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Thread: Help and advice please!

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
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    3

    Default Help and advice please!

    I have been given some rough uncut stones possibly rubies that my relative purchased from workers in Kenya some 50 years ago ... There are 14 pieces in rough size about 10ct a piece ...that's a guesstimate as I don't have a clue !! So my newbie questions ... I understand I need to get the stones identified ...any recommendations ...and a rough cost ......then if they are real ...and I have little doubt they are due to the history given ...where do I go to have them cut and polished ....and will it be worth it in the long run ?? I would really apreciate some direction here ...thanks

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
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    Romsey
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    Yield from rough when faceting is around the 20% mark as a (hopefully) worst case; even so, that would give you 2ct stones. 1ct = 0.2g if you weren't already aware. Identification proper should be done by a qualified gemmologist (which I am not) - a reasonable guess at what they are would involve polishing a facet on and measuring the refractive index as well as measuring the specific gravity. There may be enhancements such as heat treatment have been done to the rough.

    Cutting them is not always that fast a process - the polishing is just another stage of cutting, just with finer abrasives. Doing it accurately - so that facets meet at points rather than lines - is time consuming. Part of it is mechanical, the other part trying to gauge how much pressure you put on the stone on the last facet, how the wheel sounds... It's actually quite a lot of fun.

    Worth it? Only you know the answer to that one. If it's monetary worth then as with everything, it's a gamble. If they turn out to be rubies, they could be too heavily included to be worth cutting; try sticking them in a glass of water (or glycerine if you have it) and shining a torch through them; you may be able to see into the stone more readily then. Sentimental value if all else fails?

  3. #3
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    If the size is right, they could also be worth mounting as they are. Dennis

  4. #4
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    Mar 2013
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    Im by no stretch of the imagination anywhere close to being expert at identifying gems or to advise you on your questions Im afraid.

    However if they were mine and given the fact they were handed to you from family, then I'd be tempted to mount them as they are into some nicely designed jewellery. Not all gemstones need to be faceted and polished to look great in finished jewellery I think.

    Nick

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
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    3

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    Thanks Peter ...so I put them into a glass of glycerine ....and shone the torch ....wow how pretty !! They came alive !

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
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    Romsey
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    There are higher refractive index liquids than that, but they tend to be a bit more toxic. Glycerine's a nice compromise.

    So, could you see much in the way of inclusions through the stone?

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