Stone setting method

Abstract: A method of producing stone-set jewelry includes the step of forming at least one affixation-groove (15) within the stone (10) to be set in the jewelry. A stone to be set with the present method should have an upper and a lower portion which is at least substantially entirely hidden from view when the upper portion of the stone is viewed. In accordance with the present method the affixation-groove (15) should be formed in the lower portion (16) of the stone such that it too is hidden from view when the upper portion of the stone is viewed. The method also includes the deposition of a mounting material within the affixation-groove by applying a conventional casting method. Finally, any excess deposited mounting material can be removed and the stone affixed to the article of jewelry via the mounting material such that the mounting material of a completed article of jewelry is not visible when the stone is viewed from the upper portion thereof. New articles of jewelry formed from the methods of producing jewelry are also disclosed.

Description: Background of the Invention 1. Field of the Invention The present invention generally relates to the fields of jewelry and jewelry manufacturing. More particularly, the invention concerns articles of jewels with one or more stones discreetly mounted thereon and methods of producing the same. Accordingly, the general objects of the invention are to provide novel and improved methods and apparatus of such character. 2. Description of the Related Art The use of stones as decorative elements of jewelry is extremely widespread and dates back thousands of years. Among the more popular precious and semi-precious stones used in such jewelry are diamonds, emeralds, rubies, opals and sapphires. Jewels such as these are commonly set in rings, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, etc. which are primarily made of metal such as gold, silver, platinum, etc. Such articles of jewelry utilize "settings" to mount the stones onto the carrying portion of the jewelry and shall be referred to herein as "stone-set" jewelry. In addition to manufacturing considerations found in any sphere of mass production, jewelry designers and producers place a premium on the overall aesthetics of an article of jewelry. Thus, jewelry designers have striven to create the most attractive works possible at a minimum cost. In large part, the overall beauty of stone-set jewelry is derived from the quality and brilliance of the stones used therein. Since the manner in which a stone is set into an article of jewelry is a major factor in determining quality of the overall work, the stone used in an article of jewelry must be retained therein in a manner which emphasizes the brilliance of the stone. Accordingly, jewelry manufacturers have long striven to develop methods of retaining stones within jewelry in the least obtrusive manner possible. Unfortunately, stone settings used in conventional jewelry invariably interfere with the visual appearance of the stones themselves. This is true regardless of whether such jewelry is prong set, channel set or bezel set, etc. For example, prong set jewelry typically utilizes four prongs which extend from the stone carrying portion of the jewelry over the top of the stone to secure the stone against movement. Restated in more conventional terms, in prong set jewelry, stones are retained in the jewelry by the use of prongs which emanate from below the pavilion of the stone, extend over the girdle and terminate on the table of the stone. This manner of affixing stones to jewelry necessarily causes at least some degradation of the stone's brilliance due to the fact that at least a portion of the stone is covered by the prongs. Thus, in order to achieve a given level of brilliance, a higher quality stone must be used to compensate for the presence of such prongs. Naturally, this leads to increased costs. Finally, the fact that the conventional method of setting stones in jewelry occurs on an individual basis further increases costs relative to a method in which multiple settings can be simultaneously formed. Summary of the Invention Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide methods of producing jewelry of the type having stones set in a carrying member wherein the setting is not visible when the jewelry is viewed from the top end thereof. It is also an object of the present invention to provide methods of producing jewelry of the type having clusters of stones set in a carrying member wherein the setting for each of the stones in each cluster are produced simultaneously. A further object of the present invention is to provide methods of producing jewelry of the type having stones set in a carrying member, such methods reducing manufacturing wastes, costs and production times. Still another object of the present invention is to provide methods of producing jewelry of the type having stones set in a carrying member wherein the stones can be set in the jewelry simultaneously with the casting of the remainder of the article of jewelry. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide methods of producing jewelry which permit the creation of articles of jewelry not heretofore possible with conventional manufacturing techniques. It is still another object of the present invention to provide methods of producing jewelry utilizing precious and semi-precious stones wherein the stones appear to be of higher quality than stones of comparable value when set in conventional jewelry. It is a further object of the present invention to provide methods of producing jewelry of the general character noted above, such methods offering an optimal combination of versatility, economy, simplicity and efficiency. FR-A-2 584 278 discloses a method of affixing a stone onto a piece of jewelry in accordance with the preamble of claim 1. The present invention provides a method of affixing a stone as set forth in claim 1. one method of forming the affixation-groove entails cutting the groove into a stone using a blade which is advanced toward and into the pavilion of the stone at an angle of 90° and then causing relative rotation between the stone and the blade whereby a generally annular groove is formed in the stone. It is also possible to form first and second linear affixation-grooves within a stone in order to affix the stone to an article of jewelry in two locations. The