Reading a setting

Four ways of holding a stone account for almost everything in this index, and each one solves the same problem differently: keep the stone in place, let light at it, survive being taken on and off a few hundred times.

Prong

Small metal claws bent over the edge of the stone. The least metal for the most light, which is why solitaires use it. The trade-off is that the stone sits proud and the claws catch on things. On an earring that matters less than on a ring, which is part of why prong-set studs look bigger than they measure.

Bezel

A continuous wall of metal wrapped around the girdle. Nothing catches, and the outline of the setting becomes the shape you actually see — a bezel-set radiant reads as an octagon before it reads as a stone. Less light gets in from the side, so bezels look calmer and slightly darker.

Channel

Stones dropped into a groove between two rails, touching or nearly touching. No metal between them, so a row reads as one continuous line rather than as separate stones. Best on a flat face where the groove can run straight.

Pavé

Many small stones held by tiny raised beads of metal, worked so closely that the surface reads as texture rather than as individual settings. It is the most labour per square millimetre of anything here.

None of this tells you what a piece is made of. It tells you how it will look across a room, which is usually the question you were actually asking.