Hmm, well that gem shopping expedition didn’t quite go as
planned.
I couldn’t face the schlep down to Chinatown on Saturday so
I went to Amarin mall where there were several stalls and shops peddling gem and
stones. I found a lovely shop where I told the man that I was learning to set
stones and wanted something cheap but pretty that I could practice with. We started
with amethysts and we moved through a host of stones whose names I’ve forgotten.
Each time he brought something out I got more and more panicked: so TINY, shiny
and perfectly cut. In my head I saw myself trying to measure and set them with
my bunches of bananas and I felt a bit sick. I knew they could look gorgeous. But probably only if someone
else made them. He showed me all sorts of stones but I’d completely lost my
confidence that I could do anything with them.
I found another stall. In a basket there were pieces of
agate. I bought this one: it’s 4 cm long. I think even my bananas can make a
reasonable job of setting them.
(Here’s the finished crown setting from the last post. I
don’t know what the disc thing is that we’ve set but it feels like resin or
even just plastic. Because it’s nicer with light behind it, I cut out a mad
pattern on the back to let the light in.)
