When the going gets tough, the tough get creative! This bangle was supposed to have six set stones. The bangle, made from 18 gauge sterling silver strip wire, had been hammer textured, six bezels had been soldered onto the band, it had been darkened using Liver of Sufur, and I'd already set two freeform rose cut Aqua Marine and Citrine gemstones. Everything was going so smoothly until the tourmaline gemstone I was setting into the third bezel cracked. I looked through my stash for another stone that might fit and found one that was close enough in size, but extremely delicate and thin. To accommodate the stone, I filed the bezel to a very shallow depth. So far, so good I thought. I picked up the tiny stone and "Butterfingers" me...it literally flew from my hand. I looked high and low, but like a needle in a haystack, I have no idea where it landed and I gave up after searching for an hour. Since I'd already set the other two stones, I couldn't solder a new bezel onto the bangle.Back to the drawing board! Fortunately the shape of the the filed down bezel would
accommodate something fairly round. After contemplating several ideas, my solution was to cut out a small circular disc from 24 gauge bronze sheet and then hammer it into a domed shape. With some filing and sanding along the edge of the bronze, it fit into the shallow bezel perfectly! Fortunately, setting the remaining 3mm round stones went without any glitches and I'm really pleased with the results. In fact, I think I like the bronze dome better than the original stone I had intended to use!
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