GB2270458A

GB2270458A - Claw setting

Info

Publication number: GB2270458A
Application number: GB9216421A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Michael Lamb
Original assignee: T A DURANT Ltd
Current assignee: T A DURANT Ltd
Priority date: 1992-08-01
Filing date: 1992-08-01
Publication date: 1994-03-16
Anticipated expiration: 2012-08-01
Also published as: GB9610445D0; GB9216421D0; GB2298566B; GB2270458B; GB2298566A; GB2270458C

Abstract

A ring 1 has a basket claw setting 2 for a diamond. The claw setting 2 has annular base 2b adjoining and integral with claws 2a. The upper surface of base 2b is diamond cut to provide a highly mirrored, facetted surface in order to enhance the brilliance of the diamond. In a further embodiment (figure 9, not shown) of the invention the diamond is first set into a diamond cut illusion disc or annulus (105), which disc or annulus is mounted into the claws. <IMAGE>

Description

JEWELLERY This invention relates to an item of jewellery and more particularly to a gemstone claw setting and method of setting a gemstone.

In prior art arrangements, gemstones, for example diamonds, are mounted into claw settings (for example basket claw settings) in a variety of ways in order to provide a pleasing appearance. Such claw settings frequently occur on rings. Attempts have been made to enhance the appearance or brilliance of the gemstone by the inclusion of a mirrored illusion disc or annulus extending around the periphery of the gemstone in order to provide a myriad of reflective surfaces or facets which complement and enhance the general facetted appearance of the gemstone creating an overall illusion of a larger and/or brilliant gemstone. In such arrangements it tends to be disadvantageous that the illusion disc or annulus has to be soldered into the claws of the setting prior to the setting of the diamond in the claw setting with illusion disc.Once the gemstone has been set into the illusion disc (usually by a known setting method such as grain-setting) the upper surface of the illusion disc or annulus needs to be diamond cut in order to give the required highly mirrored surface. Also, the act of soldering the disc/annulus in position tends to dull the surface thereof. Merely polishing the surface would not provide the required degree of surface reflectivity. In order to achieve this object the projecting ends of the claws are necessarily removed during the diamond cutting operation and it is believed that this detracts considerably from the overall appearance of the finished item.In claw settings of this nature where there is no illusion disc, -in which the gemstone is set directly into the claws, the ends of the claws are naturally visible and, therefore, an appearance which does not conform to this may effectively destroy the illusion that is to be striven after. Where an illusion disc is involved, since the gemstone is set into the disc itself after the disc has been soldered to the claws, it is no longer functionally necessary for the projecting ends of the claws to be present as would be the case if the gemstone were set directly into the claws. Quite apart from the effect that the projecting ends of the claws have on the appearance of the gemstone setting, it is believed that the appearance of the gemstone itself can be still further enhanced.

Moreover, where a gemstone is set directly into the claws of a claw setting, rather than into an illusion disc soldered into the claw setting, it is believed that the appearance of the gemstone may still be enhanced.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a claw setting for a gemstone, in which the appearance of the gemstone is enhanced in an improved way and/or to alleviate one or more of the aforementioned or other, disadvantages associated with claw settings and/or illusions.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a claw setting for a gemstone, said claw setting being provided with a (diamond cut) mirrored surface extending, in use, underneath an upper portion of the gemstone.

Further according to this aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of making a claw setting for a gemstone comprising mirror finishing, preferably by diamond cutting, a surface of the setting which extends, in use, underneath an upper portion of the gemstone.

Preferably, the mirrored surface comprises a plurality of facets and these may be chosen to match or complement the facet pattern of the gemstone itself. The mirrored surface and claw setting will usually be of precious metal e.g. 9, 14 or 18 carat gold or platinum.

In one embodiment, the adjacent facets are arranged at 1600 angles to one another. It is possible for different varieties of patterns to be employed and said mirrored surface could, in fact, be flat if desired. Nevertheless, it is believed that a facetted mirror surface would more greatly enhance the appearance of a gemstone than a flat surface. The mirrored surface will usually be provided on the upper surface of a mounting base of a claw setting, which base will usually be provided with a central hole receiving or supporting the lower portion or culet of the gemstone.

In one embodiment according to this aspect of the present invention, the gemstone itself is mounted directly into claws above the mirrored surface but in a second embodiment the gemstone may be mounted into an illusion disc or annulus, which disc or annulus is soldered or mounted into the claws above said mirrored surface. The surface of the illusion disc is preferably, highly reflective and may be diamond cut and may be facetted.

