Newbie with colored stone question

[azprisoncop]

Hi there everyone .........I am new to this forum as I''ve stated in the subject line and I am a huge fan of colored gemstones. Nothing against diamonds, they are most beautiful but I just love, love LOOOOVVVVVVVVVVEEEEE color.
I am a novice in the field and have three questions in reference some jewelry that I have.

I own a green tourmaline ring I am thinking the tourmaline is about 4 carats, which was given to me by my deceased brother. I wore the ring to death because I simply didn''t want to remove it from my finger because it was from my brother. The tourmaline is in an emerald cut and with my wearing it do death, I scuffed the upper edges a bit. Is it possible to get this polished out or cut so that the scuff marks will be gone and who would do this ? I have yet to find a gem cutter or even an appraiser in my area in Arizona.

Second question...I have a pair of beautiful dangle earrings with aqua, tsavorite and supposedly the pear shaped stone is tsavorite also...that would be a HUGE tsavorite. How can one tell whether one has indeed a tsavorite or a chrome diopside since the color of both can be so very similar ?

Then, last but not least. I own a beautiful Tanzanite ring with a bunch of diamonds around the Tanzanite. The Tanzanite is about 3.7 something carat large and has a beautiful medium dark purple blue color. Even my jeweler fell in love with the color of the stone. However, due to mishandling (and no..it wasn''t me)...my tanzanite is a deep diagonal crack right underneath the surface. I am not even going to kid myself into believing that this could be fixed BUT I was wondering if the stone could be salvaged by cutting it so that two earrings could be made out of the stone and utilizing the diamonds around each stone or would there not be anything left of the stone after cutting ? Wondering if someone in Arizona would even do this which leads again to my very first question about the tourmaline.

I am sorry if I have bombarded you guys with my questions but I''ve been searching and searching for so long for people or a person that could guide me in the right direction. I love my colored gemstone jewelry, I am IN LOVE with it and I can''t stand the thought of not being able to wear it because of the damages.

Thank You for your consideration and I will return in the hopes that someone was able to help me out.

Merry Christmas to all of you.

 

[ma re]

Welcome!

The only way to know for sure if your gemstone is what you think it is, is to find a gemologist a send/take your stone there. There''s no way to really tell without some equipment and a lot of knowledge, so if you''re really curious that''s the thing to do.

Regarding your repolishing/recutting questions, I hope some of the cutters around here will see this thread and join to give opinions, but even they won''t be able to tell you anything if you don''t provide any photos of the stones in question. The rest of us (who are not in the bizz) won''t be able to help much in that department.

Good luck!

 

[LD]

Welcome to the forum!

Let''s see if I can answer some of your questions:

1. Green tourmaline - this can probably be repolished as you suspected (depending on the damage). We have a number of excellent lapidarists on this forum and I''m sure if you post pictures somebody will recommend where you could send it. Just a word of caution, there is always an element of danger when un-setting, working on and setting a gemstone again. A lapidarist wouldn''t be insured (because it''s your stone) for damage so you''d basically be on your own if something happened to it. Bearing in mind how sentimental it is to you, I''d be half tempted to keep it the way it is. I know that may not be practical so let''s see if there are any other suggestions for you from the forum members.

2. Tsavorite and chrome diopside do look different. Can you post pictures - we''ll never be able to tell you with 100% certainty what the gemstone is but there are a few posters who could give you an educated guess. Tsavs of that weight are not easy to come by. Do you know the history of earrings?

3. Tanzanite - oh poor stone. I think your attitude is right with this one, unfortunately. You will definitely need to post pictures again so maybe some of our lapidarists can give you an idea whether making two smaller gemstones for earrings will be possible. Again, they may not be able to do the work themselves but it may give you a headstart to know whether you should even bother contacting someone.

Hope that helps although it''s not much more information than you already knew/had!

 

[chrono]

Tourmaline is not an everyday wear ring and requires gentle handling and care. It is definitely possible to have the stone repolished but should only be done by a good lapidary. I would have suggested asking Gary Dutton of www.diamondexpert.com who he would recommend as he is in AZ but he''s just moved to FL. Maybe Barry Bridgestock of ACS might be able to help you out. He is a cutter and I think he is in AZ?

There are differences in how tsavorite and chrome diopside will look to the trained eye. In your case, I suggest having them brought to a gemologist with the right tools to identify them.

Again, for your 3rd question, Barry might be able to help you out. www.acstones.com

 

[lelser]

Date: 12/19/2009 10:34:13 PM
Author:azprisoncop
Hi there everyone .........I am new to this forum as I''ve stated in the subject line and I am a huge fan of colored gemstones. Nothing against diamonds, they are most beautiful but I just love, love LOOOOVVVVVVVVVVEEEEE color.

I am a novice in the field and have three questions in reference some jewelry that I have.


I own a green tourmaline ring I am thinking the tourmaline is about 4 carats, which was given to me by my deceased brother. I wore the ring to death because I simply didn''t want to remove it from my finger because it was from my brother. The tourmaline is in an emerald cut and with my wearing it do death, I scuffed the upper edges a bit. Is it possible to get this polished out or cut so that the scuff marks will be gone and who would do this ? I have yet to find a gem cutter or even an appraiser in my area in Arizona.


Second question...I have a pair of beautiful dangle earrings with aqua, tsavorite and supposedly the pear shaped stone is tsavorite also...that would be a HUGE tsavorite. How can one tell whether one has indeed a tsavorite or a chrome diopside since the color of both can be so very similar ?


Then, last but not least. I own a beautiful Tanzanite ring with a bunch of diamonds around the Tanzanite. The Tanzanite is about 3.7 something carat large and has a beautiful medium dark purple blue color. Even my jeweler fell in love with the color of the stone. However, due to mishandling (and no..it wasn''t me)...my tanzanite is a deep diagonal crack right underneath the surface. I am not even going to kid myself into believing that this could be fixed BUT I was wondering if the stone could be salvaged by cutting it so that two earrings could be made out of the stone and utilizing the diamonds around each stone or would there not be anything left of the stone after cutting ? Wondering if someone in Arizona would even do this which leads again to my very first question about the tourmaline.


I am sorry if I have bombarded you guys with my questions but I''ve been searching and searching for so long for people or a person that could guide me in the right direction. I love my colored gemstone jewelry, I am IN LOVE with it and I can''t stand the thought of not being able to wear it because of the damages.


Thank You for your consideration and I will return in the hopes that someone was able to help me out.


Merry Christmas to all of you.

Repolishing is usually possible.

If you''re near Tucson, GIA sets up a lab at the gem fair every year (Feb 2-8 this year) and you can take your goodies in to be checked there. Lots of us faceter types are there as well so if you want to meet a bunch of gem cutters, it''s a great time.

I''d have to see pictures to even make a reasonable guess about the tanzanite, and would really need to see the stone itself to be sure about recutting. If you like the setting and want another Tanzanite for it that''s absolutely possible. You''ll need photos of the setting top and side, plus measurements including depth. I did this last year on my Tanzania trip for a friend - I found the right colour stone and recut it to fit the existing setting.

 

[FrekeChild]

Barry Bridgestock is in Yuma, AZ. I''m email him and he can give you an idea of whether or not he could help, or point you to someone who can.