will this tsavorite burst during setting?

[GemFever]

I just got a tsavorite from ebay (gemcut) in the mail, and I was really curious to see what it looked like IRL, because the one pic the seller had of it looked cloudy. My first impression was a good one, it's clear enough (for my tastes). But a second later I turned it over and saw what looks like a crack. Then I noticed a line going all the way down the front, on the side of the stone. I guess I got what I paid for (around $30), and it's cracked. My question is whether it is guaranteed to bust during setting. I wanted to send it to my favorite Etsy seller to be set like this:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/84904765/chekker-cut-spessartite-necklace-in

But now I'm not even sure if it's worth the postage and her time to try it. Any thoughts?

- Anya

 

[Pandora II]

Does it run all the way round, front and back?

I'm not a bench jeweller, so I can't really say about the setting, but I wouldn't want to hammer anything too near the stone with that crack, you'd probably be better with simple prongs.

To be honest, I would advise spending a bit more to get a stone that merits the investment of time and money in setting it.

 

[LD]

Is it a crack or is it a large fingerprint inclusion? If it's a crack then it will affect the durability of the gem especially one that size and there are no guarantees that if you knock it in the wrong place it won't split. Having said that, if it's not surface reaching it might be ok (but you'd still need to be careful). Pandora's advice is spot on and I'd urge you also to get it checked out locally before spending more money on it.

 

[GemFever]

Thank you for your responses!

Pandora: you are absolutely right--I will probably skip setting this stone and save up for a nicer one that will be worth setting. On a small budget it's tempting to try to find "bargains." And the couple times you do get lucky on ebay keep you coming back for more. Definitely a dangerous trend.

LovingDiamonds: I guess if it is an inclusion, it wouldn't show up as a crack on the surface of the facets, right? I think it's probably a crack after all, though. I'm pretty sure it reaches the surface.

I guess I'll just put this stone into my unset stone box and look at it every time I'm about to commit to something on ebay that I think is too good to be true

Thanks again for your feedback!

- Anya

 

[LD]

Some inclusions can look like cracks and can be deceiving! I have one inclusion in a stone that I swear looks like a sliver of copper! I think you're wise to put this in the practise box.

 

[Pandora II]

It looks like an internal fracture inclusion that is surface reaching (ie something that happened when the stone was forming, not that happened because someone dropped it if that makes sense).

In the first picture you can see the crack line on the facet that the light reflects off, so it's definitely not all internal.

 

[GemFever]

Thanks again for your replies!

I wonder if it would be possible to cut this stone down, to cut off the inclusion and still have a usable stone. Of course it would be half its size, but... hard to let go of this green little thing. Oh well, at least i'll have it to look at.

Happy Friday,

Anya

 

[Pandora II]

To be honest, the material isn't good enough to spend the money having it recut (more than you paid for the stone to start with) and you would probably end up with a very small stone.

Stones that I have like that (and I learnt a fair bit buying similar and FAR FAR worse) I put aside in a box. For my daughter's 6th or 7th birthday I plan to do a treasure hunt with a paddling pool full of sand with gemstones mixed in and the kids can 'pan' for them. That way the stones have an end purpose and will make some 6 year-old very excited one day!

 

[minousbijoux]

Well, I love the color even if it is included. And Pandora, that is a great idea for your daughter's birthday. I would've loved that at her age - heck, I'd love to do it now!

 

[GemFever]

I agree, what a cool idea! I will try to remember to implement it in some number of years

- Anya

 

[Pandora II]

My secret confession is that I love doing it to the point that I actually pay for us both to pan for 'jewels' at the couple of places that do it in the UK. Despite knowing that I'm probably paying more than it would cost to buy the same bag of sparkly bits off eBay, it's just such fun and I get all excited when I find a crappy 0.15ct faceted aquamarine!

Daughter is only 2 so I've got a few years to keep collecting my icky stones for her!

 

[GemFever]

that's so cool I've never heard of places like that. Though I have heard of places where you actually look for rough, but more like agate, I imagine. Somewhere in the mountains here on the US East Coast, and probably all over the country where there is mining. I should give one of those places a try sometime

Since this was brought up... I once ordered a custom ring from an etsy seller and then followed his flikr site for custom orders for a while. One of his rings had the following caption "Luke panned for gold in Alaska for two weeks to get enough gold to make this engagement ring!" How cool is that!

 

[pregcurious]

Daughter is only 2 so I've got a few years to keep collecting my icky stones for her!

I have a toddler also and am totally doing this! You are the coolest mom ever. Ebay, here I come.