Most preferably, the gemstone is mounted into the illusion disc or annulus and then the annulus is mounted into the claw setting (not soldered thereto). Thus, the surface of the illusion disc may be diamond cut before it is set into the claw setting. The combination of illusion disc/annulus and mirrored surface underneath the gemstone provides, advantageously, a double reflective enhancement illusion for the gemstone. The height of the illusion disc/annulus above the mirrored surface may be chosen to suit to provide seemingly optimum enhancement of the gemstone.

According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided an item of jewellery comprising a claw setting provided with an illusion disc or annulus surrounding a gemstone and said illusion disc or annulus being set into the claw setting by a nonsoldering process.

The illusion disc will usually be of precious metal e.g. 9, 14 or 18 carat gold or platinum.

Further according to this aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of making an item of jewellery, said method comprising mounting a gemstone into an illusion disc/annulus and setting the illusion disc/annulus into a claw setting of said item.

Preferably, the claw setting has a mounting base for receiving or supporting the lower portion or culet of the gemstone and an upper surface of said base is, preferably, mirrored and may be facetted. Preferably the illusion disc or annulus has a mirrored surface, preferably comprising a plurality of facets which may be chosen to match or complement the facet pattern of the gemstone itself (the pattern may be star-shaped). The mirrored surface could in fact be flat, textured or otherwise surface configured or contoured, but it is believed that a facetted mirror surface would more greatly enhance the appearance of a gemstone.

The gemstone will usually be a diamond and usually no adhesive will be used for securing the gemstone and/or illusion disc since it is believed this will tend to detract from the overall appearance.

Further according to the present invention there is provided an item of jewellery comprising a claw setting provided with a gemstone set into an illusion disc or annulus, said setting having projecting claw ends.

Preferably, the illusion disc/annulus is diamond cut It is an advantage of embodiments of the present invention that a gemstone e.g. a diamond may be enhanced to appear very much bigger and brighter than would otherwise be the case. For example a 50 pointer diamond may appear like a one and a half carat diamond.

Two embodiments of an item of jewellery having a gemstone claw setting and method of setting a gemstone in accordance with the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: FIGURE 1 shows a front elevation of a diamond ring including a first embodiment of the claw setting; FIGURE 2 shows a side elevation of the ring; FIGURE 3 shows a plan view of the ring; FIGURE 4 shows a fragmentary cross sectional view of the ring taken on line IV-IV of FIGURE 2; FIGURE 5 shows a plan view of the ring with diamond removed; FIGURE 6 shows a view of the ring which is similar to FIGURE 1 but which includes an alternative embodiment of the claw setting in accordance with the present invention; FIGURE 7 shows a side elevation of the ring shown in FIGURE 6; FIGURE 8 shows a plan view of the ring shown in FIGURE 6;; FIGURE 9 shows a fragmentary cross sectional view taken on the line IX - IX of FIGURE 7; FIGURE 10 shows a plan view of the ring shown in FIGURE 6 with diamond removed; FIGURE 11 shows a side view of a rod including partly formed illusion discs/annuli, and FIGURE 12 shows a perspective view of the rod.

Referring to FIGURES 1 to 5 of the present invention, a ring 1 has a basket claw setting 2 for a gemstone 3 in the forum of a diamond. The precise form and configuration of the claw setting itself is not essential to the present invention and the diamond 3 itself is mounted into the claws 2a of the claw setting in a manner which is known in itself.

The claw setting 2 has an annular base 2b adjoining and integral with the claws 2a and of maximum depth X as shown. The upper surface of the base 2b has been diamond cut to provide a highly mirrored, facetted surface Y extending around the axis of the annular base as shown more particularly in FIGURE 5. The facets of the surface Y are cut approximately radially in between the claws 2a and each facet extends all the way across the annular base 2b. Advantageously, adjoining facets of the facetted surface Y are angled at approximately 1600 to one another and it is believed that this shallow angle provides an appropriate enhancement to the brilliance of the diamond as shown. It is conceivable that other facetted patterns may be employed at different angles.Alternatively, a flat (or otherwise configured) highly mirrored surface could be provided but it is believed this would not enhance the appearance of the stone as well as the facetted configuration. Additionally, it is important that the surface Y itself is diamond cut to provide the required degree of reflection and this operation has to be done without contacting the claws 2a. Simply polishing the surface would provide nowhere near the improvement in appearance. In order to diamond cut the surface Y, the head of the diamond cutting tool (not shown) has had to be specially made with a thin elongate head in order to cut inbetween the claws without shearing same. Other configurations of claw setting are possible and the number of claws and facets may be varied to suit. The gemstone 3 itself is set into the claws 2a by conventional means.In practice the highly mirrored facetted surface Y increases the brilliance of the diamond 3 by a very marked degree but it is believed that the second embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIGURES 6 to 10, still further enhances the appearance of the gemstone to an even greater degree, in a manner which will now be described.