same metal (most preferably gold) is preferably used to form the metallic base member or carrying portion and the metallic mount or mounting material. Numerous other features of the present invention will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art from the following detailed description of the invention, from the claims and from the accompanying drawings. Brief Description of the Drawings The preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein like numerals represent like structures and wherein: Figure 1 is a schematic representation of a stone having two preferred affixation-grooves formed therein; Figure 2 is omitted; Figure 3 is a silver model utilized in the lost-wax casting method used in the present invention; Figure 4 illustrates the silver model of Figure 3 with a cluster of stones received therein; Figure 5 illustrates the silver model and stones of Figure 4 as they are placed into a rubber mold; Figure 6 illustrates removal of the silver model and stones from the newly formed rubber mold; Figure 7 shows the rubber mold of Figure 6 with the cluster of stones replaced therein ready to receive liquid wax; Figure 8 shows the cluster of stones having been set in solidified wax; Figure 9 shows a plurality of stone clusters received within a solid wax tree; Figure 10 illustrates the solid wax tree of Figure 9 received within an investment; Figure 11 illustrates the step of heating the investment to remove the liquified wax therefrom; Figure 12 illustrates the step of pouring liquid mounting material into the investment; Figure 13 shows a tree of solidified mounting material with a plurality of stone clusters disposed therein after the investment was removed therefrom; Figures 14a and 14b show the step of removing excess mounting material from the stone clusters; Figures 15 through 17 illustrate an alternate lost wax casting method which can be utilized in the present invention; and Figures 18 through 23 illustrate several examples of completed articles of jewelry produced using the present invention. Descriptions of the Preferred Embodiments A first preferred method embodiment of the present invention will be described below with joint reference to Figures 1 through 14b. As shown in Figure 1, a first method step of the invention entails forming the affixation-grooves 15 within the lower pavilion portion 16 of a stone 10. As illustrated therein, stone 10 further includes an upper table portion 12 and an enlarged girdle 14 disposed between table 12 and pavilion 16 such that pavilion 16 is hidden from view when stone 10 is viewed from above. Similarly, grooves 15, which are each defined between a pair of walls 17, are hidden from view under such conditions. The grooves 15 are each defined between symmetric adjoining walls 17 of equal height formed with cutting blade 18. As shown, cutting blade 18 can be used to form grooves 15 by rotating blade 18 and advancing it along axis A until it contacts pavilion 16. Since axis A is oriented perpendicular to the surface of pavilion 16, blade 18 forms symmetric walls 17 of grooves 15. Whereas Figure 1 depicts a pair of linear affixation-grooves 15 having been cut into stone 10, a single affixation-groove can be formed in the lower pavilion of stone 10. This is preferably accomplished by moving blade 18 into stone 10 and causing relative rotation between blade 18 and stone 10 until a generally annular groove 15 is formed. Regardless of the number of grooves 15, however, cutting symmetric grooves within pavilion 16 of stone 10 requires a minimum of effort. Moreover, forming one or more symmetric grooves 15 ensures maximum brilliance of the stone because the setting which is to be formed therein is as small as possible while the stone itself remains as large as possible. Naturally, this also reduces costs by minimizing the amount of mounting material necessary form the desired setting, i.e., to set the stone in an article of jewelry. As seen in Figures 3 through 14b, the present invention, in part, preferably utilizes a first variation of the lost-wax casting method in order to form stone settings which can be used to affix a stone to an article of jewelry. It will be appreciated that the below-described method of producing such stone settings is highly efficient, in part, due to the fact that the stone settings can be formed in clusters rather than individually. It should also be appreciated that a second variation on the lost-wax casting method, which also yields acceptable end products, is also compatible with the present invention and will be described below with respect to Figures 15-17. In the first variation of the lost-wax casting method, a silver model 20 is provided for receiving a cluster of stones which have been pre-cut as described above. Each silver model is preferably designed to receive a plurality of pre-cut stones within regions 22 such that lips 24 extends into the affixation-grooves of the stones. Each silver model 20 is also provided with a branch portion 26 which serves multiple purposes as discussed below. Those of ordinary skill will readily appreciate that each silver model could be designed to receive either a single stone or an entire cluster of stones as desired. A second step of the lost wax casting method entails placing stones 30 within the respective receiving locations of silver model 20 as shown in Figure 4. An additional step entails placing the silver model, with stones affixed thereto, into a two-part rubber mold 32 as shown in Figure 5. Once the desired impression of silver model 20 and stones 30 is formed in mold 32, mold 32 can be separated and the silver model removed therefrom. This is illustrated in Figure 6. Upon the removal of silver model 20 from rubber mold 32, stones 30 are preferably removed from silver model and replaced into the respective locations of mold 32. It will be appreciated that, at this point, branch portion 26 of silver model 20 has formed a passage from one end of mold 32 toward and into the region surrounding stones 30. As shown in Figure 7, this passage can be utilized to introduce molten wax into mold 32 in order to create a solidified wax branch 34 having the same shape as silver model 20 (see Figure 8). Once a plurality of wax branches 34 and 34' have been produced, they are affixed together to form a solid wax tree 36 as shown in Figure 9. Then, wax tree 36 is surrounded by a heat-resistant investment as shown in Figure 