A buyer stocked one solitaire mount per shank size and per metal. Within two months she had seven boxes — one of each ring size — and could not fill a same-day sale because the customer's size was always the empty one. She had treated settings as a display set instead of a demand ladder. Loose moissanite only earns margin when it pairs with the right setting, and holding the right number of mounts per size is its own inventory decision.
This guide sets stock levels for moissanite ring settings so a shop can pair loose stones with a mount the customer can walk out with.
Settings follow ring-size demand, not a display set
Ring sales cluster around common finger sizes. If you hold one mount in each size, the odd sizes sit forever and the common sizes sell out. The demand curve for women's rings peaks at sizes 6 and 7, with far fewer sales at sizes 4 and 9. Stock settings in that same shape:
- Common sizes (6, 7): hold 3-4 solitaire mounts each, in your most-set metal.
- Medium sizes (5, 8): hold 1-2 each.
- Edge sizes (4, 9+): hold zero or one, and size up a plain band when needed.
The stones those mounts hold are standard sizes — 6.5 and 7.0 mm rounds — which are the A-item fast movers in reorder stocking strategy and the tier logic of carat pricing tier breakpoints.
Metal and setting style matter more than size depth
Rather than spread thin across every metal and style, lean the stock toward one or two proven combinations (for example white-gold solitaire and silver halo) and hold the rest to order. A setting that never gets a stone dropped into it is dead inventory. Pair the setting mix with the shape demand in round versus oval demand: hold oval mounts only where oval stones actually sell. Match the mount seat to the stone's millimeter — a seat that forces a stone to rattle or pinch costs a redo.
Keep settings and stones in lockstep
The most common failure is stones without mounts or mounts without stones. Reorder them together: when you restock 6.5 mm D-F rounds, also restock the size-6 and size-7 solitaire seats that take them. Grade the stones to the eye-clean standard the setting sale implies, per eye-clean versus loupe-clean clarity, and keep every finished ring's certificate with the stone, per what buyers expect on a certificate. Stay compliant at the counter: FTC Jewelry Guides (16 CFR Part 23) requires the finished piece disclose the moissanite as moissanite and the setting metal truthfully.
Match the seat to the stone before you set it
A mount that fits the nominal size rarely fits the actual stone. Measure each stone with a digital gauge at its widest point, then check the prong seat against that number rather than the stamped "6.5 mm" on the mount. A 6.4 mm stone in a 6.6 mm seat rattles; a 6.6 mm stone in a 6.4 mm seat pinches and can chip the girdle. Loose moissanite arrives in a spread of millimeter sizes even within one carat weight, so the seat check is the step that prevents a redo after the stone is paid for.
Hold a small set of sizing beads and extra prongs to adjust seats on the bench, rather than sending the mount back. For common sizes 6 and 7, keep a few seats in each metal pre-fitted to your standard stone size so a same-day ring can be set in minutes. The stones those seats take are the fast movers covered in our reorder guide, and the grade they carry should meet the eye-clean clarity standard.
How many solitaire mounts should I stock?
Depth by ring-size demand: 3-4 in common sizes (6, 7), 1-2 in medium sizes, and none or one at the edges. One-per-size leaves the common sizes sold out.
Which metal should I stock most?
Lean to your proven seller — usually white gold or sterling silver solitaire and halo mounts — and hold other metals to order. Do not spread the setting budget across every finish.
Do I need a mount for every stone I stock?
No. Hold mounts only for the standard fast-mover stone sizes. Buy specialty and large stones on demand and source the matching mount when the customer commits.
What seat size fits a 6.5 mm moissanite?
A 6.3-6.5 mm prong seat for a tight, centered fit. Match the seat to the stone's measured millimeter, not just the certificate carat, to avoid a loose or pinched setting.
Pair settings with stones from HOLYCOME. We supply standard-size D-F loose moissanite that drops straight into common solitaire and halo mounts, with matched millimeter seats and per-stone certificates so your same-day rings sell clean. Tell us your ring-size demand and metal mix and we will build a stone-and-setting parcel that clears together. Apply for a wholesale account and request the current price list — minimum order 20 stones.
