Patent ID: 7124484

Claim:
The method of making a hollow article of jewelry mounting a precious stone, comprising the steps of: a) providing a hollow thin wall metal body of spherical configuration having a radially projecting mounting shaft thereon; b) providing a forming tool including a punch member for forming a recess accommodating said stone, and first and second upper and lower plates having centrally-disposed recesses supporting said hollow article during deformation; c) providing a finished precious stone of generally arcuate configuration having a conical inner surface portion; d) positioning said body between said first and second upper and lower plates to be supported thereby, and deforming an axially-oriented recess in said body to correspond to the conical inner surface of said stone, simultaneously forming a continuous peripheral edge portion and an inwardly-extending conically shaped portion; e) inserting said inner part of said stone into said recess, and; f) heading over said continuous peripheral edge portion of said recess to retain said stone within said recess in said metal body.