Referring to FIGURES 6 to 10, a ring 100 has a basket claw setting 101 of similar shape to that of ring 1 and is also provided with a base 102 similar to base 2b of ring 1. However, ring 100 does not have a gemstone set directly into the claws 103 of the setting. Instead, a gemstone 104 is set (for example by grain setting) into an illusion disc or annulus 105 prior to the diamond 104 being set into the claws 103 of the basket setting 101.

In fact, it is the annulus or disc 105 which is set directly into the claws 103, the claws themselves do not grip the diamond 104.

Previously, it has been known to use an illusion disc or annulus in combination with a gemstone but the illusion disc is soldered into the claws prior to the gemstone being set into the illusion disc/annulus. The illusion disc is then diamond cut and this process necessarily shears the ends of the claws leaving an appearance which is not wholly -satisfactory and which does not closely mimic the appearance of the diamond itself being set into the claws.

As aforementioned, the act of soldering the illusion disc into the claws itself tends to be disadvantageous since the surface of the disc is dulled by the soldering.

In the present case, in ring 100 the surface of the illusion disc 105 can be diamond cut in a mirror facetted manner before the diamond is set therein and special jigs have been developed to hold the illusion disc during the grain setting operation.

Thus, the ring 100 closely mimics the appearance of the diamond 104 being set directly into the claws 103, has a marked increase in brilliance due to the diamond cut illusion disc/annulus 105 and, in the embodiment shown, is doubly enhanced since there is also provided the lower mirror facetted surface 102a adding another very significant contribution to the enhancement of the appearance of the gemstone.

The result is a greatly improved appearance, so much so that the diamond ring 100 itself may have the appearance of a ring that costs five to ten times the usual retail price.

The illusion disc/annulus 105 itself may be made in a number of different ways and one way is to cut individual discs from a solid rod as shown in FIGURES 11 and 12.

FIGURE 11 shows a side view of the rod 200 with a row of integral partly formed illusion discs 201 and the free end E of the adjoined discs is diamond cut into a generally star-shaped facetted pattern. Individual discs 201 can be cut from the rod 200 and the new end E diamond cut each time before cutting the next successive disc 201 from the rod. A central hole needs to be cut in the illusion disc 201 to receive a gemstone of appropriate size.

It is to be understood that the scope of the present invention is not to be unduly limited by the particular choice of terminology and a specific term may be replaced by any equivalent or generic term. For example, the term "mirrored" could be replaced by "reflective". Further it is to be understood that individual features, methods or functions related to the gemstone setting or illusion disc/annulus or mirrored base might be individually patentably inventive. The singular may include the plural and vice versa.

Claims

1. A claw setting for a gemstone, said claw setting being provided with a mirrored or reflective surface extending, in use, underneath an upper portion of the gemstone.

2. A claw setting as claimed in Claim 1 in which the mirrored or reflective surface comprises a plurality of facets.

3. A claw setting as claimed in Claim 2 in which the facets match or complement the facet pattern of the gemstone itself.

4. A claw setting as claimed in Claim 2 or Claim 3 in which adjacent facets are arranged at 160C angles to one another.

5. A claw setting as claimed in Claim 1 in which said mirror or reflective surface is flat.

6. A claw setting as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the mirrored or reflective surface and claw setting are of precious metal.

7. A claw setting as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the mirrored or reflective surface is provided on the upper surface of a mounting base of the claw setting.

8. A claw setting as claimed in Claim 7 in which said base is provided with a central hole for receiving or supporting a lower portion or culet of the gemstone.

9. A claw setting as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, adapted for the gemstone itself to be mounted directly into claws above the mirrored or reflective surface.

10. A claw setting as claimed in any one of the Claims 1 to 8 in which the gemstone is, in use, mounted into an illusion disc or annulus, which disc or annulus is soldered or mounted into the claws above said mirrored/reflective surface.

11. A claw setting as claimed in Claim 10 in which the surface of the illusion disc is highly reflective.

12. A claw setting as claimed in Claim 11 in which the illusion disc is diamond cut.

13. A claw setting as claimed in any one of Claims 10 to 12 in which the illusion disc is facetted.

14. A method of making a claw setting for a gemstone comprising mirror or reflective finishing, preferably by diamond cutting, a surface of the setting which extends, in use, underneath an upper portion of the gemstone.

