Polish/Recut/Reset Questions

[CBL]

I posted a little while ago about resetting my mom''s tsavorite e-ring (pic below). At the time it seemed like a simple enough project but it''s getting more complicated and I''m so obsessed now that there''s no going back; plus, I''m getting caught up in the details because I want this to be perfect....but not TOO expensive!

The deal is this: I had a conversation with a local gem person (he isn''t ''recommended'' by PS; I found him through a friend in San Diego because none of the recommended vendors are very convenient to me). After checking out pics of the stone one of his suggestions was to "polish it off" and make it round--he said he''d seen a lot of stones cut this way (kind of an odd, fat pear) over the years, and that it''s often to mark up the price because of labor, etc. His point was that we could save a lot of money on the re-set if the stone is round.

Of course, that suggestion completely caught me off guard, and now I have more questions. 1) Is it a good idea to make the stone round? Would it lose a lot of ctw were we to do that? 2) If it was rounded, would it need to be totally recut? I mean, can you just round off a pear like this and expect that it will look good? 3) Does it need to be recut anyway, and is that a very expensive process? The stone is a lovely color but to me it''s more ''shiny'' than ''sparkly;'' I suspect the cut was not superb to begin with although I am definitely NOT an expert.

So, opinions would be greatly appreciated. I don''t know if I''m being ridiculous about this--it would be stupid to spend a ton of money on something if it approaches what she would have to spend for a new stone, anyway! I just want to know what more knowledgeable people think--I had contacted Wink, and he emailed me back but I haven''t followed up (sorry Wink) mainly because once I found the local guy I was like, SWEET, local is sooo much easier for my parents (who couldn''t possibly deal with the complexity of this process if I weren''t totally guiding/pushing them!). Plus I''ve been super busy and the prospect of orchestrating this double-long distance (I live in Milwaukee, was home visiting them in San Diego, am now back in Milwaukee) is kind of daunting. However, at this point I am definitely willing to do whatever is best, should I possibly figure out what the heck that is!!!

Ok, sorry for the novel.

 

[ma re]

As anything but an expert, I can just tell you that recutting would probably be much less expensive than getting a custom setting made. But again, every recut brings a risk of damaging the stone in the process (not likely, but it happens) so I''d think about all the other options first. Have you considered getting a setting suited for another shape, cause you really have an unusual shape at hand (in your initial post, at first, I didn''t even notice that was a pear)? Maybe a setting intended for a heart cut could work here, or possibly (but unlikely) the one made for a trillion. In terms of cutting, there are quite a few cutters around here on the forum, who are much more knowledgable than me and will be able to give you details about that possible recut.

 

[icekid]

Hmm, interesting. Your local guy is probably right about a non-custom setting being less expensive. I wonder how much weight would be lost if the pear tip was removed. I''m guessing not a whole ton from the photo; it does seem to be a round with a little tip added on.

I would have to be reeeally comfortable with the person doing the recutting to consider it. Too bad Jeff White does not do recuts anymore.

 

[Roger Dery]

Date: 5/25/2009 7:58:45 AM
Author: icekid
Hmm, interesting. Your local guy is probably right about a non-custom setting being less expensive. I wonder how much weight would be lost if the pear tip was removed. I''m guessing not a whole ton from the photo; it does seem to be a round with a little tip added on.

I would have to be reeeally comfortable with the person doing the recutting to consider it. Too bad Jeff White does not do recuts anymore.

Hi CBL,
Last July I was asked to recut a pear shape yellow Zircon. It started out as a 9.60ct. As you can see, it is a little more elongated than yours. There''s more...

 

[Roger Dery]

Date: 5/25/2009 9:20:54 AM
Author: Roger Dery

Date: 5/25/2009 7:58:45 AM
Author: icekid
Hmm, interesting. Your local guy is probably right about a non-custom setting being less expensive. I wonder how much weight would be lost if the pear tip was removed. I''m guessing not a whole ton from the photo; it does seem to be a round with a little tip added on.

I would have to be reeeally comfortable with the person doing the recutting to consider it. Too bad Jeff White does not do recuts anymore.

Hi CBL,
Last July I was asked to recut a pear shape yellow Zircon. It started out as a 9.60ct. As you can see, it is a little more elongated than yours. There''s more...

