Mount Making and Gypsy Setting Technique with Sonia Cheadle

Delivered in person at the Goldsmiths’ Centre, this course will help with:

• Enhanced bench setup: Sonia's instruction includes optimising your bench setup, a cornerstone of efficient practice. This not only improves the quality of your work, but also focuses on enhancing your organisational skills and ensures ergonomic posture, contributing to a healthier and more productive working environment.
• Efficiency techniques: The course imparts valuable techniques to expedite the creation of single-stone mounts. These time-saving strategies streamline your production process, allowing you to offer your clients beautifully crafted pieces in a more efficient manner.
• Cost-effective gypsy setting: Learning simple tricks of the trade to secure a gypsy setting while minimising costs is a game-changer. This knowledge ensures you can offer this unique style without compromising security or profitability.
• Pre-polishing expertise: Learning how to pre-polish your metal before setting is a strategic choice. It saves you time and money in the final polishing stages, optimising your workflow and contributing to a more streamlined and cost-effective production process.
• Comprehensive skill development: By creating up to six mounts for fancy-cut stones and experimenting with gypsy settings, you’re expanding your skill set comprehensively. This development allows you to create a wider range of designs and cater to varying client preferences.
• Deeper gemstone-mount relationship: Sonia's guidance will foster a deeper understanding of the symbiotic relationship between precious gemstones and their mounts. This understanding enriches your design decisions and elevates the aesthetic appeal of your pieces.
• Valuable takeaways: The course offers tangible benefits, including a personal set of gypsy setting tools. These tools become assets in your studio, enabling you to continue practising and refining your gypsy setting technique independently.

Evening 1 and 2

You will focus on:

• How to shape rub-over mount for faceted gemstones.
• Top tips on measuring, marking and soldering.
• How to successfully construct ‘settable’ rub-over mounts for six fancy-shaped cubic zirconia.
• Step-by-step demonstrations followed by a series of practical exercises to build up your confidence and develop your understanding of perfecting mount construction.

Evening 2 and 3

You will focus on:

• Learning to gypsy set small round faceted gemstones.
• Experimenting with gypsy-style of setting.
• Leaving the course with your own personal gypsy setting tools to practice this technique in your studio.

In essence, this course offers a unique blend of practical techniques, efficiency strategies, and artistic insights. From constructing rub-over mounts to unravelling gypsy setting mysteries, you’re set to embark on a transformative journey that will not only enhance your craftsmanship, but also elevate your career as a skilled and versatile jewellery designer.

Please bring your own basic tool kit (including but not limited) to:

• Set of needle files, essentially a ‘well-defined’ square file.
• Set of pliers including parallel, flat and round nose.
• Half round hand file with handle.
• Emery stick. P600. Elastic band.
• Small ‘well-defined’ steel rule and a sharp scriber.
• Piercing frame and blades (2/0 or 3/0).
• Solder probe or tweezers.
• Small paint brush for borax application.
• Tin snips and ring clamp.
• AA tweezers and a pair of diamond tongs.
• A loop.
• Snipe nosed pliers, flat/pillar pliers, parallel pliers.
• Pair of dividers.
• ‘Double-ended’ pin vice.
• Protective clothing or clothing you do not mind getting dirty e.g. apron and closed-toe shoes.

Optional:

• Spectacles or head visor (if required) to work on small details.
• Notebook and pen.

If you would like to prepare yourself ahead of the short course, please read the following recommended book:

• Mounting & Setting Stones, A&C Blacks by Sonia Cheadle.

You will be provided with:

• All precious metal (silver) needed to make your mounts.
• Blank silver ring to practice your gypsy setting technique.
• Solder strip as required.
• Soldering station including, soldering matt, borax dish and cone.
• All fancy CZ’s needed to create your mount and gypsy set.
• Drill bits and burr as required.
• Steel rod to make your own tools.
• Medium/fine binding wire.

Polishing equipment for your tools.

• Intermediate: Practical experience and basic understanding of the below listed skill required.

Participants at the intermediate level should have prior experience in a workshop environment and the ability to work independently on fundamental tasks. They should be comfortable with processes such as piercing, filing, and soldering, and possess a working knowledge of workshop tools and techniques. This level focuses on refining basic skills, introducing more complex tasks, and developing the ability to troubleshoot and work with greater precision and autonomy.

We believe that talent should not be held back. Here at the Goldsmiths’ Centre, we are open, accessible and inclusive to all. Our Access Grants help anyone to build thriving creative careers, supporting jewellers, silversmiths and allied industry practitioners to access our training courses for free.

If you need help to cover fees for our business and technical skills short courses, please apply for one of our Access Grants. To find out more and read our application criteria, click here

The Access Grants are delivered by the Goldsmiths' Centre and funded by the Goldsmiths’ Company Charity.

Claw and Rub-Over Setting Technique with Niall Paisley – if you are looking to further develop your setting skills, this two-day course will show you step-by-step how to correctly prepare your settings and set different shaped gemstones.