Prong setting in jewelry: how claws hold a stone
A prong setting holds a gemstone with small metal claws, called prongs, that rise around the stone and bend over its edge. Because the metal grips the stone at only a few points, more of it shows and more light reaches it than in a setting that wraps the edge. It is also called a claw setting.
3D Jewelry Designer1 min read
Prong count and tip shape
Four prongs show more of a round stone and give it a slightly square outline. Six keep the outline round and hold the stone at more points, so one damaged prong is less likely to free it. The tips can be round, pointed, flat or V-shaped, and a V prong guards the fragile points and corners of pear, marquise and princess cuts.
Head, gallery and other settings
On a ring, the prongs belong to the head, which sits on the shank. Seen from the side, the metal under the stone is the gallery. A halo setting often prong-sets its centre stone inside a frame of small stones, while a bezel setting holds the stone in a metal rim instead.
Prongs in a CAD file
The studio detects metals, stones and prongs in an uploaded CAD file from its layer and object names, and you can override any of them. For a two-tone ring, pick Setting under Apply to in the Metals panel and give the head its own metal; see gems and metals. In the ring builder, setting is one of the choices, and the matching head loads from your published catalogue.
Questions
Do prongs need maintenance?
Yes. Prong tips wear thin and can be bent by a knock, and both can loosen the stone. A jeweller can rebuild a worn tip with new metal, which is called re-tipping.
Related
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A halo setting frames the centre stone with a border of small accent stones. How a halo is built, what it adds to a quote, and how it looks in 3D.
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