From The Bench With Betsy Frost
Our Caged Collections
Our Caged Collection brings unique beauty, movement, and color, while creating energy from motion. As you wear these pieces, they gracefully move with your body. This collection is created by trapping or caging stones instead of using the traditional stone setting methods.
The process of caging stones vs. setting.
I have many cage designs for rings, bracelets, earrings and pendants. For most of them, I have fabricated baskets or cages to the exact specifications to hold or “trap” a stone in place. You can pop the stone into the cage, and then squeeze or bend the sides together to hold the stone in place. A cage can be designed to allow the stone to move freely, or it can trap the stone in place. Cage designs work great with pearls and gold balls also.
What inspired me to create this collection.
Necessity is the mother of invention—I needed to find a way to incorporate stones into my work without using the traditional stone setting method. You see, I found that I was too impatient to set stones. It’s so boring! You have to drill a hole, and then burr out the area for the stone, and then push the metal around the stone very carefully—it’s way too time consuming and no fun! Trapping stones in cages is way more fun. Plus giving the stones or pearls movement enhances the piece with a kinetic component that people love.
What I love most about creating this jewelry.
I love peoples’ reaction to the caged collections. When they pick up the pieces with the moving stones or pearls, they are surprised and it makes them happy—and then they HAVE to have it!