A bezel is the friendliest first setting: a thin collar of silver rubbed over the edge of a stone to hold it fast. In this project we set a round cabochon on a sheet backplate, from measuring to final polish. Work through the stages in order and take your time.
Choosing the cabochon and measuring up
Start with a stone that helps you. A round cabochon with a flat back and a gentle dome is the easiest thing to set, and a stone with a little vertical side wall below the curve gives the bezel something to grip. Avoid a cab that domes straight off the base — there is nowhere for the metal to hold, and the stone tends to pop.
Measure the widest point of the cab with a gauge or a good rule from our measuring & marking range, and write the figure down. Then look at the side of the stone and note where the straight wall ends and the dome begins. That height decides how tall your bezel needs to be. For the bezel itself, use fine silver (999) — it is softer than sterling and moves under the burnisher without fighting you. A sterling backplate is fine.
Cutting the bezel strip to length
Bezel strip is a thin, soft fine-silver band, usually around 0.3mm thick. Height is the fault line for beginners. The wall should reach just past the point where the stone starts to curve inward — enough to fold over and grip, no more. Too tall and the surplus metal creases and flops across the face of the stone, and you cannot cut that back neatly once it is set.
For length, wrap the strip snugly around the girdle of the stone, mark where it meets, and cut. A jeweller’s saw gives the cleanest square ends — a flexible saw frame loaded with a fine blade is ideal, though flush cutters from the pliers & cutters range will do at a push. Aim for the strip to sit a touch tight rather than loose; you can always ease it out.
Forming and soldering the bezel band
Bring the two ends together into a closed ring. Fine silver springs open, so file both ends dead true and push them past each other slightly until they snap back flush and hold under their own tension — no gap, no overlap. A clean seam is what makes a sound join.
Flux the seam, lay a small pallion of hard solder across it, and heat the whole band evenly so the join flows last. Using hard solder here means the seam will survive the later join to the backplate without reopening. Pickle, rinse, then true the ring on a mandrel and check it drops over the stone — it should just clear. If you are new to running solder cleanly, our guide on soldering without pitting is worth a read first.
Soldering the bezel to the backplate
Sand the bottom edge of the bezel flat. Lay a sheet of wet-and-dry on a piece of glass and work the band in small circles until the whole rim sits down with no daylight underneath. Gaps here are the enemy — solder will not bridge them, and any gap becomes a rattle later.
Set the band on the backplate sheet, flux inside the seam, and place a few pallions of easy solder against the inner wall. Heat the backplate mostly, since it carries the mass, and let the heat draw the solder up into the join all the way round. Pickle and rinse. Hold it to the light: you want an unbroken bright line where band meets plate.
Piercing, filing and sanding
Saw away the excess backplate close to the bezel wall, staying a hair outside your line. Then file the outline true — a needle file set lets you follow the curve and knock back the saw marks in one pass. Work from a coarser file down to a smooth one, then move to wet-and-dry, 400 through 600 to 800, softening the outer edges so nothing is sharp to wear.
Take your time on this stage; clean edges now save polishing later. Our notes on filing technique for clean edges cover the stroke and the grip. If the piece is a pendant, drill and fit a bail or jump ring before you set the stone, so no heat goes near it afterwards.
Setting the stone
Drop the cabochon in and check it sits level on the backplate, with the wall standing just proud of the dome. Now push the metal over. Use a pusher, the setters’ tool, or the flat face of a bezel burnisher; a pair of setters’ pliers gives controlled pressure on smaller work.
Work opposite points, never round the clock. Push north, then south, then east, then west, then halve the gaps between. Going round in one direction pushes a wave of metal ahead of the tool and leaves a fold or a gap on the far side. Once the wall is down all round, rub it firm and smooth with the burnisher, tightening the collar onto the stone and bringing up a shine on the metal. A final polish finishes the job. For a closer look at the kit, see stone setting tools explained and the companion piece on bezel setting for beginners.
Ready to build your setting kit? Browse pushers, burnishers and cutters in our pliers & cutters collection.