Cabochon Pendant with Patterned Bail

by Shannon McCracken-Barber
Beginner-to-Intermediate project.

Editor’s note: The piece depicted in the picture is made with pre-made, purchased stepped bezel wire. The finished results will differ if you follow the instructions to make your own.

This pendant is a very simple and elegant piece that doesn’t take long to make. A beginner may need up to 3 hours (including finishing time), whereas someone with a little more experience could make this piece in as little as an hour.

Editor’s note: For more information on perfecting your bezel see “Basic Bezels” from November 1998.

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STEP 1
Start with a medium sized, oval, rose-quartz cabochon. I ordered stepped bezel wire to save myself some time but handmade stepped bezel wire is also an option; it is just more difficult and time consuming.

STEP 2
Heat the solder until it balls and then starts to melt again. Then slightly heat your second piece of bezel wire and set it on the bottom half of the first, making sure that this will leave enough height to hold the stone in place (about half way down is enough). Sweat solder the 2 pieces together, leaving no gaps and being cautious not to melt the bezel wire. Most bezel wire is made of fine silver, thus having less copper than sterling and melting at a lower temperature. Let it cool, then check and drop it in hot pickle. When you take your stepped bezel out it should look approximately like the piece below.

To make your own stepped bezel wire, take 2 pieces of bezel wire and cut them until they are each long enough for your stone. Leave a few millimeters extra for trimming.

Set each 1 on your soldering block, heat and flux. Take the piece that will be on the bottom and drop some solder onto the lower half. I use about 1 piece of solder for every 5mm or so (when using solder pieces which are smaller than 1mm square). The solder used in most first step procedures is hard solder.

STEP 3
Cut off the bottom excess of the bezel.

As you can see, you only need to cut off the bottom excess to have your step on only 1 side of the wire. This way, when you look at the side of the wire, you have it forming an “L”.

The stone won’t sit flat if you don’t center the 2 pieces of wire perfectly when you form it into the final bezel. This is quite a process which is why I only do it if I’m desperate!

STEP 4
Now you must form the bezel from your stepped bezel wire. Some people have an intricate table to figure this out or a formula that devises how long the piece of bezel wire needs to be to fit the stone. I have found that a stone’s size can vary significantly from company to company and sometimes the stone won’t be perfectly shaped. So I make each bezel by eye, although it takes a while.

Take your pliers and bend the bezel wire until it’s very close to fitting your stone (with a little extra room).

Usually this is just enough that you’ll see light coming through the other side. Do not cut the bezel at a perfect fit or just too small. This is a mistake that I and many other people have made in the past (and still make). A bezel can be stretched a tiny bit if you have a bezel mandrel that’s the right size. It is easy to get the stone stuck before you’re ready to set it, possibly damaging the stone while you are trying to remove it. It is always safest to have the bezel just a bit loose.
Editor’s note: For more information on perfecting your bezel see “Basic Bezels” in Lapidary Journal, November 1998, p.16.

STEP 5
When you think you have the right size for your bezel, take your snips or saw and cut the wire. Tighten the 2 ends of the bezel by pushing 1 side under the other and then vice versa until the bezel holds itself closed. Take your saw and/or your files and smooth the joint until there is no gap between them. A smooth fit is a key to a good solder joint. The solder won’t jump between the 2 to fill in space.

STEP 6
Now you need to solder the bezel. There is no real trick to soldering a bezel; practice seems to be the key. Some people put the solder on the inside of the joint and heat the outside. Some people put the solder on the bottom of the joint and heat the top. I’m sure there are other methods but just take your time and be sure to heat the whole bezel evenly. Also watch your heat. Remember that this is fine silver and it will melt easily.

STEP 7
After you’ve soldered the bezel, cool it and put it in the pickle for a few minutes. Clean it off in water and then make sure that the joint is good. If you need to resolder, do it now.
Now put the stone in the bezel. Make sure that it is loose enough that you can remove it but still tight enough that the stone isn’t sliding all over inside. Resize it if need be.

