In a recent post on our site, Karin Kloosterman and Yael Berlinger covered “green jewelry”, a.k.a. environmentally friendly jewelry. The first “R” in living green is, of course: reuse. However, unfortunately, many of the once beautiful jewels that were used in generations past are now scratched, chipped or otherwise damaged. Most of us will keep these heirlooms stashed away at the bottom of the jewelry box as “mementos”, but would never wear them in the shape they are currently in. If the setting is destroyed, of course, a new one can be purchased or designed. What to do though when the gem itself is damaged?
One of the most common chips is on the girdle of stone (the widest point). If this is the case, you might be interested in the "quick fix”. A “trick” that was once used by unscrupulous sellers of jewelry to fool unsuspecting buyers might well be able to very affordably turn your terribly chipped circle cut jewel into a seemingly flawless piece. Simply request a jeweler to turn the gemstone so that the chip rests under the prong.
Environmentally Friendly Jewelry
My grandmother’s engagement ring is gorgeous. It is simple platinum with a beautiful circle cut diamond and a simple baguette cut diamond on each side. Unfortunately, in her work as a typist in the early days of the typewriter, the center stone was chipped relatively deeply on one of the edges. I had a jeweler turn the stone for me; now one of the prongs from the setting rests snuggled into the groove of the chip. It takes a very careful and up-close look to see the flaw that used to be quite glaring.
If turning the stone isn’t an option, either because you want a perfect stone or because the flaw is too large or not in a place that can easily be covered, then re-polishing or re-cutting the stone is the next option if you want environmentally friendly jewelry.
This Is How Gemstones are Cut (and Re-Cut)
Polishing the stone will help if the flaw is more or less limited to the surface. Any deeper, and the stone will probably need to be re-cut. The location and size of the flaw, the shape of the stone and the creativity of the gemstone cutter will all determine what the stone will look like at the end of the “repair” and how much of it will be lost. Many times, if the cutter is talented, the final result will be even more beautiful than the original cut and not too much smaller. Of course, if you want the gem to fit into the same setting, you will need to provide the cutter with the setting and explain your needs. One risk when refurbishing a natural crystal is that due to some previously unknown flaw/stress/cleavage in the original gem, the crystal could theoretically fall apart with no fault (no pun intended) to the cutter. Most cutters will have some sort of disclaimer that will eliminate their liability in this instance.
Finally, if the gem is too badly damaged or too poorly designed to start with, you may decide together with your cutter that you want to start from scratch. That is, to use the gem as a “rough”. If this happens, you will lose a lot of the mass of the gem, but you can get a lot more say in what the final design looks like.
No matter what you choose, most cutters will charge by the hour and, depending on the type and quality of the stone, it might not be cheaper than buying a new stone. It will however be environmentally friendly jewelry (no extra mining) with the added plus of getting your grandmother’s jewels back where they belong: out and about.
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