Perhaps you’ve experienced it.
You spend hours fabricating a piece only to freeze when it’s time to set the stone.
You dread setting.
Maybe you’ve bought setting burs and tools but aren’t completely sure which one to use. Perhaps you’ve watched videos, tried a few settings, and still wonder:
How deep do I cut?
Which bur should I choose?
Why did the stone crack?
Why won’t my prongs move evenly?
Why does everyone else’s setting look cleaner than mine?
Or maybe you’ve avoided stone setting altogether because one bad experience left you feeling frustrated and unsure.
Stone setting can feel like an entirely different language.
And unfortunately, many jewelers either become dependent on premade settings or avoid designs they truly want to make because they lack confidence in setting stones.
Imagine What Becomes Possible
______________________________
What becomes possible when stone setting no longer feels mysterious, you remove the doubt and you instill confidence?
Imagine being able to:
✓ Add diamonds and gemstones directly into your fabricated work.
✓ Design with greater freedom because you understand several ways to approach a setting.
✓ Create tube settings, flush settings, and prong settings without second-guessing every cut.
✓ Understand why things work—not simply memorize steps.
✓ Feel confident enough to experiment and develop your own style.
Because stone setting isn’t magic.
It’s a collection of small, understandable skills that anyone can learn when the “why” behind the process is explained.
Move beyond “Can I make this?” and start asking, “What’s the best way to set it?”
Imagine looking at a piece and thinking:
“I know exactly how I want to set that stone.”
Imagine being able to:
Solder stones directly into a design. More profit and less frustration
Add flush-set accents to elevate your work.
Create elegant tube settings.
Choose between different prong styles depending on the look you want.
Learn to drill out a pearl and set it.
Decide how they should look and understand where to solder them so they bend over the stone without becoming sweater catchers.
How to solder them without the cleanup or disturbing the texture on the back of the piece.
My secret tip for illuminating a transparent flat backed stone (cab or rose cut)
Understand how to solve problems instead of fearing them.
Instead of limiting your designs to what feels safe…
You’ll begin designing based on what’s possible.
The skills you already have are the foundation for everything that comes next.
Perhaps you already feel comfortable bezel setting a cabochon.
But what’s next?
Graduating to faceted stones?
Rose cuts?
Partial bezels?
Combination settings?
Tube settings?
Flush settings?
For many metalsmiths, that next step feels intimidating.
The truth is, every stone setter starts exactly where you are now.
One setting at a time.
One skill building upon another.
And before long, the techniques that once seemed complicated begin to feel natural.
Because stone setting isn’t about memorizing dozens of tricks.
It’s about understanding how metal supports a stone, learning to create purchase, and recognizing that there is rarely only one right answer.
Stone setting is more than securing a gemstone.
It’s learning how to create a conversation between metal and stone—where each complements the other, neither competing for attention, but working together to tell the story of your piece.
This isn’t just another project class where you leave only knowing how to make the project that wasn’t your voice/style/idea.
It’s a Metalmorphosis in how you think about designing with stones.
Together, we’ll slow the process down, explore the “why behind the what,” and remove the mystery from setting. You’ll discover how thoughtful preparation, proper tool control, and an understanding of the metal allow you to work with confidence instead of hesitation.
As your skills grow, so do your creative choices.
You’ll begin to see stones not as intimidating additions, but as opportunities—to introduce color, sparkle, texture, contrast, and points of visual rest. A single stone can draw the eye, create balance, or become the focal point that brings an entire design to life.
This is where stones stop feeling like an afterthought and become an intentional part of your artistic voice.
If you’ve ever looked at your work and thought, “It’s almost there…” this may be the missing piece.
Join me for Metalmorphosis: The Art of Stone Setting, and discover how understanding a handful of foundational principles can open the door to a lifetime of creative possibilities.
July 13th & 16th, 2026 | 4pm PT
👉 Enrollment opens July 1st at 8am Pacific — Let your Metalmorphosis begin.
And if that's not enough, I've got even more in store for you! When I teach there is never enough time to deliver everything I want to share with you. So I will be releasing to you, as a BONUS, several pre-recorded videos of important support materials.
But there's more! You'll also receive an exclusive invitation to join our closed/private forum. Here, we'll engage in live and recorded discussions, fostering a vibrant community of like-minded artisans.
**$240 value for one year
Your access to me will extend for six months after the class in our community forum. As a group of beginner to advanced artists, we can continue to support each other long after the class concludes.
My ultimate goal is for you to complete this class not only with a wealth of new techniques and knowledge but also overflowing with inspiration and creativity. Your toolbox will be brimming with new tools, and I can't wait to witness what you'll create with these newfound skills and insights. The journey ahead promises to be truly remarkable!
I hope you’ll join us. More than a class, this is an invitation to become part of the Forged Maker Circle—a community of artists committed to growing together. Long after the live sessions end, you’ll continue learning, asking questions, sharing your work, celebrating breakthroughs, and receiving encouragement from people who genuinely want to see you succeed. I’ll be there every step of the way, because great makers aren’t built in isolation—they’re forged together.
4pm Pacific Time
4pm Pacific Time
I find that it’s hard to classify a person as a beginner or intermediate student. You might be intermediate in some areas and beginners in others. You might even be advanced.
This class is for anyone wanting to brush up on or learn more about stone setting, using burs, using tools, becoming more proficient at the bench, or exploring new ways to approach stone setting.
