GB2258601A

GB2258601A - Gemstone mounting

Info

Publication number: GB2258601A
Application number: GB9217031A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Paul Samuel Kutchinsky
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1991-08-16
Filing date: 1992-08-11
Publication date: 1993-02-17
Anticipated expiration: 2012-08-11
Also published as: GB9117753D0; GB2258601B; GB9217031D0

Abstract

An article of jewellery comprising two substantially transparent plates (11, 12) spaced apart and substantially parallel to one another, at least one gemstone (15) and a mount (20) for the gemstone (15) located between the two plates (11, 12). The mount (20) comprises a tubular body of substantially transparent material, the gemstone (15) rests upon and is supported by one end (21) of the body (20) with its culet directed towards the body's other end (22), said other end (22) of the body (20) rests upon and is supported by one (12) of the two plates (11, 12), and the other (11) of the two plates (11, 12) is closely adjacent the gemstone's main facet - opposite the culet (25) - such as to trap the gemstone (15) and prevent it from coming wholly off its mount (20). A plurality of individual mounts (20) may be provided between the same two plates (11, 12) to support a plurality of gemstones. Alternatively a single mount having a plurality of through-going apertures therein may be provided to support a plurality of gemstones between the two plates (11, 12). <IMAGE>

Description

GEMSTONE MOUNTING This invention relates to mountings for polished gemstones which term, as used herein, includes precious and semiprecious gemstones and their imitations or simulations.

It has been proposed, e.g. in GB-A-860060, to mount gemstones individually between upper and lower metal plates. It has also been proposed to mount a gemstone such that as much as possible of the gemstone, both above and below the girdle, is visible - either directly (as in GB-A2181939) or indirectly through upper and lower transparent plates (as in GB-A-2224632). Another gemstone mounting, as suggested in FR-A-2491307, is to provide the casing of the item of jewellery with a thin opaque (metal) base plate having a small diameter hole therethrough, the gemstone being mounted in the hole with its culet projecting therethrough outwardly of the casing and being retained in that position by a transparent cover plate abutting the opposite front (or main) facet of the gemstone. A disadvantage of such an arrangement is that the important culet can be easily damaged.

Moreover, none of these earlier proposals is wholly satisfactory where it is desired to minimise the time and care needed for mounting several gemstones in the one jewellery item - especially where the several gemstones are to be located in close proximity to one another, e.g. when filling the entirety of the available space - and are to be viewable from both above and below.

The terms "above" and "below" are used herein to refer to levels above or below the girdle of a polished gemstone having a vertically symmetrical attitude with its culet lowermost. However these terms are not to be construed as limited to such a specific gemstone attitude.

According to a first aspect of this invention there is provided an article of jewellery comprising two substantially transparent plates spaced apart and substantially parallel to one another, and at least one gemstone located between the two plates, characterised in that a mount for the gemstone is also -located between the two plates, said mount comprises a tubular body of substantially transparent material, said gemstone rests upon and is supported by one end of the body with its culet directed towards the body's other end, said other end of the body rests upon and is supported by one of the two plates, and the other of the two plates is closely adjacent the gemstone's main facet (opposite the culet) such as to trap the gemstone and prevent it from coming wholly off its mount.

The term "substantially transparent" as used herein refers to wholly transparent or merely translucent. The term "tubular" as used herein refers to a through-going aperture from end to end of the body, irrespective of (a) whether the cross-section of such aperture is circular or non-circular, (b) whether the cross-section of such aperture is of constant or varying cross-sectional dimension(s) as it extends from end to end, (c) whether the aperture is located symmetrically or non symmetrically with respect to the perimeter of the body, (d) whether the body is provided with a single such aperture or a plurality of such apertures.

Preferably said other plate surfacially abuts the gemstone's main facet such as to prevent the gemstone becoming dislodged.

According to a second aspect of this invention there is provided an article of jewellery comprising first and second substantially transparent plates sandwiching between them at least one gemstone and a mount therefor, and wherein said mount comprises a tubular body of substantially transparent material and said gemstone rests upon one end of the body with its culet lowermost and within the tubular body (i.e. not projecting beyond the other end of the tubular body).