Then, this is the ''after'' photo. It finished out as a 5.12ct as a custom-designed round. Now, it is possible I could have salvaged more weight if that was the intent, but they wanted a specific look and final weight or size was not the specified criteria. I hope you find this helpful.

 

[chrono]

A standard round would certainly be easier and less expensive to set. That said, there are also considerations for the recut: Not just the cost of cutting but the value of the tsavorite may decrease because it''s smaller or increase just because it''s a round. I would not let just anyone cut it if you chose to go this route.

 

[Roger Dery]

CBL,
You stated: " After checking out pics of the stone one of his suggestions was to "polish it off" and make it round--he said he''d seen a lot of stones cut this way (kind of an odd, fat pear) over the years, and that it''s often to mark up the price because of labor, etc. His point was that we could save a lot of money on the re-set if the stone is round. "

The "odd, fat pear" is something often seen from the German cutting houses. Also from other locations, but the Germans used it well to salvage slightly more weight than a round would provide. Salvaging weight is different than marking up the price because of labor.

You asked: "1) Is it a good idea to make the stone round? Would it lose a lot of ctw were we to do that?"
Normally, no. But in this case, since the stone is a very fat, squatty kinda pear shape, it may work okay. My ''guess-timate'' is you will lose about 25 to 30% of the starting weight.

You asked: "2) If it was rounded, would it need to be totally recut? I mean, can you just round off a pear like this and expect that it will look good?"
I am sure some cutter could figure out a way to not totally recut it, but it would be very difficult to center the culet and mask any symmetry irregularities. And, therefore, may not look as good as it could.

You asked: "3) Does it need to be recut anyway, and is that a very expensive process?"
From your photo, it appears that the top of the Tsavorite is showing some wear. If you kept the shape and outline the same, it is possible to re-furbish the crown and table, only. And then, you could enter back into the ''sparkly'' category, leaving the ''shiny'' behind! If it is just re-doing the crown and table, this is not an expensive proposition.

Though, you will find that most faceters (at least on this forum) would choose to cut from the rough than perform recuts. Because, if they spent 2 hours refinishing someone''s gemstone for a fee, in that same time they could produce a new finished gem worth hundreds or even thousands. And since they can only facet so many gems per year, recutting will reduce their overall income. With a little searching, you will find repair cutters in the Millwaukee or San Diego areas.

As you noted, you''ve already contacted Wink. He will be an excellent resource for this type of project. In addition, he is a known entity with a solid track record who has proven himself many times. He is also well-connected amongst the gem cutting community and may be able to assist with that as well.

 

[cellentani]

Date: 5/25/2009 9:25:13 AM
Author: Roger Dery

Date: 5/25/2009 9:20:54 AM
Author: Roger Dery

Hi CBL,
Last July I was asked to recut a pear shape yellow Zircon. It started out as a 9.60ct. As you can see, it is a little more elongated than yours. There''s more...

Then, this is the ''after'' photo. It finished out as a 5.12ct as a custom-designed round. Now, it is possible I could have salvaged more weight if that was the intent, but they wanted a specific look and final weight or size was not the specified criteria. I hope you find this helpful.

Thanks for the pics, Roger - those are really interesting. Is there any chance you could give us the before and after dimensions in millimeters?

 

[Roger Dery]

cellentani,
The final size was just under 10mm. I don''t have the exact original dimensions, but I believe it was roughly 10-3/4mm wide and about 14mm long.

 

[cellentani]

Thanks Roger. Wow, a recut can shave off less than a millimeter! That''s good to know.

 

[Roger Dery]

Date: 5/25/2009 10:48:40 AM
Author: cellentani
Thanks Roger. Wow, a recut can shave off less than a millimeter! That''s good to know.

cellentani,
Yes, well... I wasn''t always so fortunate. When I first started faceting I mangled many of my own gemstones. In the first two years I recut roughly 1700 stones from my existing inventory. These were stones I purchased from overseas cutting houses - that I was no longer pleased with - now that I had the skill to ''fix them''. So having that particular experience paved the way for future ideas of style, technique and design elements.

 

[CBL]

Roger, very good information, thank you so much. I''m still not sure what I will do but it''s good to get a professional''s input.

Ma re, interesting thought about a heart-shaped setting...I hadn''t thought about that but I think it could be a possibility.

Thanks all for your input, and more opinions are more than welcome! I guess ''easy'' just isn''t going to happen with this project!