Today’s designers are experimenting with unusual settings in their jewelry. Here are some of the twists they’re employing.

Casting in metal
For those who want a truly different take on setting stones, casting gems directly into metal — rather than fiddling about with prongs or collets — is about as radical as it gets. This style has become extremely popular in recent years, spearheaded by Los Angeles, California-based jeweler Polly Wales.

Traditional settings usually enhance a gem’s sparkle by lifting it above the gold, but the “cast not set” movement calls for submergence. This might impact a piece’s value in the eyes of some, but for fans of this style, it’s the artistry that adds value, not necessarily the gems as a commodity.

“It’s definitely now a genre, but it was just me getting inspired by European art jewelers like Karl Fritsch that started it all,” says Wales. The designer, who has based her entire brand on this technique, has coined the term “cast not set,” which has since spawned 6,000 Instagram posts in its hashtag form.

Fraser Hamilton Given Heart pendant in 9-karat gold with ruby.
Fraser Hamilton Given Heart pendant in 9-karat gold with ruby.

Wales’s signature Confetti rings first captured jewelry lovers’ imagination with their convention-defying half-sunken gemstones, seemingly placed at random in thick gold bands. Another alluring factor of this setting — or non-setting — is that each design is slightly different, and therefore unique. Over the years, the brand’s style has evolved, and Wales continues to find exciting new ways to challenge her team. More recent designs have included delicately spiraling statement earrings, as well as skull rings and locket pendants covered in colorful combinations of gems and diamonds in round, pear and baguette cuts.

Other creators practicing “cast not set” include Fraser Hamilton, whose jewels are more akin to hand-engraved miniature sculptures. A standout design of his is a line of gold pendants with tiny hands that seem to clasp onto gemstones like round diamonds, heart-shaped rubies or pear-shaped sapphires; each is cast in place.

Casting stones directly into metal makes for an organic aesthetic — a sense of the jewelry being crafted in a rough and ready fashion — despite the technical intricacy and skill this alternative method requires. That’s why Laura Caspi turned to this technique when trying to recreate in jewels a dried-out Venus sea fan she found washed up on the beach, glittering with sand.

“I have seen the technique of casting stones in place being used and wanted to experiment with it myself,” says Caspi, who submerged gems in 18-karat gold to make the resulting Venus Fan collection. “The stones have to be very hard — so only diamonds, sapphires and rubies. It has been a challenge learning how to secure the stones in place in the wax so they stay in the position I want them. It’s also been tricky making sure there’s no wax residue on the stones, because if they’re not completely clean, any remaining film on the stones will cast as metal and cover the sparkly stones.”

Polly Wales rings with diamonds and sapphires in 18-karat gold.
Polly Wales rings with diamonds and sapphires in 18-karat gold.

Rhodium-blackened gold
Black is back in a big way. Look to the current season’s catwalks and you’ll see designers like Simone Rocha, Dries van Noten and Rick Owens blanketing models head to toe in all-black garb. So how do we translate this to jewelry? Rhodium plating.

The jewelry industry initially embraced rhodium plating as a way to whiten metals such as white gold or silver, but has used it in recent years to blacken gold. The effect, which gives jewels a darkly seductive edge, has been particularly popular in the men’s market and in dialing down the bling of unisex jewels. More recently, designers have been using rhodium to enhance gemstone settings.

When fashionable department store Dover Street Market saw Suzanne Kalan’s new Inlay collection — which places clusters of princess- and baguette-cut diamonds inside individual gold bezels for a chunkier take on her signature designs — it wanted an exclusive twist. Kalan’s thought was: Make it black.

“I wanted the collection to maintain the sophistication of my pieces to date, and thought that experimenting with black rhodium would add the theater and uniqueness of Dover Street Market’s personality [to the jewels],” says Kalan, who used heavy rhodium plating to create black frames outlining the diamonds. Not only did this look fit the department store’s brand, “but black rhodium in itself enhances the brilliance of diamonds, which we  collaboratively thought would be spot-on for an exclusive collection.”

Ruchi Linear Latitude earrings in rhodium with sapphires.
Ruchi Linear Latitude earrings in rhodium with sapphires.

Designer Ralph Masri has also been manipulating rhodium plating on settings to draw more attention to gems. “I believe, in most cases, colored gemstones look best with rhodium,” says Masri, who has used it to define emeralds, sapphires, rubies and other stones. “To really have color pop out, you need strong contrast, and nothing gives stronger contrast than black.” 

