OPEN SETTING FOLIED STONE
History
Gemstone treatment of foiling, its widespread use by our ancestors and the reasons for its apparent decline in popularity. A treatment can be defined as any artificial alteration or enhancement of the optical or physical properties of a gemstone, excluding its cutting and polishing. Gemstones have been treated since our ancestors first decided they were of social and economic value to us,
Foiling is a technique applied by goldsmiths to gemstones to improve optical performance:
1. By increasing reflection from the back facets, thus making the stone appear more brilliant, or imparting color.
2. As a result of the foil colorless stones are made more brilliant, pale ones deepened in color, and dull ones become lustrous.
3. The process involves applying a thin backing/ sheet of foil with a metallic luster either to the pavilion of a gemstone itself, or to a closed back collet, where the stone would be set
4. With the pavilion (base) of the stone concealed, in order to hide the foil-backing and protect the foil, which was fragile and prone to decay.
However, the Victorian era (1837- 1901) began to see the decline of the popularity of foils; partially due to the advancement in lapidary and diamond manufacture, as well as the introduction of the claw and gypsy settings, which left foiled jewelry somewhat unnecessary and out of vogue.
The main gemstone cuts used in Georgian times were: the rose cut, table cut and old mine cut; which, whilst exploiting the color of the gemstones and the high adamantine luster of the diamond, did not give maximum brilliance or fire to the stones, which was compensated for by the extensive use of foils. However, during the Victorian period there were a number of advances in lapidary, leading to the introduction of the old European cut and eventually to the development of the modern-day brilliant cut, which became popular in 1919. [1] These more advanced gemstone cuts exploited science to allow for greater reflection and refraction within the stones meaning that it was no longer necessary to use foils to increase the optical performance of the stone.
The Victorian era also saw a transformation in the setting of gemstones into jewelry, as “settings were opened up in the back, and stones…enhanced in brilliance by being set in claws and prongs being held by beads of metal”;[2] these were of a great contrast to their Georgian predecessors, who championed closed back and rub over settings whilst utilizing foils to enhance the brilliance of their gemstones. Thus, the change in fashion and the development of a more sophisticated style of stone setting seen in the Victorian period undoubtedly led somewhat to the decrease in popularity of the foil backed gemstone.
Today foil-backed stones have once again become a highly desired commodity and authentic Georgian jewelry has become an investment as sound as any bond; thus it must be questioned why there has not been a revival in the foiling technique.
original from National museum collection
NECKLACE
Designed by: Unknown
Material: Gold-plates silver, amethysts
Size: 37x 1,4 x 9 cm
Year: Mid 1900th century
Photo credit: Nationalmuseum
This necklace made in France mid 19th century is a part of a garniture, the “demi parure” contains of 2 brooches and a necklace. The foiled stones are carefully set in a version of a claw setting. Each setting has 10 claws that cautiously holds the stone in place. The metal setting is made of a gold-plated silver and the stones a amethysts that has been foiled on the back.
To foil a semiprecious stone is something that was specific for the time 1850 th. Jewelers did this to enhance the fire of the stone. Fire is the splitting of white light into all components of the visible light spectrum, and therefore all of its spectral colors, by a gemstone.
re-designed Necklace
RE-DESIGN
I wanted to deconstruct and rebuild the stone setting in redesigning this necklace. I stared by breaking down the setting to its simplest form, I made a cad drawing of the setting used in the original necklace and I subtracted all the unnecessary curves and lines until I ended up with two ovals that was connected with two lines.
These basic shapes were modified, stretched, bent and tapered to create a new setting, that displays the beauty of the stone. A setting that doesn’t hide the certain elements of the stone instead, the setting is designed to be open and expose and exhibit the top as well as the back of the stone.
Designing in CAD difference from traditional jewelry design techniques. Often a jeweler starts with a wire or a sheet of metal that is formed into a specific shape. While working with CAD design one starts with points and lines that later create surfaces, this affects the way one designs and plan a design
