandrel into the mounting and let it unwind while you hold on to the mounting.
Twist the edges of the mandrel to line up your horizontal guidelines.
In the last segment, we were working with a geometric shape.
You'll remember we decided it looked like a lopsided kite-shaped box.
But now look at mounting A2.
Unlike the nugget ring, this is a very curvilinear design.
If we look at it closely, ignoring the extra elements like this, we can see that it's basically
a U. Let's draw it.
Take a piece of tracing paper over the tracing master for rings.
Once again, we want to position the mounting so the middle horizontal guideline on the
mandrel sits just below the bottom of the shank.
This will serve as a guideline for you when you draw the shank.
Make sure the vertical guideline is centered under the top of the design.
Tilt the mandrel until the ovals match those on the tracing master.
We'll start once again by looking where the ring disappears around the side of the mandrel
and mark these points on your tracing paper.
Now mark the highest and lowest points.
Here on the left and here at the bottom of the U.
There's another point here on the element in the center, so let's mark that too.
Now look and see how wide the basic U shape is, how much of the mandrel's width it covers.
Mark a pair of very light guidelines to indicate this distance, the overall width of the design
on the tracing paper.
Do it quickly, they're just guides.
Okay, now we've got the high and low points and the width, and we know where the front
of the mounting disappears around the sides.
Let's sketch the basic outline of the U.
We're just drawing a U from the widest point here on the left to the lowest point here,
and back up and out to the widest point here on the right.
Now we can draw in the sides where they disappear.
This is a half round band, so they'll curve like this.
Remember, it's a little narrower here on the right than it is here on the left.
Now if we connect the sides to the U, the overall form of the ring will start to emerge.
Sketch in the outline of the U.
We can put in this element now, the little branch in the center.
If you were working with a customer and had the mounting there for them to see, you could
probably go on and connect the basic form to the back of a shank and add whatever stones
you're working with to close the sail.
This could well be all you need for a sail's presentation, but it looks a little flat.
We can still improve it if we need to.
The mounting itself has a sculptured quality.
The lines form a kind of shape running along the top of the mounting.
We can add them very simply like this.
Notice that I'm just ending the line here without connecting it to anything, just as
it seems to end on the mounting itself.
That gives the sketch a little more depth.
Now we can connect the basic form to the back of the shank.
And draw in the top of the shank back here.
Anywhere it'll be visible.
Now that we have a basic sketch, let's add a stone.
Set the tracing master aside, you won't need it right now.
And put a piece of tracing paper over your sketch.
Let's start with a marquee's cut.
Don't worry about the elements, such as the little branch in here.
The jeweler will cut that away, probably by just sawing it off.
Knowing that your jeweler can modify the mounting opens up lots of possibilities, so don't be
afraid to experiment a little.
Let's try a pear shape.
Don't forget to indicate the prongs.
When you find a design you like, I like the pear shape here, then trace the whole drawing.
Again, trace only as much of the mounting as will be visible.
And trace it through the stone.
We can dress it up by adding some shading here on the sides.
And on the inside of the shank.
And that completes your sketch.
Eventually you'll be able to sketch complex mountains without the mandrel and tracing
master, but it'll take a little while.
Most of us need a lot of practice to sketch complex mountains pre-hand.
Until then, there's nothing wrong with using these aids in front of customers.
In earlier segments, we saw how to set center stones.
Now we want to show you how you can use Milly to add sparkle and life to a design.
This is what the basic mountain looks like.
Mmmm.
And I want to add Mellie to enhance the curve.
Largest here.
Smaller here.
And the smallest one here.
Add the facets.
And since Mark will be using prong settings, I'll sketch in the prongs.
Setting small stones in prongs is the same as setting large ones.
Mark solders each head into place.
Then it's time to pre-polish.
Mark burrs a seat for each stone.
And then, as carefully as ever, he sets the stones, pushing the prongs over them to hold
them in place.
The prongs are shaped so they won't catch on clothing.
And polished.
And the final polishing completes the job.
Mellie contributes to a striking effect.
You can add as many or as few Mellie in this way as you want.
And you can use them alone, as we did here, or use them with a large center stone.
That's where the creative part comes in.
While Mark was setting the last ring, I sketched out an arrangement for mounting C2 that uses
baguette Mellie.
Baguette Mellie are small stones in the baguette shape, rectangular or tapered, like the stones
I've sketched here.
They usually have only two rows of facets, and the corners aren't doubled.
To make the shape conform to what I've sketched, Mark will remove this tail and the center
portion from it.
Once the prongs will touch each other, Mark first solders them together.
That makes it easier for him to level them on the mounting.
And this time, he'll pre-polish them before he attaches them to the mounting.
It's easier to reach all of them now.
There's no one absolute right or wrong way to do things when you're making jewelry.
You do what works best.
He solders them to the mounting, and then burrs seats for the stones.
