Securing gemstones in a metal mount so that each is held firmly and shows to best effect.
A stone setter fixes gems into a mount the jeweler has made. The Swiss vocational profile describes drilling and filing a seat for each stone. Onisep, the French careers service, shows the setter at the bench under a binocular microscope, using gravers (échoppes), burs and pliers to push metal over the stone and close the prongs.
GIA separates the setting, how a stone is held, from the piece’s style. Prongs are narrow strips of metal bent over the stone’s edge; a bezel is a thin rim of metal around it; a channel holds a row of stones between two metal walls; pavé covers a surface with small, closely set stones. In the invisible or “mystery” setting, patented by Van Cleef & Arpels in the 1930s, stones with grooves cut below the girdle slide onto metal rails, so no metal shows. The word also names the mount itself; GIA notes that the trade uses “setting” and “mounting” interchangeably.
In job listings
Titles include stone setter, gem setter and jewelry setter. The Swiss profile places setters in jewelry workshops and in watch houses, which set stones on watches. Onisep notes that the setter first consults the bench jeweler or joaillier who made the mount. See current stone setter roles.