Preferably said gemstone rests freely upon said one end of the body and is retained in position by said sandwiching.

The or each mount may be adhesively attached by its said other end to the plate it engages.

Alternatively or additionally, in one arrangement, a plurality of said mounts are provided and wholly fill the space available for them in the article of jewellery.

Preferably (but not essentially) all of said mounts have a gemstone mounted thereon.

The or each tubular body may be a cylinder of annular cross- section. Preferably however, the or each tubular body has a cross-section comprising a hexagonal outer perimeter and a circular inner perimeter.

The upper end of the or each tubular body - to be in use adjacent the girdle of a gemstone mounted thereon - may be flat or provided with a conical or otherwise dished recess.

Advantageously the width of the gemstone girdle is commensurate with a width of the body.

Alternatively or additionally, in another arrangement, the said mount comprises a tubular body having a plurality of through-going apertures extending therethrough from end to end and for supporting a plurality of said gemstones (which rest upon and are supported by the said one end of the body with their culets directed towards the body's other end).

Advantageously, the multi-apertured tubular body has a form commensurate with the dimensions of said plates and has said apertures all over (e.g. in a hexagonal array) such that gemstones supported thereby in effect wholly fill the space available for them in the article of jewellery. The multi-apertured tubular body may conveniently be a molding of substantially transparent, suitable plastics or rubber material, e.g. a clear silicone rubber.

According to a third aspect of this invention there is provided an article of jewellery comprising first and second substantially transparent plates sandwiching between them at least one gemstone and a mount therefor, wherein said gemstone has a girdle and a culet, and said mount comprises a tubular body of substantially transparent material, and wherein said gemstone rests upon one end of the body (a) with its culet lowermost and within the tubular body (i.e. not projecting beyond the other end of the tubular body), (b) with its girdle above and closely adjacent to said one end, and (c) with the girdle diameter substantially commensurate with a width of the body.

By way of non-limiting example, embodiments of this invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings of which: Figure la is a schematic cross-sectional view through a jewellery item according to one embodiment of this invention, Figure lb is a similar view through a modification of the jewellery item shown in Fig la.

Figure 2 is a schematic enlarged plan view of gemstone mounts of the jewellery item of Fig la, and Figure 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view through a jewellery item according to another embodiment of this invention.

The jewellery item 10 shown in Fig 1 may be a brooch, necklace pendant, watch surround, finger ring top piece, bracelet centre-piece or the like. It comprises a continuous bezel 13 of gold, platinum or other precious metal and having upper and lower rebates 14,16 cut therein.

Upper and lower transparent disc-like plates 11,12 of saphire 'glass' are fitted and secured onto the rebates 14,16 (e.g. by a UV-curing adhesive and/or an adhesive containing hydroxypropyl methacrylate and acrylic acid).

The use of a UV-curing adhesive can better provide a waterresistant seal. The two plates 11,12 encapsulate, and preferably sandwich, between them a plurality of full-cut polished diamonds 15 and mounts 20 therefor. Each mount 20 comprises a transparent tubular body of rock crystal having a cross-sectional shape defined by a hexagonal outer perimeter (six equal sides 17) and a circular inner perimeter 18. These mounts 20 may be cut off from a preprepared rod qf such form.

In the embodiment of Fig 1ss, the upper end 21 of each tubular body 20, is left plane as a radial end face. In the modification of Fig 1k, the upper end 21 of each tubular body 20 is provided with a conical seat. In either case (Fig 1 or Fig 1k), the said upper end freely supports an associated diamond 15 with its girdle 24 closely adjacent the body's upper end 21 and with its culet 25 lowermost and within the tubular body 20, i.e. not projecting beyond the lower end 22 of the body.

The dimensions of the mount and diamond are selected such that the girdle diameter is equal to or fractionally less than the width of the mount between opposite parallel sides 17. This dimension may for example closely approximate to 2.2 mm The body's lower end 22 may be attached to the upper surface of the lower plate 12 by a substantially transparent adhesive, e.g. one containing acetoxysilane-and acetic acid, so as to stop them moving about in the finished jewellery item 12. A plurality of such mounts 20 can be adhesively secured to lower plate 22 in a prearranged pattern. Alternatively, where the mounts 20 fill the entirety of the available space within the bezel 13, the mounts may simply rest upon lower plate 12 with side walls 17 of adjoining mounts abutting one another (see Fig 2), no adhesive or other fixing being required.