He carves them along the length of long bars that cover the ends of the stones.
If the seats aren't straight, the stones will be tilted.
He pushes the bars over the stone with a reciprocating hammer.
Then he polishes the ring until it's ready.
The setting process is similar to the process used in the last ring, but the result is quite
different.
The last two rings used Melly set and prongs, much the way you'd set a center stone.
But you can also set them by a technique known as feed setting.
Since I want to add a row of diamonds here, Mark will have to attach a strip of gold to
hold them.
It's your call.
To make the gold soft enough to bend easily, Mark anneals it.
He heats it until it's a dull red color.
After about a minute at that temperature, it's ready.
He bends it until it's the right shape.
It has to fit exactly.
There can't be any gaps in the solder joint between the pieces.
He uses a saw to trim it so that it follows the line of the curve.
And it's time to pre-polish.
He's not going to use prong settings this time.
These stones will be bead set.
First, he drills holes to hold the stone.
He pushes the stone into a hole.
And he uses a graver to push up a tiny bit of gold next to the stone.
Then he pushes down on the raised bit of gold with a beading tool to mash it into a rounded
bead that acts as a prong.
He uses gravers to clean up the area around the stones.
And he uses a narrow graver to clean up the ridges.
He's particularly careful when he polishes the small open areas between the stones.
All three of these rings convey a sense of glamour.
As you've seen, you can use Milly to turn a simple gold ring into a brilliant, glamorous
piece.
In our final segment, we'll look at other ways to set Milly.
In this segment, Mark is going to set some Milly for us using pave and channel setting.
These are advanced setting techniques, and not every bench jeweler can do them, but other
jewelers will specialize in them.
Even with an expert, though, a certain number of stones will break in the setting process,
so these techniques do cost a bit more, both for the material and the jeweler's expertise.
Today gets its name because the stones are grouped together, like the paving stones in
an old-fashioned street.
The stones are small, and the edges almost touch each other.
In this case, we'll need a relatively wide band to hold the assembly the stones are mounted
in.
Mark will use a ring shank, a sheet of gold, and these diamonds to make the ring.
First, Mark heats the sheet of gold to make it more workable.
He glues drawings of the setting top and the gallery base to the gold sheet.
He drills a hole that allows him to insert his saw blade and cut the gallery base out of the sheet.
Next, he'll saw the outside edge of both pieces.
The stones will be arranged in this pattern.
He marks the positions of the holes that the stones will fit into.
Then, to get rid of the paper outlines, he simply burns them off.
He glues the gallery base into position on top of the setting to hold it in place.
Then he trims the edges so they match exactly.
He then places the gallery base over a mandrel and hammers it into its final curved shape.
And then does the same with the top of the setting.
He places the solder on the corners and adds small pieces of gold, which will turn into
tiny balls when he heats them.
They will support the setting on the gallery base.
He heats it, places the top of the setting over it, and heats it again to join the two pieces.
He saws out a piece of the ring to create the space the setting will fit into, and solders
the setting into place.
Now it's time to drill holes for the stones.
First, he uses a narrow drill to make starter holes.
And then he uses a burr to finish the holes.
He burs the seats so the stones fit exactly.
After the stones are in place, he raises a small sliver of metal next to each one.
And rolls it and presses it down with a beading tool to hold the stone in place.
He uses a graver to bright cut around the edge of the setting and to add a nice finish
to the piece.
Once it's polished, the striking ring is ready to be delivered to the customer who commissioned
it.
Now we'll look at channel setting.
The process is called channel setting because the stones are held in channels of metal.
The stones you use must be very carefully selected.
Yes, if the stone is too big, it won't fit into the mounting.
But if it's too small, it'll just fall right out.
The setting will sit about here, crosswise on the band.
And we'll use three stones in it.
All right.
First, Mark solders a thin piece of gold onto a wider piece to make the two tiered channel.
He cleans up the edges.
He saws shallow lines in the bar at the point at which he'll bend it and files just outside
the saw cuts to form a V shape.
He carefully bends the bar at the points where he's made the V's and this forms the channel.
He files the inside of the channel to smooth it out.
He checks the length and alignment of the channel.
Now he solders the channel to ensure the sides will remain parallel.
And cleans it up.
Holding the ring in special tweezers, he solders the setting into place.
He saws off the excess metal where he bent the bar to form the channel.
And it's time for more cleanup.
Next he's going to cut seats in the walls of the channel.
He pushes the stones in the seats and gently hammers the top of the channel to push the
metal over the stone more firmly.
And the ring is ready.
It's an elegant combination of rings, stones, and setting.
Now you've had an inside look at how a bench jeweler works.
We've seen how to set rounds and fancy shapes in both prong and bezel settings.
And we've seen several ways to set milling.
Keep in mind all that you've seen Mark do.
That's how a bench jeweler makes your sketches spring into life.