LAPIDARY’S WORKSHOP AND OFFICE IN ENGLAND
PLATE XI
LAPIDARY’S WORKSHOP IN RUSSIA
When finished, the stone finds its way with others akin to it to the manufacturing jeweller’s establishment, where it is handed to the setter, who mounts it in a ring, necklace, brooch, or whatever article of jewellery it is intended for. The metal used in the groundwork of the setting is generally gold, but platinum is also employed where an unobtrusive and untarnishable metal is demanded, and silver finds a place in cheaper jewellery, although it is seriously handicapped by its susceptibility to the blackening influence of the sulphurous fumes present in the smoke-laden atmosphere of towns. The stone may be either embedded in the metal or held by claws. The former is by far the safer, but the latter the more elegant, and it has the advantage of exposing the stone à jour, to use the French jewellers’ expression, so that its genuineness is more evidently testified. It is very important that the claw setting be periodically examined, lest the owner one day experience the mortification of finding that a valuable stone has dropped out; gold, owing to its softness, wears away in course of time.
Up to quite recent years modern jewellery was justly open to the criticism that it was lacking in variety, that little attempt was made to secure harmonious association in either the colour or the lustre of the gem-stones, and that the glitter of the gold mount was frequently far too obtrusive. Gold consorts admirably with the rich glow of ruby, but is quite unsuited to the gleaming fire of a brilliant. Where the metal is present merely for the mechanical purpose of holding the stones in position, it should be made as little noticeable as possible. The artistic treatment of jewellery is, however, receiving now adequate attention in the best Paris and London houses. Some recent designs are illustrated on [Plates IV and V].
PLATE XII
FRENCH FAMILY CUTTING STONES