It will be apparent that jewellery item 10 can be assembled very quickly and by relatively unskilled labour, the diamond mounting operation merely requiring filling the available space between bezel 13 and lower plate 12 with mounts 20 - so that no adhesive is required - and dropping diamonds onto the top of the mounts 20 - again, without needing any adhesive - before closing the space with the upper plate 11. The diamonds 15 and their mounts 20 are thereby encapsulated between the plates 11 and 12, and this condition applies even if the upper plate 11 does not abut the upper main facet of each diamond (compressively to sandwich the diamonds and their mounts) but is spaced above some or all of the diamonds by a small distance.This distance must be less than the distance from mount's upper end 21 to the diamond's culet 25 if, as is usually the case, it is a requirement to prevent-the diamond coming wholly off its mount.

It will be appreciated that the tubular nature of the mounts 20, i.e. the presence of their through-going apertures, assists in allowing for the usual small differences in overall height of gemstones that, at least nominally, have the same girdle diameter (e.g. all pass through the same size sieve).

It will be apparent that, to minimise the overall height of the article of jewellery, the mounts 20 are of a uniform minimum height and such that the culet of each gemstone lies internally of the mount's aperture and closely adjacent to its bottom surface, i.e. adjacent to the lower plate 12.

It will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to the above-described and illustrated embodiment, and that other embodiments and modifications can be readily devised by those skilled in this art without departing from the intended scope and ambit of the present invention. Thus, for example, instead of the tubular mount 20 having a hexagonal outer perimeter and a circular inner perimeter, it may have any other desired and suitable cross-sectional shape. For example, the mount 20 may be cylindrical and have an annular cross-section.

In another modification a layer of substantially transparent adhesive, e.g. one containing acetoxysilane and acetic acid, may be interposed between the upper end 21 of each mount 20 and each diamond 15 mounted thereon.

It will be further appreciated that the gemstones employed need not all be of the same kind. Thus diamonds and/or other precious gemstones and/or semi-precious gemstones (and/or imitations or simulations of any of them) can be freely (or adhesively) mounted on the transparent or translucent mounts.

In still another embodiment of this invention, which is illustrated in Fig 3, the plurality of gemstone mounts 20 of Figs la,lk and 2 are pre-formed as a single integral unit 120 of substantially transparent material whereby the mount comprises a single tubular body having a plurality of through-going apertures 125 extending therethrough from end to end. The unitary, multi-apertured tubular body 120 may have a form commensurate with the dimensions of the plates 11,12 or have a generally hexagonal shape fitting within the plate dimensions (e.g. where the latter are circular).

In either case, the unitary, multi-apertured tubular body 120 has its plurality of through-going apertures 125 disposed all over its upper surface 121, e.g. in a multiline hexagonal array. In this way, gemstones 15 can rest upon and be supported by the upper ends of the apertures with the culets of the gemstones directed downwardly inside the apertures and towards the latters' lower ends (i.e. the body's lower surface); and these gemstones can in effect wholly fill all, or the substantial majority, of the space available for them in the article of jewellery.

The apertures 125 may have a circular cross-section of uniform diameter throughout their height so that the said upper ends of the apertures are defined by the arrises formed by those uniform diameter apertures and the upper surface 121 of the multi-apertured unitary body.

Alternatively, and as shown in Fig 3, the apertures 125 may comprise a lower section having a circular cross-section of uniform diameter throughout, and an upper section having an inverted conical form which provides the said upper ends of the apertures that are supportive of the gemstones 15.

The multi-apertured tubular body 120 may conveniently be a molding of a suitable plastics material, e.g. clear silicone rubber. The use of a soft, slightly pliable and resilient, material for the multi-apertured tubular mount facilitates the use of gemstones having larger manufacturing tolerances, e.g. it permits the use of gemstones having girdle diameter variations and, even where these are broadly uniform, having variations in their overall height and/or their culet angle.

