My first pendant

Wowzers!! I think the setting looks fantastic! Way to go on your first one...and I'd be willing to bet your wife was tickled pink over this one!!

I would be remiss if I didn't say something about that cab. That's a gorgeous, flaw-free Laguna specimen...and your polish on that is outstanding!

That is SO pretty!
No one would believe it is a first.
Pretty rock, pretty settings.
Lucky Wife

That's a mighty fine pendant for a first jewelry piece. I am sure that she'll treasure it forever.

(When I showed my wife the first ring I made, she tried it on and she's worn it every day since. Just this afternoon she asked me to clean it. After cleaning and polishing I decided it was time to polish out the scratches in the stone — once again.)

…

Just curious, what polishing process do you use on your silver? It seems like everyone does it a little differently.

After removing any tool marks with abrasive wheels in a Foredom handpiece, I take my pieces to a polishing machine with tripoli and rouge. I don’t spend a lot of time with tripoli because it’s pretty aggressive.

Did you use black, blue, and pink wheels in a handpiece? Pink is ‘fine’ and leaves the metal with a modest polish prior to Tripoli and rouge.

Thanks for the info!
After using the file I just hand sanded up to a 3000 grit. Then did tripoli, followed by fabulustre and red rouge on separate buffing wheels. Everything looked good after sanding, but after tripoli it seemed give it an odd finish. I went back and sanded it a couple times and buffed again but I think I had too much tripoli on the buffing wheel and buffed with tripoli too long. I'll follow the recommendation and try less time with tripoli next time. Thanks!

Good job on your first setting, congratulations!
I see you mentioned the three polishing compounds I suggested, but didn’t get the results you were hoping for.
I’m pretty new to this also, but I can probably help get you on track to achieving a very high polish.
tripoli does cut pretty aggressively, it will remove a noticeable amount of metal if you spend a lot of time with it, however sometimes it’s necessary especially with large flat surfaces. If I’m making a piece that I want to really shine up I might go a gauge thicker on the bezel and any other silver work beyond the back of the setting to make sure it doesn’t get so thin from polishing.
The one tip I had was that if you aren’t burning your fingers you aren’t going to get a polish. The tripoli step not so much because it’s the most abrasive, you can allow the cutting compound to do the work.
the following two steps the piece should be getting really hot.
Another important thing is to clean the piece between each step in an ultrasonic cleaner, or very hot soapy water.
I think some before and after pics could help you to see what you should expect from each step, I’ll try to remember that while I’m polishing my next piece, and I’ll add them to this thread for you.
The fabulustre gives a different shine than red rouge, and could be considered a final polish.
I like to use it as a second step to make the polish come up quicker with the red rouge. Think of the fabulustre as an in between grit from Tripoli to red rouge, although that fabulustre does leave a heck of a shine.