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Scratch on my sapphire! Help!

EnvEnginerd

Rough_Rock
Joined
Oct 17, 2015
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24
I have a montana sapphire. It has only been outside of the container it shipped in twice since we bought it. Once to take pictures and and once the other day when we took it to a jeweler we were considering having set it in a ring. The day we took pictures we were extremely careful like we were handling an object that could break at the slightest touch. And when it went back into the container it was spotless. There was absolutely not a single thing wrong with it.

I took it to a jeweler the other day. And they were trying to pick it up with the tong things they use. It took two of them to pick it up and they kept dropping it and it kept sliding out of the tongs. They eventually got it and placed it on top of a setting just so we could see it next to different types of metal.

Anyway I just took it out of the container and I noticed there is a HUGE scratch on it on the side where their tongs attempted to pick it up and also where I guess where the setting could have touched it. It was NOT there last time it came out of the container. And the only time it has been out of the container was that day. It literally doesn't ever ever ever leave the container. It sits in there in a jewelery box in a drawer and noone touches it ever because we don't want anything to happen to it.

Is that something that could have happened at the jewelery store? Because I have no idea where else it could have happened that end of the gem is always sitting in a protective foam type material. It literally couldn't have happened anywhere else because it never leaves the container.

I am heartbroken and devastated. Any advice?
 
Try to get a picture of it.

The stone could have been scratched by the tweezers if they used the wrong kind. Or it couldve been fractured when they dropped it.
 
Thanks for the quick response.

Here is a photo of the large scratch. There are also two really small ones but they are hard to capture on the iPhone. But this one is big. You can catch the scratch with your nail.

_2842.jpeg
 
That's terrible. It looks like they scraped the stone against the prong? On the upside, you might be able to get it polished out without changing its face up size.
 
Good to know my originally reaction wasn't completely outrageous. I haven't spoken to the jewelry store yet because I wanted to hear some opinions from people who know what they are looking at first. Thank you. I thought it looked pretty bad. So sad. I hope that it can be polished out as well without messing up the gem. Really stinks.

Any advise on what would be reasonable to ask of them? Should I have them polish it? Or do you think that since they scratched it I shouldn't take it to them? Idk I am just at a loss about what my next step should be. They have been in operation for over a century so I trusted them blindly.

Will there be any adverse effects on the gem since the scratch is on the side? Will you be able to see it through the top after the gem is set? Will it make it more fragile or anything? Besides me knowing that ugly scratch is there is there any other impact the scratch has on the stone itself?
 
One thing I don't understand, corundum is higher on the moh's scale then metal so it should be impossible for metal tweezers to scratch it right??
 
That is what I thought too. That is why I was so surprised when I saw the scratch. Because the gem never touches anything because it isn't being worn yet. But that was the only time it was being handled really at all, but also sort of harshly. The sales woman was being honestly sort of aggressive with the tweezers. And the gem actually kinda shot out of the tweezers a few times. And then eventually she had the manager come over and grab it. I just assumed since they worked there they wouldn't do anything that could harm the stone so I thought nothing of it until last night when I saw the scratch.

I did find this article while frantically doing some research. They concluded the tweezers can do quite a bit of damage to a gemstone even one with the hardness of a sapphire. Atleast I believe that was the conclusion. I only skimmed the testing section. But it says they scratched the ruby with the tweezers.

http://www.gia.edu/cs/Satellite?blobcol=gfile&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-Disposition&blobheadername2=MDT-Type&blobheadername3=Content-Type&blobheadervalue1=attachment%3B+filename%3DDiamond-Grit-Impregnated-Tweezers%3A-A-Potentially-Destructive-Gemological-Tool&blobheadervalue2=abinary%3B+charset%3DUTF-8&blobheadervalue3=application%2Funknown&blobkey=id&blobtable=GIA_DocumentFile&blobwhere=1355958399395&ssbinary=true
 
TheRedSpinel,
I believe that if improperly handled, tweezers can scratch a sapphire.

EnvEginerd,
I think it can be polished out with minimal material loss and the store should definitely be informed. As an FYI, always inspect the stone before leaving the store because the store can counter that it was damaged by someone else after it left the store. Polishing will not affect the integrity of the stone and the impact of its performance is minimal.
 
Yeah I definitely won't make that mistake again. I honestly didn't even think about it being damaged. The thought never crossed my mind. I just assumed that if tweezers could damage it then they wouldn't have used them. Or they would have atleast given me a warning first. I definitely should have looked though. I am alittle mad at myself that I didn't.
 
