can light chipped stones be fixed? and

[ouatic]

I have a 7x5 oval garnet ring that I have had since I was 11. it was set where the ends hang off the setting. Well somewhere in college I managed to lightly chip the edge and I''m not sure what to do. Also I have looked for a stone to replace it and I cannot find a stone as red as this one is. I mean this is really really red. The mozambique garnets that I have seen that they say are the redest aren''t anywhere near as red as this ston. Also, the pavillion is so large that it barley fits in the setting. and the top flat part is smaller than normal. its like the top half of the stone is as big as the pavillion with just a small part flattened. I started wondering if maybe it was an old cut stone that was put in a newer setting when my mom bought it for me. So anyway I don''t want to get rid of the stone. Can the little chip be buffed or something to make it less obvious?

thanks for any suggestions.

Jody (ouatic)

 

[Michael_E]

Jody,
The best way to fix your stone is to remove it from it''s setting and recut either the crown or the whole stone depending on where the chip is and how large it is. If you are not particular about how it looks and just want it smooth, the chip can be smoothed and polished with small hand held power tools. Recutting the stone would most likely be as expensive or more so than getting a new stone. In either case it shouldn''t be over $100 to make it like new.
Garnets that are red have a wide distribution of colors from nearly black to pale pink, many of them have orange to brown additions of various intensities. Your garnet may be a pyrope garnet which is colored with chromium, just like a ruby. If you do ever need to replace the stone, or get a matching stone or stones, those pure red garnets are available and are not overly expensive.

 

[ouatic]

Thanks for the info. Its a really small chip. I''m hopping maybe it can just be smoothed. I''ll check out the pyrope garnet and see if that is what it is. If not maybe I will post a picture and see if anyone can take a guess.

Thanks

 

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