So, last week I had my final silver-smithing class. I was all set to finish off my bezel set ring, take photos, and post a picture showing off my shiny new adornment. Everything was going well, right up until it was time to set the stone into the bezel. It was going to be a snug fit. I knew that when I made the ring, but that's nature of a bezel setting. The silver is tailored to fit the stone so it will not fall out of the setting.
Well, when the glorious moment arrived, I went to push the stone into it's snug little fitting and...it chipped! My beautiful, hand-cut obsidian stone chipped. It was a little soul crushing, and a lot of debate ensued about whether to take it out or leave it be in the hopes that the bezel edge would cover the chip. At first, I really wanted to take it out. I'm a bit of an obsessive perfectionist when it comes to art, so I wasn't psyched about the notion of leaving a chipped rock in my ring. But, much to my dismay, the stone wouldn't come out. So I took a deep breath, smacked the perfectionist inside me and said, "Relax!" before blowing out a huge sigh and resigning myself to the chipped stone. It gets better...
After quite a bit of effort, we realized we couldn't get the stone all the way into the setting. It sat, stuck tight, on a slant that was just horrifying annoying. That was when I broke out in an insane maniacal laugh and decided that I knew how to solve the problem.
One large mallet later, the stone was out of the setting...in a million pieces...but it was out.
Well, when the glorious moment arrived, I went to push the stone into it's snug little fitting and...it chipped! My beautiful, hand-cut obsidian stone chipped. It was a little soul crushing, and a lot of debate ensued about whether to take it out or leave it be in the hopes that the bezel edge would cover the chip. At first, I really wanted to take it out. I'm a bit of an obsessive perfectionist when it comes to art, so I wasn't psyched about the notion of leaving a chipped rock in my ring. But, much to my dismay, the stone wouldn't come out. So I took a deep breath, smacked the perfectionist inside me and said, "Relax!" before blowing out a huge sigh and resigning myself to the chipped stone. It gets better...
After quite a bit of effort, we realized we couldn't get the stone all the way into the setting. It sat, stuck tight, on a slant that was just horrifying annoying. That was when I broke out in an insane maniacal laugh and decided that I knew how to solve the problem.
One large mallet later, the stone was out of the setting...in a million pieces...but it was out.
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