YAY! I made a ring with a stone set in it! The turquoise ring is all done. It is bezeled, soldered, filed, sanded, burnished, and polished. The circular stone ring is another story. I was 98.5% done with the whole thing and the solder seam cracked. The solder seam is where you join two ends together. With a band you cut a straight piece of wire and bend the ends around until they meet, and that is where you solder. As you already know, the two ends that meet have to be completely flush, so that when you hold it up to the light nothing shows through the crack. So, I had everything soldered together. The band was complete, the bezel was complete, and they were soldered together. I had filed, sanded, burnished, and polished. I set the stone in the perfectly measured bezel and it fit wonderfully. However, when I was tapping the edges of the bezel around the stone the solder seam of the bezel cracked, and now I have to completely start the bezel over. I have to draw out more wire and flatten it, then bend it and shape it until it is a perfect fit. Then I have to solder it together and then solder that to the back piece that is already on the ring. Then, if my solder is strong enough I will be able to finish the ring. But, oh well... I finished one ring and I am proud of it. I also worked on a ring I had made this summer. I finished soldering it together and polished it up to a mirror shine. So I made it through the day without breaking down from frustration, but my hands are another story. Blistered, cut, and bruised, they look like jewelers hands. :)