"Tension set diamonds"

[docdiamond]

Hello everyone! :-) I'm new here and I hope I am asking this question in the right section!

I have a question about "tension set diamonds". If I understand the principle right, the bands of metal push against the diamond so hard that it is fixed in place. If this is right, I find the name rather confusing. According to Wikipedia, tension is a force related to the stretching of an object (the opposite of compression). Surely the diamonds are held in place by compressive forces?

Thanks very much for any thoughts on this!

[oldmancoyote]

Hi Docdiamond, welcome!

The answer to your question is "yes, but". Yes, the stone is compressed, but where does the compressive force come from? Answer: from tension in the shank pulling the two ends of the setting towards each other. So, the setting is appropriately called a "tension setting" - I think the choice of "tension set stone" rather than "compression set stone" is in a sense diminishing the confusion by avoiding the appearance of another technical term in the description.

Hope this helps.

[docdiamond]

Hi oldmancoyote!

Thanks very much for your interesting reply. I understand it much better now!

[oldmancoyote]

  Most welcome!

[Diamondsbylauren]

Hi Docdiamond!

Great answer OMC!!!

The part about tension settings which I don't love is the bulk necessary to hold the diamond safely.
Since the compression is all that holds the diamond, the bottom of the ring needs to be fairly massive to be stable enough.
We do a "mock tension" setting which alleviates the heavy bottom.,.....