So maybe I'm being an optimist here (one can hope, right?) but have you tried rubbing it clean with a cloth? I had something on a mounted sapphire that appeared to be a scratch or crack. It turned out it was not, but something that had gotten on the stone and appeared as if it was a crack...ignore this if you've tried this already.

Anyway, I'm sorry this has happened to you. :blackeye:
 
Looks like a scratch which is a good thing because it can be fixed by a good lapidary without losing much weight.
 
Thank you for your optimism. My significant other tried to wipe it last night with a cloth and nothing. But it never hurts to try again. But sadly nothing. It is definitely a scratch. :( But now that I have had a day to process. I am definitely feeling better about it. It will be covered in the setting. Still stinks but it will still be beautiful to me. :)

Yay! I am glad to hear it can be fixed easily. We have decided to get it set through Brilliantly Engaged. Do you guys know if they also do the repair it needs? I was hoping we could do it all in one fell swoop. Or do you suggest anyone in particular to do it?
 
I commissioned work from a lapidary recently, Dan Stair. I really liked him he was all around excellent. He will cut customers rough, so I'd assume he would polish your pavilion.

Don't know who cut the stone or what it looks like face up but IF the cut could be improved upon in the process that may be something to consider. He could possibly recut the pavilion, eliminating the scratch while improving the optics of the stone. Which would make this entire experience a blessing in disguise.
 
Andrew Gulij is the person who cut the gem. I will attach images of the the gem for the overall condition and cut.

_36933.jpg

_36934.jpg
 
Brilliantly Engaged has access to lapidaries who can polish it out for you.
 
I spoke to the jeweler today and they said they will pay for whatever I decide to do. Brilliantly Engaged said they could fix it when we have it set. The jeweler said they could send it to the person they have do their gem repairs. We are leaning towards having the original gem cutter fix it. We haven't made any decisions yet. We are going to go to the shop in person and discuss our options and go from there.
 
GregS|1459827207|4015540 said:
I commissioned work from a lapidary recently, Dan Stair. I really liked him he was all around excellent. He will cut customers rough, so I'd assume he would polish your pavilion.

Don't know who cut the stone or what it looks like face up but IF the cut could be improved upon in the process that may be something to consider. He could possibly recut the pavilion, eliminating the scratch while improving the optics of the stone. Which would make this entire experience a blessing in disguise.

Seems like you are going to go to the shop and see how it goes, but I wanted to second the above "vote" for Dan Stair. He's amazing!
 
When having repair or polish work done on a cut stone, I usually have a preference for using the original lapidary (if possible), as the person who cut the stone should know the design/angles/polish they used on it, making it quicker and easier for them to fix. Also, most lapidaries charge more to fix someone else's cuts than their own.
 
MissouriRiverSapphireCo|1460041091|4016555 said:
When having repair or polish work done on a cut stone, I usually have a preference for using the original lapidary (if possible), as the person who cut the stone should know the design/angles/polish they used on it, making it quicker and easier for them to fix. Also, most lapidaries charge more to fix someone else's cuts than their own.
2 things here might make the situation different:
1. The shop pays for the polishing because they are the one who dropped the stone
2. Shipping charges back and forth (with insurance) needs to be factored in.
 
Thank you for all the good advice and reassurance!

Good news!

The shop who scratched the stone offered to have the gem repaired by their person. But I mentioned that we really wanted to have the originally cutter do the repair if possible. And they said they would pay either their guy or the original cutter to do the repair. So we are going with the original cutter!
 
So sorry that happened to you, but I'm happy to hear that you're on your way to a good outcome!!
 
Please let us know how the repolishing went and if the original cutter was able to retain size and carat weight! Maybe too have the original cutter invoice the jewelry shop so you won't be out of pocket too much upfront!
 
I will definitely let you all know how it goes! The jeweler is sending the stone out Tuesday to the originally cutter. I can't wait to see what he says and what he does.

The jeweler tried to tell us it is not a scratch that it's an inclusion...(?) I don't know much, but I am like 98% sure it's not an inclusion because we checked the stone during the inspection period. What do you guys think about that?

So he wants the cutter to tell him if it's a scratch or not. And if it is a scratch how much value will be lost to the gem for compensation. They did pay for shipping to the original cutter though so that is good. But only because we argued that it is definitely not an inclusion that we missed when we inspected it.

And they definitely want us to get our setting there. But they don't do hand forged which is something my significant other doesn't seem to want to budge on. And we haven't seen any custom work from there that we honestly liked. We already are dead set on getting it set through Brilliantly Engaged. So I am not sure how the whole thing will turn out.

But I am looking forward to what you all have to say about it being an inclusion and not a scratch.
 
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