109 - Adding Prong settings to a ring

This is am entry level demonstration on adding pre-made prongs to a ring. This is the easiest way to get started making rings with heads and settings for faceted stones without getting overwhelmed with the task of also having to make the actual prong mounting itself.
Effectively, we are making a solitaire ring.
A "Solitaire ring" is a ring with only 1 gemstone, typically in an elevated setting, which showcases it as the center of attention.
A solitaire ring does NOT have any accent stones.
The Latin root word is solitarius, meaning "alone or isolated".
I will be demonstrating how to make prong settings in a future video.
This video simply shows how to solder a head onto a ring shank, two different ways.
These heads and ring shanks can be purchased pre-made in an assortment of sizes and shapes, or can be made by hand, either way, the method for connecting the head to the shank is more or less the same.

[@suebland14]

Great thanks

[@GracieBobbitt-st3oz]

I just had a larger stone set in my engagement ring. It has peg head prongs like the one you show. However, now I think it looks a little too high. Is it possible for my jeweler to melt down some of the metal under the culet (and above the peg), essentially pressing it down a millimeter or two into the ring? And if they did that, would it require all new prongs? Thank you!

[@earthartgems]

Hi Gracie, Great question. The simple answer is no. Not the way you described it. However, The best solution to this will be for your jeweler to remove the stone and then remove the peg prong and then solder in a new one for you. This is actually one of the great advantages of peg style prongs is they typically are not connected at any other point to the ring so even the novice jeweler can easily attach and remove them with ease. A lot of stores will carry a catalog with images so you can look through it at different head styles and pick one that you like, or simply ask for one with a lower profile. One thing to keep in mind is that the culet of the stone cannot be touching anything or it can chip or crack over time, so the head needs to be at least lofty enough to allow the stone room to breath under it. There are always other factors at play as well but these are going to be on a ring by ring basis and a good jeweler will cover any of these with you if they come up.