Tutorial: How to Set Vintage Rhinestones in Pronged Settings

Here are some basic tips for setting a pointed back rhinestone into a pronged setting.  We offer many vintage rhinestones and antiqued brass prong settings at Bumbershoot Supplies, and it is so satisfying and fun to set these vintage jewels and quickly create dangles, earrings, pendants, embellishments for jewelry and mixed media art.

You will need:

pointed back rhinestones

pronged settings to fit the rhinestones, with open or closed backs

wide flat nosed pliers

And perhaps: pointed flat note pliers, wire cutters (to address mistakes, see below)

There are also special prong setting tools, but I can’t speak about those since I don’t own one. I use the pliers shown.

1) Place the stone so it is sitting level in the setting. Ideally the edge of the stone will be just above the top of the setting. This sounds straightforward, but it is not always easy to fit vintage rhinestones into contemporary settings, even when both are supposedly the same size. You may need to open the prongs a bit, bending them gently out and away from the center of the setting. See tips section below for more on this process.

2) Firmly hold the stone in place with your thumb and index finger of your nondominant hand. Depending on the size of the stone and your thumb, yes, the prongs will stick into your finger a bit. Hold the stone in the middle so it stays balanced in the setting.

3) While continuing to hold the stone firmly, push down each prong with the wide flat nosed pliers. It is important to hold the stone firmly so it doesn’t slide or move around while you are setting it. I like to get each of the prongs (often 4 total) down and then go around again to tighten them.

Some Additional Tips:

1) Be careful if working with open backed settings so the back side of your pliers does not scratch the back of your stone.

2) Sometimes to fit a vintage rhinestone into a setting, you may need to open the prongs a bit, bending them gently out and away from the center of the setting. It’s sort of like hyper extending the prong. If you need to do this, go slowly and gently. Open all 4 prongs just a bit, see how the stone fits, then repeat. You want to manipulate the prongs as little as possible so they don’t weaken. You may even have to do this with rhinestones that come from the same lot – one may fit the settings just fine, the other may require more manipulation.

3) Don’t press too hard on the prongs first time around. You can chip and even break stones by pressing too hard, not that I would know anything about this personally, of course… :)

4) Try pushing prongs down on the diagonal. Often there are 4 prongs in a setting. Start pushing down one prong, then do the one diagonally opposite it, then finish with the last 2 prongs. This can help hold the stone level in the setting.

5) With practice, you will find the motion to push those prongs down. It’s sort of a rolling motion, with the pliers positioned towards the base of the prong, and the movement is pressing forward and down.

6) When you are learning to set stones, and even when you have been setting them for years, settings can get scratched, stones can slip and sit crookedly in settings and so on. In these circumstances, you may want to start over and reset your rhinestone in a new setting. I am told that a special prong setting and lifting tool works for lifting prongs up so you can reposition the stone to reset it. But like I said, I don't have one of those tools, so here is what I do: Sometimes I use a pair of narrow, pointed flat nosed pliers to lift the prongs enough to remove the stone and start again. Sometimes I actually use wire cutters to clip the prongs at the base where the prong attaches to the setting, in order to remove the prongs so I can get the stone out. I use just the tip of the cutters and go slowly so as not to scratch or cut the stone. My default is always “save the stone”. The reason I often decide to sacrifice the setting when my stone goes in crooked is because with repeated opening and closing, the prongs weaken and can snap. If you are repairing or replacing stones in a piece of costume jewelry, of course you must work with the existing setting. Otherwise it’s your decision: you can try to reuse the setting, or you can sacrifice it and start anew.

7) When you are learning, expect to lose a few settings and stones. There is nothing like practice to improve your ability to set all shapes and sizes of rhinestones in all kinds of settings. But no matter your level of experience, you will occasionally scratch settings, chip stones, have to reset stones, and so on. Be sure to have enough patience and supplies on hand to account for these occurrences.

8) If I want to be particularly careful when setting a stone, I use a small piece of quilting cotton and press the prongs down using the cotton as a barrier between my pliers and the setting. This takes a bit of practice, since you can’t see the setting as well, but it can decrease the chance of scratches to the setting and to the back of the stone if you are using open backed settings.

When I was teaching my daughter Emma to do this:

1) We started with octagon stones in the 10x8mm size. The octagons are essentially rectangles with rounded corners and they give the eye a direction for where the prongs ought to go. Plus you are pressing a straight edge (the prong) against another straight edge (the stone). Emma also found this size to fit easily with her thumbs and fingers.