Take what you are ready for and let the rest go. You don’t need to master all things presented. It’s perfectly okay to take a class and be able to implement 30-40% of it and then as you practice that, you can try the remaining 60% of the material.
My best advice is to attend live classes and be engaged. Connect with me visually by being on camera. Take excellent notes. Within 48 hours revisit the class or your notes. Things that do not make sense need a revisit. You’ll then have the video to watch it again and again for 60 days after the last class (Sept 14th). Post your questions on the private community and try to make a little progress every day during those 60 days.
It is live AND recorded. Live sessions will be through Zoom. Recordings will be posted within 8-12 hours (or as soon as we can get them up) to the Online Learning Platform at courses.tonyadavidson.com.
Catch up when you can and post your questions on the private community forum. You have 6 months to get all your questions answered and 60 days (Sept 14th End of Day) to watch the videos as many times as you’d like.
Within 8-12 hours the classes will be uploaded to the Online Learning Platform (courses.tonyadavidson.com).
You will be able to view the classes there 24/7 for 60 days or until Sept 14th EOD. They are not downloadable.
If you need extra time, it is available for a monthly fee of $50. When a class is retired or cannot be extended again, an announcement will be made, with a one month notice so that you can do one last review if you want.
All classes are held at 4pm PT
4pm PT/ 5pm MT/ 6pm CT/ 7pm ET/ Midnight London
2 Sessions:
May 11th and 14th
**You do not need to be present for any or all of the LIVE classes. The classes will be posted to the online learning center for you to watch anytime that is convenient for you. You’ll have plenty of time between classes to catch up and you can ask any questions on the group which I will promptly answer.
There may be additional impromptu LIVE videos and recorded videos broadcast and posted on our Group.
In my opinion…it’s actually better.
That may sound like a bold statement, but it’s rooted in how people learn.
Educational research has long demonstrated the Forgetting Curve—without review, we forget a significant portion of what we learn within days. That’s one of the biggest challenges with traditional in-person workshops. You spend an incredible weekend learning, take pages of notes that seem perfectly clear at the time, and then months later those notes become “shelf help”—they sit on a shelf, rarely revisited, and often no longer make complete sense.
This class is designed differently.
You’ll attend live, interactive sessions where you can ask questions in real time, but you’ll also have access to professionally recorded videos that you can watch again and again. Every review strengthens your understanding, reinforces muscle memory, and allows you to catch details you may have missed the first time.
I’ve invested heavily in making the online experience better than simply pointing a webcam at a workbench.
Classes are filmed using eight high-resolution 4K cameras, professional lighting, and one of the industry’s best microphones. You’ll see multiple perspectives simultaneously—from the movement of my hands to extreme macro close-ups of solder flowing, metal moving, textures forming, and stone-setting details that are often impossible to see clearly when you’re standing 6–10 feet away in a classroom.
Perhaps the greatest advantage is that you’ll be learning at your own bench, with your own tools. You’re building muscle memory in the exact environment where you’ll continue creating after class. You can pause, rewind, practice, and repeat a technique immediately instead of trying to remember it weeks later.
And you’re never learning alone.
Questions don’t stop when the live session ends. Between classes, you can post questions in our community, and I’ll be there to help. My goal isn’t simply to teach you a technique—it’s to make sure you truly understand it and can confidently use it long after class is over.
That’s why I believe this format doesn’t just match an in-person workshop—it surpasses it.
You will need a good soldering torch.
This could be a butane torch, acetylene + ambient air, or a variety of propane + oxy torches. Whatever torch it is that you are comfortable with using.
I will be demonstrating on a Swiss Torch.
After you sign up, you’ll have access to a comprehensive tool and supply list within days.
These are tools that I personally use. You might have something similar and that’s fine. You do not need to buy all the things, however I have been in so many classes where one of the tools the instructor used often was not on the list. I felt that my ability to do the task was hindered because I didn’t have it. So all my fave tools for the task will be on the list and if you want to wait to see if you want to buy it, that’s fine.
Please remember that I used to own a jewelry tool and supply company for 10 years and was a senior instructor for Rio Grande. So I feel like I have tried nearly every tool possible. I probably bought it too. I don’t recommend tools unless I know they are the best. Sometimes it an inexpensive tool and sometimes it’s costly. If it saves me time and makes the job enjoyable, it’s a good tool. I know that down the road I can sell them because good tools increase in value.
For a basic overview, you’ll need:
-assortment of burs and drill bits (ball burs, setting, hart)
-flexshaft with the H.30 handpiece preferred
-your basic metalsmithing tools
I do recommend you wait until class is over to place orders because you might find that you don’t need the tool.This is NOT a work along class.
There is a no kit for this class. You may choose to practice on silver, brass or copper, however I will be using sterling silver.
There will be basic hand tools and equipment, and I’ll show you some tools that you may want to acquire but are not required to buy.
You will want burs, drill bits, files and a variety of hand tools to use them but again those will be in the tool class (yes this is usually a full 4-5 hour class I recommend watching before class starts).
You should have plenty of time to place orders prior to class but keep in mind that sessions are NOT work-alongs. You will be working inbetween sessions and then during the 60 days after the last session.
You will not feel the pressure to work as you do with most classes for fear the instructor disappears after the last session. I’m in it for the long-haul to mentor you through the work and growth!