I was fourteen when I started going to my uncle’s workshop. He was a setter, like most of the guys in my family. I used to come and see him on Wednesday afternoons. He would tell me to sit next to him and I would watch him. After a few weeks, he gave me some small stones to crimp to see how I did. When I was sixteen, I became his apprentice. That’s how I started. And then I went to school, you know. So, in the end, it was good timing. Right now, I’m working on a ring with an emerald setting. It’s a bead setting. But first I work with diamonds. Emeralds are too fragile, I would risk damaging them. And then I learned like this. I prepare my setting, I release the beads as if I were setting diamonds. Then I would loosen all the stones and set the emeralds. And I might bead the beads and do the finishing touches. It takes much longer, but you’ll see, it will be beautiful in the end.
C., setter for 25 years
A cheeky diamond
This anecdote - which ends well - was told to me by a friend. She agreed to let me publish it here. And I thank her for it because, as you will see, this story is really incredible! The story takes place a good ten years ago now. I...