Fracture Filled Emeralds

[chantal990]

Hi,

I was wondering if there is any way to tell if an emerald has been fracture filled and what oit has been filled with that would not hurt it if it is a wax filling as I am not sure where I could get it refilled in Melbourne if this is the case.

Thanks to anyone who can help

 

[chantal990]

BTW Here''s a pic of the emerald I am worried about.

 

[valeria101]

Date: 1/18/2005 12:16:23 AM
Author:Emeraldgirl

I was wondering if there is any way to tell if an emerald has been fracture filled and what oit has been filled with

Most are removable... and sure all the detailed can be cleared once the piece gets into the hand of a gemologist.

What the photo shows is enough texture that is unlikely to dissapear no matter what filler is used. If anything, there is no need to worry about durability or anything when taking a photo, so there is no guarantee (other then the reputation of the seller, which I have no idea of and hope not to tresspass) that this wasn''t dipped in cooking oil just before the shot for what that matters. Regardless, there seen to be lots of scratches on the surface as if the very included material couldn''t be polished well - something rather common, really. Those aren''t filled with anything as yet and would likely remain obvious due to their size after oil or resin is applied.

Perhaps these sound pretty worrisome

but this is not intended. I wouldn''t care much for any of the above. Once the price is right and the piece meets expectations this is it.

 

[chantal990]

Hi Ana,

It is a stone I have recently inherited from my grandmother and I am considering having it made into a peice of jewellery. I know it is not a highly valued emerald money wise but it emotionally and so I want to be sure before I give it to a jeweller to work with that it is ok to be set and it won''t hopefully be as fragile as a fracture filled stone can be although I know emeralds are not too easy to work with apparently.

 

[Michael_E]

Emeraldgirl,
When setting emeralds the most worrisome problems are the ones that you can''t see. Fracture filled emeralds are no more fragile than those that haven''t been filled. It''s just that if you can''t see the fractures, you may put pressure somewhere that you shouldn''t. Make sure that your jeweler has had experience in setting softer stones and that they are comfortable with doing this. Your jeweler will undoubtedly examine this stone very closely to see if there are any filled or hidden fractures so that they don''t have a problem when setting it. I would also recommend that this be set in a pendant or broach so that you don''t have to worry about damaging it by hitting it against something, as you might if it were set in a ring. Even though it''s fairly included the color is very good and it should make a very pretty piece of jewelry.

 

[valeria101]

Date: 1/18/2005 12:47:24 AM
Author: Emeraldgirl


It is a stone I have recently inherited from my grandmother and I am considering having it made into a peice of jewellery.

Oh, I see... since this is not comming from a jeweler, than it is quite likely that whatever clarity treatmet it may have had needs refreshing. "Fracture filling" is meant as a clarity enhancement, not a way to mend cracks that might otherwise make a stone fragile. That may happen, but it''s not something to expect by default.
Even opaque emerald with great color is quite expensive. Don''t know US prices much, but around here you get some crazy quotes for such stones. Felt like foolish, really.

 

[chantal990]

I''m not form the US either and the prices here are pretty awful as well but I can understand why emeralds are fantastic stones. I was originally going to have it set in a ring but changed my mind. I am really wanting to have this one set in a pendant kind of like this one.