How to Make Pave Diamond Earrings By Jewelry Designs

Making a Pavé Earring

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Design

In this illustration, the CAD designer has fashioned a hoop earring to hold 1.5ct of pavé set diamonds. All of the subcomponents have been programmed to mill a rough prototype in wax, with tolerances for shrinkage after the model maker proves the design and makes a mold.

Prototype

In this CAD prototype, all of the tolerances have been engineered to accommodate shrinkage after mold making. The model will be milled in four separate pieces and cast in silver. The silver model will serve as a prototype for the model maker to re-tool before the mold making process.

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Finished Silver Prototype

In this photo, the four segments of the model have been hand-tooled to the proportions and finish necessary for molding. The model has been trimmed to the predetermined weights and measurements calculated to provide comfort and durability to the customer.

Mold Making

The silver model has been packed in uncured rubber and is now being vulcanized in a press with heat and pressure to form a durable rubber mold. After the rubber cures, it will be removed and a mold cutter will remove the master model from it. The rubber mold will be used for wax injection and will last for decades.

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Mold Cutting

Here, the rubber mold has been cut open, leaving a hollow impression of the earring that was encased. A properly cut mold will allow injected wax to be removed easily with a minimum amount of distortion to the wax model.

Wax Injecting

The new mold has been injected with wax which is now being carefully extracted. The wax will require some light finishing and adjustments before it is treed on a wax rod. Once treed, the wax will be placed in a canister which will be filled with a plaster-like material called investment. The cured flask will be incinerated in an oven to remove the wax. The hollow impression, left behind by the waxes, will be filled with molten white gold through the centrifugal casting process

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Finishing the Casting

The finished cast earrings are crude and rough in texture. The jeweler is now filing and will debur the cast sections to prepare them for pre-polishing.

Preparing the Joints

Movable parts in jewelry are most prone to wear. The joints of the earrings must fit true and line up properly. Here, the jeweler is lapping the hinges to the necessary tolerances.

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Piercing the Lattice

The interior lattice of the earrings has heart shaped vents. The jeweler is assuring the vents with a hand-held flex shaft and a tapered cone bur. The earrings will now be pre-polished and assembled. The addition of lattice on a piece of fine jewelry is a finishing touch that adds beauty and conceals unattractive areas.

Joint Preparation

Now that the joints of the earrings have been pre-polished and lapped to the right tolerances, the jeweler can assemble the pin joint.

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Joint Assembly

Here, the jeweler is soldering the pin joint assembly. Any time heat is applied to hinges, care must be taken to insure that the joints do not seize.

Lattice Fit Up

With the completed hinge assembly intact, the craftsman is retrofitting our lattice sleeve in the hoop. Once the sleeve has a true fit, the earring will be soldered.

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Sleeve Assembly

In this photo, the jeweler is soldering the edge of the unset pavé dome to the lattice insert. It is critical to control heat and the flow of metal in order to insure that the two halves of the earring and the hinge work do not fuse together.

Soldering the Lattice

Here, the earring is repositioned in order to seal off the gapped metal on the earring.

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Trimming the Sleeve

Now that one segment of the earring has been sealed, the remainder of the unattached sleeve is being cut free. The remaining section will be reshaped and repositioned over the second segment of the earring. The process will then be repeated on the opposite earring.

Attaching the Posts

Here, you can see that the jeweler has finished arched posts from 18kt wire and is free handing the wires in position on the earrings.

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Preparing the Clips

In this shot, you can see the finished clip where the jeweler has undercut the receiving end of the earring and created a receptacle to secure the post at the stop point.

Stone Layout

Here, the diamond setter is seating the diamonds with a hart bur. Each prong must be undercut at a matching level to the adjacent prongs. The setter is excavating the interior of each opening to match the angles of the underside of the diamonds.

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Tightening the Stones

Now that the earrings are properly laid out and the prongs are properly seated, the stones are being placed in the mountings one at a time. After each stone is seated, a small cup-shaped pushing tool is used to snug the metal around the stone. After all of the stones are positioned and tight, the setter will reform the prongs with a beading tool to minimize their profile and create a uniform and esthetically pleasing field of diamonds.

Pavé Earring Finished

In the final illustration, you can see the fruits of our efforts. Eight different craftspeople applied their skills to the creation of this beautiful earring in our shop. These earrings and many more designs of this caliber are on display in our gallery. You can watch our artisans as they craft our beautiful jewelry when you visit our location.

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Jewelry Designs is the area’s leader in retail and manufacturing of fine diamond jewelry.
Jewelry Designs is located in Danbury, Connecticut in western Fairfield county bordering Westchester and Putnam counties on the New York state line.

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