STEP 8
Take your pliers, mandrel, or burnisher and smooth out the bezel so it forms the perfect shape for your stone.
Take your pattern wire, snips, round nose pliers, and needle nose pliers. Cut a piece of pattern wire that will be long enough for a bail. I used satin cord to get my measurement. If you’re using a premade chain or chain by the foot, you’ll have to form your own measurement so the bail will either go over the chain ends or the chain.

STEP 9
Bend the snipped piece of pattern wire around the round nose pliers and match the ends together. Sometimes needle nose pliers work best for this. Take a file and match the end of the bail with whichever end of the bezel you’ll be soldering it to.

STEP 10.
Once again, before soldering, be certain that there are no gaps between the 2 pieces you’re soldering (the bail and the bezel). You may want to go to medium solder if you’re having any difficulty or if your bezel or pattern wire are small or very different in size.

When I am soldering a tiny piece to a large piece, I first heat and flux the bezel. Then I put the solder onto where the joint will be on the bezel and heat the solder until it balls and flows a little. Next I bring the smaller bail into place and reheat it quickly. The bail heats so quickly that it decreases the time in the heat for the bail and increases the time for the bezel.

Take your time and make sure to heat the whole bezel evenly again. Than reheat both pieces in whole until the solder flows.

Hint: If the solder is being difficult, when it’s ready to flow I begin dragging the solder pick through the solder and the joint. This cleans the surface of the solder and guides it where to flow.

STEP 11.
Cool, pickle, and clean the piece. When the joint is good between the bezel and bail (no gaps) you can begin the next step.

STEP 12.

Place the stone in the bezel and see if any material needs to be removed from the top (shortening the height of the bezel). If the face of your stone is covered a fair bit, you will have to sand or file the top down until the stone has just its edges covered by the bezel. If the stone only has its edges covered then nothing will have to be removed. The figure below shows a bezel that’s too tall on the left, and a bezel that’s just perfect on the right. The horizontal line to the right of the bezel shows where the stone is sitting (the top of the step) inside the bezel.

STEP 13.
Take out your bezel pusher, burnisher, and/or hammer. Place your stone into the bezel. Take the bezel pusher and push on an end of the bezel gently. Move to the opposite end and repeat. Then move to the side, gently push, move to the opposite, and repeat. Now you should have pushed on 4 sides of the stone. Start with gentle pushes so as not to move the stone too far off course. It’s harder to undo too much pushing than to do a little more.

STEP 14.
Push between the 4 sides you’ve already done, alternating sides as before, until the whole stone has been done. While holding the sides of the bezel with your other hand, take your fingertip and try moving the stone around in the bezel. If you’re not sure if it’s moving or not but you hear a light “click,” then it’s still loose. Go back around a little harder until the stone doesn’t move and you don’t hear any clicking.

STEP 15.
Once the stone is nice and snug, take your burnisher or small hammer and rub/hammer down the top edges of the bezel, removing any gaps. The nice thing about a burnisher is that you can rub without harming most stones and it also buffs the edge of the bezel.

STEP 16.
When you are ready to finish the piece, take out your sandpaper, Dremel and/or flex shaft, and finishing attachments. Set your piece face up on a flat piece of sandpaper (probably 300- to 600- grit depending on need), and rub the piece so that the bottom of the bezel is flat and even. Smooth the edges and then buff. Sanding or filing should not be needed if your joints were good. Be careful with the stone, especially if you’re using something soft like amber, malachite, or opal.

Place your pendant on a chain or cord of choice and, voilà, you're finished!

Shannon McCracken-Barber, aka Gypsy~Rose, is a metalsmith from NH specializing in fine chain mail and Japanese chain mesh jewelry. Shannon likes to incorporate spiritual symbolism and meaning into her work. She is a fulltime mom and metalsmith. To contact her please e-mail; ikit@earthlink.net, go to http://users.drak.net/Gypsy/ or call (603)668-2345.