Where engineering meets craftsmanship, tension set rings never disappoint, always guaranteeing gleam and sparkle. The beauty comes from their simplicity. The floating stone design enables light to hit the stone from multiple angles, allowing it to take centre stage and show off its glistening intricacies.
Traditionally this type of setting uses harder, more rigid metals such as platinum. These harder metals can provide the necessary pressure to hold the stone in place without adding unwanted bulk to the band. This unwanted bulk can often make the gem look much smaller than it is. The metal in a tension setting is put through a process called work hardening. This process involves the metal being hammered and prepared in a way that causes the metal to become harder and with a higher yield and tensile strength.
Measurements must be perfect when creating a tension set. At Neil Rayment Goldsmith’s, we use CAD to help us in the design process to ensure that everything is just right.
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Contrary to belief, tension set rings are very secure. The floating appearance gives the impression that the stone will fall and become loose; however, the traditional tension setting takes a lot of direct force to loosen. There are ways in which you can add additional security to the ring, and that’s through a hidden bezel. The bezel not only allows for added security but opens the door for a variety of different materials, such as 18ct yellow gold. Typically deemed too weak in a traditional setting, this hidden bezel allows the customer to have more variety with the stone and material they choose.
We have designed and created two different tension set designs featuring a hidden bezel: Simplicity and Tension Set. Simplicity is a stunning 18ct yellow gold tension set ring with a champagne diamond and pave ends. This design uses a hidden bezel to allow for a softer metal such as 18ct yellow gold but with the security of a traditional tension setting. The Tension Set ring design features a 2ct round brilliant diamond on a platinum band. It’s unusual to see such a large stone in a tension setting. However, the hidden bezel adds extra security allowing the ring to have all the distinct features of a traditional tension set but with a much larger stone.
