Podcast: Tips for Working with Gemstones

Tips for Working with Gemstones

with Joel McFadden

Airdate: January 18, 2022

Breaking or damaging a gemstone is every stone setter’s worst nightmare. In this podcast, jeweler Joel McFadden, a renowned setter and frequent contributor to MJSA Journal, shares insights and techniques that can keep a gemstone intact and securely set—and a customer happy.

Watch Video • Listen Online • Highlights • Show Notes & Links

Custom Jeweler Joel McFadden

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This podcast can also be downloaded and streamed on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.


Podcast Highlights


  • 01:42 – Why most jewelers lack training in setting colored gemstones
  • 03:20 – Hammer and anvil setting for diamonds
  • 04:08 – Prong tipping repairs and the risks to colored stones
  • 05:15 – Why you need to cut a seat that precisely matches the stone with which you’re working.
  • 07:30 – Handling gemstones at the bench/keeping stones damage-free.
  • 09:20 – Gemstone hardness/The Mohs Hardness Scale
  • 10:30 – Using brass and stainless steel tools, including fork tine burnishers and ebony tools to work on delicate gems
  • 10:55 – Working with apatite
  • 11:22 – Understanding shape hardness and fracturing risk of diamonds and gemstones
  • 12:25 – Working with emeralds/importance of identifying inclusions, shearing lines, and potential problem spots
  • 13:30 – Setting methods/vector tightening
  • 16:05 – Memorable blunders/learning from your mistakes
  • 18:34 – How to improve your skills for working with gemstones/sharing knowledge and asking for help

Show Notes