This little twist, which is applied after a piece is polished, adds no more than 30 minutes to the production schedule of a jewel, according to Masri. Though Kalan warns that replating might be essential at a later date to maintain the original look, she notes that rhodium is “extremely tough and able to resist scratches and corrosion.”

And black is not the only color jewelers can achieve with rhodium plating. Ruchi Kotahwala, creative director and founder of Ruchi New York, started experimenting with the technique last year, and after six months of product development, she has developed an ombré hue for her new Aurora collection.

“My collections are mostly focused around various color palettes using multiple gemstones and diamonds,” says Kotahwala, who took inspiration from the Aurora Borealis for her latest designs. “Sometimes I use varying ombrés of gemstones; in this case, I have changed my medium by changing the colors of rhodium.”

While most jewelers talk of the ease of rhodium plating, this particular use of the metal is technically difficult to achieve due to the multitude of shades. “I am very strict about how my designs look,” says Kotahwala. “The ombré has to be correct; otherwise we start from scratch. We have remade some pieces four to five times before I am happy with them.” 

Nadine Aysoy 18-karat rose gold bracelet with rhodium diamonds.
Nadine Aysoy bracelet in 18 karat rose gold and rhodium with diamonds.

Gem on gem
Sometimes, one gemstone is just not enough. For customers who enjoy a pile-it-high aesthetic, an alternative setting style is to set gemstones on gemstones.

Luxury jewelry house Boghossian has spearheaded the revival of this technique, which originated in the Mughal Empire. Known as inlay, the style involves carving two gemstones to create an imperceptibly snug fit as one sits atop the other. Diamonds are inlaid into white jade, pink sapphires into chalcedony; emeralds are fitted into rock crystal, which is in turn layered over a blanket of pavé diamonds.

Taking this method further, Boghossian created a new technique called Kissing Diamonds. Rather than carving the gemstones to create a perfect fit, the jeweler uses a tension setting to bind two diamonds together; from a side view, it looks like the diamonds are barely touching — just kissing, as it were. The style creates the illusion of one gem floating on top of the other, and enables the jeweler to reduce the amount of metal it uses.

These techniques call for expertise in setting and lapidary arts, and therefore carry a hefty price tag; Boghossian jewels can cost tens of thousands of dollars. But there are somewhat more affordable ways to tap into this trend.

Robinson Pelham Starry Night agate pendant.
Robinson Pelham Starry Night agate pendant.

London-based brand Robinson Pelham has created a collection of gold pendants using barrel agates that have been decorated with round and marquise-cut diamonds in collet settings. “The way we have placed the stones into the agate makes the pendants very tactile,” says Robinson Pelham creative director Vanessa Chilton. “We needed to keep the stones small to reduce the stress to the agate and to keep as many of the natural characteristics [as possible].”

Diamonds give a lot of sparkle per millimeter and are therefore a popular choice for setting into larger colored gems, but Zaabel, which started exploring this technique three years ago, uses colored gems. Hina Israr, the brand’s cofounder, believes both types of stones captivate clients. “The attention to detail and execution effort are evident in such designs, and it serves to highlight the organic aspect of the jewelry,” she says.

One of the host gems Zaabel uses is pearl, which is notoriously easy to damage, yet is one of the most popular choices for this alternative setting style. Los Angeles-based brand White/Space has also braved the technical difficulties in pursuit of this look, offering bespoke editions of its Kenna collection by setting birthstones into baroque pearls.

“It is challenging, because it requires precision in order to create the ‘seat’ for the bezel-set stone, which is placed into the pearl after it’s been set,” explains founder Khadijah Fulton. “The drilling has to be done slowly and carefully so as not to damage the pearl, which will burn if the drill goes too fast, or the nacre can crack. The set stone is then very carefully glued into the pearl with a very strong two-part glue that has to be mixed in small individual batches before it can be used. It does its initial curing incredibly quickly, so only a few can be set at once.”

Despite such hair-pulling intricacies, Fulton is charmed with the results and plans to expand on the technique, in which she sees potential for “couture-like pieces with a high degree of customization.”

Sarah Ho London Zelda earrings with emerald.
Sarah Ho London Zelda earrings with emerald.

2 Comments

  1. excellent pᥙt up, very infօrmatiѵe. I wonder why the other
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    • Very interesting article~ I Love knowing about the innovative strides jewelers are creating, particularly in the area of Stone Setting! I really would have loved to see more photos of the pieces being written about. I think I will go through the article again and this time I can explore each Artist’s website… Oh goody~ I LOVE THIS PART!

      Thank you for answering questions YOU didn’t even know I had~
      Kat~
      Fairy Kat Kreations

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