Well, it seems to be, on copper tiles, at least, SRS. Those have been dropped several times and, in class, we had a lot of mishaps, but no real breakage that I recall. I didn't get to work with them but they also have enamel watercolours which are baked on the same way. I have one my friend did of a winter scene by a river. Really remarkable stuff to work with and quite beautiful.

As near as I can tell and remember, the thing you are talking about for crystals is just called a "swivel or fixed mount."

If you don't already know about them, I'd recommend getting Rio Grande's catalogue;

taking a look at Lapidary Journal (I found a subscription well worth it, at the time);

and, getting a catalogue from Fire Mountain Gems.

Sorry if any of these are repeats from back when.:-)

Also, this doesn't look like the same cover as the book we used in class, but I know it is the same author. This would be an excellent book to get if you are really interested in knowing and learning more about metalsmithing, imo: The Complete Metalsmith by Tim NcCreight. That link goes to Amazon where you may look through some of the pages.

Have fun! My sister got rid of oodles of over-the-years craft projects last year when she packed up her house to store while she went to Alaska. Did well at a garage sale, too!

kat