QuestionMy mother recently passed away and her mother's mothers (my grandmother's) ring was one of the pieces passed down to me. I took it to a local jeweler to be cleaned and to check the prong settings. When I picked up the piece he told me that the gems were set using screws from underneath and that it was rare as the particular technique had not been used in many years. He could not, however, tell me anything more about its history.
AnswerHi, Pamela.
The screw mount stones are seen only rarely today. Generally, these were used for birthstone rings and especially "mother's rings", rings with a birthstone for each child or grandchild. The ring setting was often designed with a place to add another birthstone easily when another child graced the family.
The gemstones may be genuine stones but often are manmade, either synthetic or simulated stones for particular birth months. Since many stones cannot stand the heat of soldering, the screw method was handy for adding new stones or even changing stones and settings without the problems faced with permanent soldered settings. You see, if a ring had perhaps an emerald, an amethyst and a peridot, for a new additional stone to be added a new setting would need to be fitted and soldered to the ring. The other stones would have to be removed since the heat of soldering would destroy the stones. This would possibly mean prong work would be needed on the original settings to finish the job properly.
So, to be able to add or remove or change a birthstone with nothing needed but a proper screw driver was not a bad idea. The screw type settings came from the factory with stones already set and only needed to be screwed onto the jewelry item.
I cannot give you a date when this type of setting first appeared. I do believe it may still be in limited use but is not seen often at all.
I do hope this information will help you understand the concept as to why screws.
God Bless and Peace. Thomas.