It will be appreciated that the above-described embodiments of the invention (and the above-described modifications thereof) each enable an article of jewellery to be provided which can display a plurality of gemstones disposed closely-adjacent to one another - potentially in peripheral engagement with one another - without displaying any prongs or claws or peened-over metal as is usually required when mounting gemstones.

Other modifications and embodiments of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in this art. All such modifications and embodiments are to be deemed within the ambit and scope of the invention, and the invention is not to be deemed limited to the particular embodiment(s) hereinbefore described which may be varied in construction and detail without departing from the scope of the patent monopoly hereby sought.

Claims

1. An article of jewellery comprising two substantially transparent plates spaced apart and substantially parallel to one another, and at least one gemstone located between the two plates, characterised in that a mount for the gemstone is also located between the two plates, said mount comprises a tubular body of substantially transparent material, said gemstone rests upon and is supported by one end of the body with its culet directed towards the body's other end, said other end of the body rests upon and is supported by one of the two plates, and the other of the two plates is closely adjacent the gemstone's main facet (opposite the culet) such as to trap the gemstone and prevent it from coming wholly off its mount.

2. An article of jewellery according to Claim 1, wherein said other plate surfacially abuts the gemstone's main facet such as to prevent the gemstone becoming dislodged.

3. An article of jewellery comprising first and second substantially transparent plates sandwiching between them at least one gemstone and a mount therefor, charcterised in that said mount comprises a tubular body of substantially transparent material and said gemstone rests upon one end of the body with its culet lowermost and within the tubular body (i.e. not projecting beyond the other end of the tubular body).

4. An article of jewellery according to Claim 3, wherein said gemstone rests freely upon said one end of the body and is retained in position by said sandwiching.

5. An article of jewellery according to any one of Claims 1 to 4, wherein the or each mount is adhesively attached by its said other end to the plate it engages.

6. An article of jewellery according to any one of Claims 1 to 5, wherein the tubular body is a cylinder of annular cross-section.

7. An article of jewellery according to any one of Claims 1 to 5, wherein the tubular body has a cross-section comprising a hexagonal outer perimeter and a circular inner perimeter.

8. An article of jewellery according to any one of Claims 1 to 7, wherein the upper end of the tubular body - to be in use adjacent the girdle of a gemstone mounted thereon is constituted by a flat surface.

9. An article of jewellery according to any one of Claims 1 to 7, wherein the upper end of the tubular body - to be in use adjacent the girdle of a gemstone mounted thereon comprises a conical or otherwise dished recess.

10. An article of jewellery according to any one of Claims 1 to 9, wherein the width of the gemstone girdle is commensurate with a width of the body.

11. An article of jewellery according to any one of Claims 1 to 10, wherein a plurality of said mounts are provided and wholly fill the space available for them in the article of jewellery.

12. An article of jewellery according to Claim 11, wherein all of said mounts have a gemstone mounted thereon.

13. An article of jewellery according to any one of Claims 1 to 10, wherein the said mount comprises a tubular body having a plurality of through-going apertures extending therethrough from end to end and for supporting a plurality of said gemstones (which rest upon and are supported by the said one end of the body with their culets directed towards the body's other end and located internally of the apertures).

14. An article of jewellery according to Claim 13, wherein the multi-apertured tubular body has a form commensurate with the dimensions of said plates and has said apertures all over such that gemstones supported thereby in effect wholly fill the space available for them in the article of jewellery.

15. An article of jewellery according to Claim 14 wherein said apertures are arranged in a multi-lined hexagonal array.

16. An article of jewellery according to Claim 14 or Claim 15, wherein the multi-apertured tubular body comprises a molding of suitable plastics material, e.g. a silicone rubber.

17. An article of jewellery comprising first and second substantially transparent plates sandwiching between them at least one gemstone and a mount therefor, wherein said gemstone has a girdle and a culet, and said mount comprises a tubular body of substantially transparent material, and wherein said gemstone rests upon one end of the body (a) with its culet lowermost and within the tubular body (i.e. not projecting beyond the other end of the tubular body), (b) with its girdle above and closely adjacent to said one end, and (c) with the girdle diameter substantially commensurate with a width of the body.