[goldsmith11]

Hi, with gold I can just heat the point I want to solder and get out quick. With silver, generally I heat the whole thing evenly and then the solder runs smoothly. So more heat is heading for the stone with silver. If your torch doesn't have the heat to do the job right, you'll take too long and the flame will torture the silver piece and probably load it up with firescale, which you don't want. Try a half of a pop can filled with budgy gravel and soaked in water so the water rises to the surface of the gravel. The coarser gravel size works better than sand. Push the stone into the gravel completely under the water with the part you want to solder sticking out, above the can. Finish your soldering before the water vaporizes down to the stone and you lose the cooling benifit of the wet gravel around the stone. Or add more water and continue.