10. With the wax tree 36 and investment 38 in an upright position, the investment can be heated until the wax melts and drains out of investment 38 leaving stones 30 behind (see Figure 11). Investment 38 can then be inverted and liquid mounting material introduced into the cavity previously occupied by wax tree 36. This is illustrated in Figure 12. It will be appreciated that the preferred mounting material is the same metal as used in the carrying portion of the article of jewelry to which the stone is to be affixed. As shown in Figure 13, once mounting material 40 has solidified, investment 38 can be removed leaving behind a tree of mounting material with stones 30 affixed thereto. At this point, each branch 40', with the cluster of stones 30, can be removed (see Figure 14a) and the branch portion thereof separated from stones 30 (see Figure 14b) by cutting, by de-burring or by using one of the many other known methods. At this point, the stone settings or mounting members for affixing stones 30 to the carrying member of an article of jewelry have been fully formed and the cluster of stones 30 can be affixed to the jewelry by one of a number of known methods such as soldering. Naturally, individual stones 30 can also be affixed to articles of jewelry by individually casting settings with the method described above. According to a particularly advantageous variation of the lost-wax casting method utilized with the present invention, a stone to be set into an article of jewelry is pre-cut as described above with respect to Figure 1. Then, a silver model 20' (see Figure 15), which is identical to silver model 20 of Figure 4, is placed between the two portions of rubber mold 32' to create an impression of silver model 20' therein. As shown in Figure 16, after an appropriate impression is formed in rubber mold 32', silver model 20' can be removed from the rubber mold. As shown in Figure 17, this process results in the production of a wax model 34' into which stones 30 can be set. This wax model with stones can then be used to form a wax tree such as the one described above with respect to Figure 9. The remainder of this second variation of the casting process is identical to first variation described above and results in the production of either clusters of stones or individual stones with the desired settings. It will be appreciated that the invention is particularly well suited to stones which have been previously formed into the general shape depicted in, for example, Figure 1 (i.e., a stone having an upper table portion, a lower converging pavilion portion and an enlarged girdle therebetween). Nonetheless, the invention is also equally applicable to stones having many different shapes. It will also be appreciated that the invention is wholly applicable to a wide variety of precious and semi-precious gemstones and that the invention achieves particularly stunning results when applied to clear or virtually clear gemstones such as diamonds. Finally, it will be appreciated that the present invention also entails articles of jewelry produced in accordance with the methods shown and described herein. Several examples of such articles of jewelry are shown in Figures 18 through 23. While the present invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, that is intended to cover the various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Claims: A method of affixing a stone onto a piece of jewelry, the stone including a table on one side thereof, a converging pavilion on an opposite side thereof and a girdle therebetween, said method comprising the following steps: (a) forming at least one affixation-groove within the pavilion of the stone; (b) forming a wax model receiving the stone such that the wax occupies at least a portion of the at least one groove; (c) forming an investment about the wax model and the stone; (d) removing the wax from the investment by the application of heat; (e) replacing the wax removed from the investment with a mounting material such that the mounting material occupies at least a portion of said groove; (f) removing the investment from the stone and mounting material; (g) removing any excess mounting material; and (h) affixing the stone to the piece of jewelry via the mounting material whereby the mounting material is not visible when the piece of jewelry is viewed from the table side of the stone; characterized in that step (a) comprises cutting a groove (15) defined between two symmetrical adjoining walls (17) of equal height using a blade (18) which is advanced toward and into the pavilion (16) of the stone along an axis (A) perpendicular to the surface of the pavilion. The method of claim 1, wherein step (a) includes causing relative rotation between the stone and the blade whereby a generally annular groove is formed in the stone. The method of claim 1, wherein step (a) includes: cutting a first linear groove into the stone using a blade which is advanced toward and into the pavilion of the stone along an axis perpendicular to the surface of the pavilion; and cutting a second linear groove into the stone using a blade which is advanced toward and into the pavilion of the stone along an axis perpendicular to the surface of the pavilion. The method of any preceding claim, wherein said stone is one of a plurality of stones, including a table on one side thereof, a converging pavilion on an opposite side thereof and a girdle therebetween, said method comprising: forming at least one said affixation-groove within the pavilion of each stone; forming a single wax model for receiving the plurality of stones such that the wax occupies at least a portion of each of the affixation-grooves; forming an investment about the wax model and the stones; removing the wax from the investment by the application of heat; replacing the wax removed from the investment with a mounting material such that the mounting material occupies at least a portion of said grooves; removing the investment from the stones and mounting material; removing any excess mounting material; and affixing the stones to the piece of jewelry via the mounting material whereby the mounting material is substantially entirely hidden from view.

Inventors: HO NELSON CHI KAI, HO, NELSON CHI KAI
Applicants: NELSON JEWELLERY ARTS CO LTD, NELSON JEWELLERY ARTS CO.,LTD
Application year: 1999
Main classification: A44C17
IPC codes: B22D25, A44C17, A44C27, B22C7, B22C9