Method for crimping a stone

A method for crimping a stone on an element of a timekeeping or jewelry part, comprising:

• assembling a stone on a setting support, said stone being cut to exhibit a table, a crown, a girdle and a pavilion, the assembling the stone on the setting support comprising the following steps:
• a) providing a substrate comprising at least one recess and then positioning said stone in said recess, said recess being arranged to form, between the substrate and said stone, a peripheral free space at least in a vicinity of the girdle and of zones of the crown and of the pavilion contiguous to the girdle, said peripheral free space comprising a bottom having a conductive surface;
• b) depositing, by electroplating in said peripheral free space, a metal layer at least in the vicinity of the girdle and of the zones of the crown and of the pavilion contiguous to the girdle, so as to confine said girdle in said metal layer to form said setting support;
• c) releasing said stone and its setting support from the substrate,
• wherein the substrate and its recess are produced according to the following steps:
• d) providing the substrate having a conductive surface layer and producing at least one through-hole in said substrate;
• e) covering the substrate with a photosensitive resin layer and forming, by photolithography in the photosensitive resin, a cavity, the dimensions of which, in a plane of the substrate, are greater than the dimensions of the girdle of the stone, so that the cavity comprises a central opening corresponding to the through-hole and a peripheral zone comprising resin side walls and a bottom occupied by the conductive layer of the substrate around the through-hole,
• the dimensions of the cavity and of the through-hole forming said recess being selected so that the pavilion of the stone is partially housed in the through-hole, so as to rest on the periphery of the central opening of the cavity, a remainder of the pavilion above the through-hole defining the zone of the pavilion contiguous to the girdle, and so that a remainder of the stone between said zone of the pavilion contiguous to the girdle and at least up to a level of the zone of the crown contiguous to the girdle is housed in the cavity, so as to form, between the stone and the walls of the cavity, said peripheral free space and
• assembling the stone and the setting support on a setting added to the element of a timekeeping or jewelry part or directly on the element of a timekeeping or jewelry part.