15. A method as claimed in Claim 14 in which the mirrored or reflective surface comprises a plurality of facets chosen to match or complement the facet pattern of the gemstone itself.

16. A method as claimed in Claim 15 in which adjacent facets are arranged at 160O angles to one another.

17. A method as claimed in Claim 14 in which said reflective or mirrored surface is flat.

18. A method as claimed in any one of Claims 14 to 17 in which the mirrored or reflective surface and claw setting are of precious metal.

19. A method as claimed in any one of Claims 14 to 18 in which the mirrored or relective surface is provided on the upper surface of a mounting base of a claw setting.

20. A method as claimed in Claim 19 in which the base is provided with a central hole for receiving or supporting the lower portion or culet of the gemstone.

21. A method as claimed in any one of Claims 14 to 20 in which the gemstone itself is mounted directly into claws above the mirrored surface.

22. A method as claimed in any one of Claims 14 to 20 in which the gemstone is mounted into an illusion disc or annulus, which disc or annulus is soldered or mounted into the claws above said mirrored or reflective surface.

23. A method as claimed in Claim 22 in which the surface of the illusion disc is highly reflective.

24. A method as claimed in Claim 23 in which the illusion disc/annulus is diamond cut.

25. A method as claimed in any one of claims 22 to 24 in which the illusion disc/annulus is facetted.

26. A method as claimed in any one of Claims 22 to 25 in which the gemstone is mounted into the illusion disc or annulus and then the disc/annulus is mounted into the claw setting by a non-soldering process.

27. A method as claimed in Claim 26 when dependent from Claim 24 in which the surface of the illusion disc is diamond cut before it is set into the claw setting.

28. A claw setting for a gemstone substantially as herein described with reference to FIGURES 1 to 5, or FIGURES 6 to 10 of the accompanying drawings.

29. A method as claimed in Claim 14 and substantially as herein described with reference to FIGURES 1 to 5, or FIGURES 6 to 10 of the accompanying drawings.

30. An item of jewellery comprising a claw setting provided with an illusion disc or annulus surrounding a gemstone and said illusion disc or annulus being set into the claw setting by a non-soldering process.

31. An item as claimed in Claim 30 in which the illusion disc is of precious metal.

32. An item as claimed in Claim 30 or 31 in which the claw setting has a mounting base for receiving or supporting the lower portion or culet of the gemstone.

33. An item as claimed in Claim 32 in which an upper surface of said base is reflective or mirrored.

34. An item as claimed in Claim 32 or 33 in which said base is facetted.

35. An item as claimed in any one of claims 30 to 34 in which the illusion disc or annulus has a mirrored or reflective surface.

36. An item as claimed in Claim 35 in which the disc or annulus comprises a plurality of facets.

37. An item as claimed in Claim 35 in which the mirrored or reflective surface of the disc or annulus is flat or textured.

38. An item as claimed in any one of Claims 30 to 37 in which the gemstone is a diamond.

39. An item as claimed in any one of Claims 30 to 38 in which no adhesive is used for securing the gemstone and/or illusion disc/annulus.

40. An item of jewellery substantially as herein described with reference to FIGURES 1 to 5, or FIGURES 6 to 10 of the accompanying drawings.

41. A method of making an item of jewellery, said method comprising mounting a gemstone into an illusion disc/annulus and setting the illusion disc/annulus into a claw setting of said item.

42. A method as claimed in Claim 41 in which the claw setting has a mounting base for receiving or supporting the lower portion or culet of the gemstone.

43. A method as claimed in Claim 42 in which an upper surface of said base is reflective or mirrored.

44. A method as claimed in Clain 42 or 43 in which said base is facetted.

45. A method as claimed in any one of Claims 41 to 44 in which the illusion disc or annulus has a mirrored surface.

46. A method as claimed in Claim 45 in which the disc or annulus comprises a plurality of facets chosen to match or complement the facet pattern of the gemstone itself.

47. A method as claimed in Claim 46 in which the pattern is star-shaped.

48. A method as claimed in Claim 45 in which the mirrored surface is flat or textured.

49. A method as claimed in Claim 41 and substantially as herein described with reference to FIGURES 1 to 5 or 6 to 12 of the accompanying drawings.

50. A method as claimed in any one of Claims 41 to 49 in which no adhesive will be used for securing the gemstone and/or illusion disc.

51. An item of jewellery comprising a claw setting provided with a gemstone set into an illusion disc or annulus, said setting having projecting claw ends.

52. An item as claimed in Claim 50 in which the illusion disc/annulus is diamond cut.

53. An item of jewellery comprising a claw setting provided with a double mirrored or reflective enhancement at different height levels, in use, relative to a gemstone.