2) It may be counter intuitive, but I taught Emma using the more expensive stones – she actually learned on vintage machine cut Swarovski crystal stones, such as the green turmaline shown above. This is because these stones are so precisely cut that they fit really well into contemporary settings, unlike many other vintage rhinestones that are more roughly molded and may require some finesse and patience to set.

3) One thing to consider is using raw brass settings for practice stone setting. I do not recommend using raw brass for most jewelry designs for various reasons (and that is the subject of another upcoming blog post) but raw brass settings are the least expensive to purchase and may be a good choice for practice – sometimes you can feel a bit better about gaining experience when it costs a bit less. If you don’t want to use raw brass settings in your jewelry, you can just plan on removing the stones from the settings after you’ve practiced with them.

We did have to throw away a few settings, but using stones and settings that fit well together, and using the octagon shape, Emma was setting stones in no time – literally within minutes.

And if you want something even easier, at Bumbershoot Supplies, you will find a small number of glue-in settings designed specifically for larger pear and oval pointed back rhinestones. If you choose to glue-in instead, there is a tips for gluing tutorial on my blog, here.

Many thanks to Emma for serving as demonstrator for this post!

And here is what we did with these rhinestones:

Tutorial: How to Seal Vintage Glass Pearls

We carry many vintage glass pearls at Bumbershoot Supplies and I love to use vintage glass pearls in my designs for Bumbershoot Designs. Our glass pearls encompass a large age range, from 1930's to 1940's all the way up to the 1970's.  Some of the older glass pearls are in remarkable condition for their age.

Others are beginning to show signs of wear in their pearly coating.  However for many designs, this natural aging may be exactly the look and feel that is desired. 

Vintage glass pearls can be expected to continue to age with time, and will continue to wear as they rub against the skin and fabric, jangle against other beads, and so on.

To protect vintage glass pearls, and to slow the aging process, I recommend sealing them. This is a simple process involving spraying the glass pearls with an acrylic sealant and allowing them to dry. 

Here's how I do it: 

I ensure my glass pearls are clean and dry. (I'll be posting soon on tips for cleaning vintage glass pearls and beads...)

Then, I go outside with my spray sealer, and some parchment paper. Waxed paper would work just as well. You definitely want a paper with a non stick surface.  Lay the glass pearls on the paper and give them a spray with your sealer until they are covered.  Let them dry completely.

Which sealant you use depends on what is available to you and the look you are interested in. I have tried 2 types: matte and glossy.  The glossy gives a glass-like finish, and is a thicker and stickier product. I've cut some squares from the parchment paper the pearls were on when I sprayed them, and you can see the resin-like effect of the glossy sealant on the parchment paper. 

I prefer to use matte sealant.  Matte does not dull the finish of the glass pearls, it dries more quickly than the glossy, and to my eyes and fingers, the sealed pearl is just a touch closer in appearance to the original finish compared to the glossy. But it's just personal preference, I have used both effectively.

This photo shows, from left to right, unsealed, matte sealed, glossy sealed. 

There's not an obvious difference, as you can see.

A Few Tips:

• I always do this outside. Always. Even here in the often rainy and damp Pacific Northwest, I wait for a dry day, not too windy.  I stand downwind. I don't wear a respirator, but you certainly could. When I used to live in an apartment, I'd do this sort of work in the parking lot away from any vehicles, and then carefully carry my items back into my apartment, letting them dry near an open window so the fumes could disperse.  I have some old cookie sheets I use for these kinds of purposes: parchment or waxed paper fits well on them and sheets with a rim are great for carrying round items that can roll.
• If it is a bit windy, use some rocks or stones to hold down the edges of your parchment paper so it doesn't blow into your pearls.
• Use a nonstick paper, like waxed paper or parchment paper. If you put your pearls onto regular paper or newspaper, your pearls might end up sticking to the paper.
• I wait for the pearls to dry completely then turn them over for a spray on the other side. The matte sealer does not take long to dry. The glossy sealer takes longer.
• Once dry, I let my pearls sit overnight or at least for several hours to allow the last whiffs of the sealant to completely disappear.
• Finally, use your sealed pearls to make something beautiful!
• Caveat: I only use this process with loose vintage glass pearls that I intend to use in my designs. I would never use this process with a strand of vintage glass pearls, or with real pearls, or with jewelry of any kind or age.  

