Cabochon garnet in ring?

[NovemberBride]

I have a very lovely cabochon oval cut rubellite garnet (approc 5x7mm) that is currently in a solitaire necklace setting that I never wear (I prefer larger pendants). After seeing Claritek''s gorgeous ring for her mom from onegarnetgirl on etsy, I was thinking of having that stone reset in a similar ring. I know garnets are pretty hard stones and good for a ring, but I was wondering if there was anything about the cabochon cut that would make it more prone to chipping. This would not be an everyday ring, but I also don''t want to have to be afraid everytime I wear it. Any thoughts?

 

[Clairitek]

My mother wore a cab garnet in a sort of semi-bezelish setting almost every day for many years. I can tell from looking at her setting that she has worn it a great deal since it was purchased 7-8 years ago. It was stolen at my graduation party and returned after 2 years so there was a period of time when she didn''t wear it at all.

The stone is still nicely polished and hasn''t shown any signs of damage. It is pretty well protected in its setting. I can have my father take a picture of it and send it so I can show you what the setting looks like.

Not sure if you saw my thread on the green tourmaline ring I had made for my mother but I highly recommend the Etsy.com vendor Onegarnetgirl to make you a custom setting out of sterling silver or any gold you choose.

 

[movie zombie]

it should be fine. i wear very large cab rings with a lower moh than garnet and they are all doing very well even over years of wear.

movie zombie

 

[LD]

Is it a Rubellite or a Garnet? Rubellites are 7-7.5 on the MOHS scale as are most Garnets but there are some exceptions I think. However, to find out how easy/hard it will be to re-set without damage it would be handy to know which it is because some gemstones are more prone to splitting etc.

It sounds a lovely project and I hope you post up photos when it''s finished.

 

[ma re]

And the winner is...LD

I couldn''t believe no one noticed the "rubelite garnet" part immediately - so much for our experts

If it weren''t New Year I''d be worried

Just to explain to NovemberBride, rubelite is a variety of tourmaline, and garnets are another gemstone family. But in terms of hardness they''re pretty much the same so it''s not overly important if it''s a tourmaline or a garnet - except the fact that a rubelite tourmaline is much more valuable than some garnet varieties.

Considering your worries about damaging it I think you worry a bit too much, cause contrary to what you believe (or may have heard), domed shape makes cabochones more durable and harder to damage than faceted stones, simply because there are no tips and edges of facets. Exceptions to this are cabs with surface reaching fractures and other serious defects, but other than that you''re fine with your stone for a ring project.

 

[LD]

Date: 1/1/2009 3:32:36 AM
Author: ma re
And the winner is...LD

I couldn''t believe no one noticed the ''rubelite garnet'' part immediately - so much for our experts

If it weren''t New Year I''d be worried

Just to explain to NovemberBride, rubelite is a variety of tourmaline, and garnets are another gemstone family. But in terms of hardness they''re pretty much the same so it''s not overly important if it''s a tourmaline or a garnet - except the fact that a rubelite tourmaline is much more valuable than some garnet varieties.

Considering your worries about damaging it I think you worry a bit too much, cause contrary to what you believe (or may have heard), domed shape makes cabochones more durable and harder to damage than faceted stones, simply because there are no tips and edges of facets. Exceptions to this are cabs with surface reaching fractures and other serious defects, but other than that you''re fine with your stone for a ring project.

Takes a *bow*

 

[NovemberBride]

Thank you all for your replies! I am glad to hear I don''t have to worry about the cabochon cut, I am not too familiar with them.

Claritek - thanks for your response, it was actually the ring you made for your mom that inspired me to look into doing this. Your ring turned out great. I have an email in to onegarnetgirl and hope to hear back from her soon.

Sorry for the confusion, the stone is actually a rhodolite garnet. I have attached a few pics. I am thinking of an east west setting in rose gold. The stone is a little small, so now I am thinking of doing it as part of a set of stacking rings.

 

[NovemberBride]

Here''s a pic on my hand for size comparison.

 

[ma re]

That''s a bit of a strange color for a rhodolite, or is it actually diferent from what it looks like in a photo? It seems to have orange and brown to it and that''s not something you see often in rhodolites, but you do in some other garnets like spessartite and hessonite. But if you had it checked I have no reason not to believe, cause "out of the box" colors appear occasionally in all gemstone varieties. Setting it in rose gold sounds nice BTW. Have fun!