A METHOD OF SETTING SMALL OBJECTS IN MALLEABLE SHEET MATERIAL, AND APPARATUS FOR CARRYING OUT THE METHOD, AND ARTICLES COMPRISING A SHEET OF MALLEABLE MATERIAL

摘要

The invention in the main relates to items of jewellery, wherein gem stones are set in malleable material such as gold sheets to form lockets and the like. Setting heretofore has been by hand by skilled craftsmen, who can work only in relatively thick material, which increases the cost of the jewellery. In the inventive method, much thinner sheet material is pressed to form a recess for the gem, and projections around the recess. The stone is placed in the recess and the assembly is pressed in a jig, which causes the projections to be deformed and form claws over the stone edges setting it in the sheet. The invention also provides an item of jewellery, and a machine for carrying out the method.