I hope this is helpful. Feel free to let me know how it works for you.

If you have any questions, just ask.

How to Remove Foil Backing from Vintage Glass Rhinestones and Cabochons

We stock many beautiful vintage glass rhinestones and vintage glass cabochons at Bumbershoot Supplies.  However, when purchasing for Bumbershoot Supplies, or for the designs you see in Bumbershoot Designs, we receive many vintage glass rhinestones and cabochons that are not always so beautiful.  When vintage rhinestones and glass cabochons, and even glass buttons that have foil backs get old, they can get scratches and dings in the foil. 

This can vary in degree and in more dramatic cases, can be apparent from the front of the piece, as you look through the glass.

Also, sometimes the foil backs of these items can look just fine, but when you look through the glass, you will see cloudiness. 

In this very large topaz rhinestone from 1950's West Germany, what you are seeing is cloudiness at the point of attachment of the foil backing to the glass, part of the natural aging process of foil backed vintage rhinestones and cabochons.

Sometimes this time-related aging, the cloudiness and/or a bit of scratching and dings are absolutely the effect you'd like for a vintage, time worn look, or you can figure out how to work with them in your art and designs.  However, if you don't want these signs of age, you can always try removing the foil backing from vintage rhinestones or cabochons and see if you can use them in their transformed state. You'll end up with a transparent piece of glass, which may give rise to all kinds of new creative ideas and design possibilities.

To strip the foil backing from vintage glass cabochons and rhinestones, here's what you need: 

I usually start with only a few cabs or rhinestones to see how they behave. Some strip really easily and others take more time. But you can pretty much always get the foil off.

I use a small glass dish/cup/bowl and throw in some salt. I use kosher since the crystals are bigger and it helps with the scrubbing (keep reading and you'll see what I mean), but I have used regular salt and you can use any kind of salt you have on hand. For the small number of rhinestones shown here, a couple of tablespoons in a small dish should be fine.

Then add some vinegar to cover the salt.

Then drop in your rhinestones or cabs. Which side lands up doesn't matter. Any vinegar is fine, I've used white, malt, champagne, whatever I happen to have on hand. Now I use the cheapest white vinegar I can find so my family doesn't complain about our house smelling like a fish and chips shop :)

Let them sit for at least a few hours. I usually let them sit overnight. With some really old rhinestones or cabochons, the foil will slip off in 15 minutes, but many take longer.

After soaking, use your fingers and use the remaining salt crystals and rub the foil backs of the rhinestones. The foil should come off. Sometimes I add more salt to get more of an abrasive, because the salt can dissolve a bit overnight. Sometimes I use a soft toothbrush with a bit of a salt paste on it - you can pick up some salt on the brush from the bottom of your dish, or sprinkle some fresh salt on the brush.  In this dish, I have those aqua flat back cabochons that I started with, and I also ended up throwing in several other types of rhinestones, including those big and cloudy topaz West German cabochons you saw earlier.  You can see that they are stripping easily - this photo was taken 15 minutes after I put everything in the dish. There are 3 of those big cabs in the dish and I've checked the one on the right.  By the way, when I decided to add additional cabochons and rhinestones to the dish, I just tossed in some more salt and vinegar to cover everything.  I don't worry very much about measuring or amounts.  I tend to cook this way too...

Once you have the foil off, rinse in clear water and let dry.

Here's some before and after photos.  Foil backed are on the left, stripped and now transparent are on the right. The first photo is to illustrate how you change the properties of the cabochons, since now they are not only clear, but these domed cabs will now magnify items placed beneath them.

I have had stones and cabs that I have to do the whole routine a second time, soaking them overnight in vinegar and salt twice, since there is some residue remaining and I wanted them perfectly clear. But the second time through has always worked for me.

Not only is this a fun way to turn aged vintage glass cabochons and rhinestones into usable supplies, it also is a way to alter your supplies to achieve the effects you'd like. Perhaps you need a clear green rhinestone and you only have foiled.  Or maybe you'd like a magnifying cabochon... You get the idea.

There are sometimes some surprises....  For example, foil can cover a multitude of issues in glass, and sometimes when I've stripped glass cabochons and rhinestones, I've seen flaws that were not visible to my eyes when the foiling was in place. But hey, it's worth a try!  And almost always, you will find that you have transformed a material that you may not have been able to use into one that will look great in your art and designs.