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Can my tourmaline be saved?

swaye2010

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Nov 16, 2015
Messages
1,194
I am really bummed. I sent a stone to a jeweler but it was being sent internationally and the tracking and insurance was getting super expensive so I sent it regular international mail. They obviously ran the letter through a stamping machine and broke the tip off of my yellow tourmaline that I just had cut....yes, lesson learned!

Another Pser graciously lent me her CAD to do a 3 stone. I am the 2nd person to use her CAD for a similar setting but I am going to have to re-think my plan to see if it is even going to work or it I have to start over. The stone is a pale yellow tourmaline that is approximately 10x7.5 and around 5 mm deep. I talked to the gem cutter and he said he will have to get a good look at it. It is a roval and I really don’t want to loose any of the face up size because it was already smaller than I hoped it would be. I decided on this shape as it was closer to a round and made the best use of the rough while getting a flawless stone.

Here is a before pic when I was looking at it with some 1/2 carat side stones.
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Here is the after...the gem cutter said he might be able to make it more like an OEC. I had originally wanted an antique type cut to do a halo but he said it was not the best for brilliance of the stone so I choose a different design. It ended up being too modern for my original oversized halo design. I also don’t know if a shallower stone or a flatter culet is going to hurt this stones performance or give me a window? I need some more experienced eyes. This is my first gemstone project and I wanted to do the whole thing from beginning to end.
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bumping this for you
never trust the postal service
its a lovelly colour
 
bumping this for you
never trust the postal service
its a lovelly colour
Thank you..was hoping someone would have a suggestion! I took for granted that a tourmaline is so much softer than a diamond. Probably needed better packaging for this reason....
 
Tourmalines are softish and as far as wear they get dirty quickly and if you do a lot with the hands can wear pretty fast too, unless in a more protective style setting.
 
If you make an open culet, as the lapidary suggested, it will just look windowed. Open cutlets only really work well with high RI stones like diamonds. This is a tough one, I’m so sorry it was damaged, but it may need a significant recut in order to be salvaged.
 
If you make an open culet, as the lapidary suggested, it will just look windowed. Open cutlets only really work well with high RI stones like diamonds. This is a tough one, I’m so sorry it was damaged, but it may need a significant recut in order to be salvaged.
Thank you for responding. I haven’t seen enough gemstone cuts in person to know how this is going to effect the performance of the stone. I was curious though if the window will only be as large as the point that has been chipped on the bottom or does it get much larger with the recut?. I assume this means it is re-faceted into a different shape and could therefore create a larger window?

I am just so bummed because it was such a nice pale yellow. I had originally wanted a 3 carat stone but ended up with 2 carats. I think if it is going to be reduced in size, then it is better saved for a pendant.
 
Hmm what a pity! I think if you do an open culet it will look odd and probably end up bothering you more. Suggest re-cut totally or find a new stone? :think:
 
I would not recut to an open cullet, all the other facets seem to be cut in a very modern pattern. It is going to look straight up odd. But if you did recut to an open cullet then I would not expect the window to extend beyond the open cullet, as what is important is whethet the facet is inclined beyond the critical angle for total internal reflection. All other intact parts of the pavilion facets should continue to meet that criteria, so I would expect them to remain fine. Again I would completely recut though to fix the optics, rather than just lop off the bottom to create an open cullet.

Maybe look at some photos from top notch faceting. He cuts a lot of open cullets, although like TL said be careful about the fact that material with a higher RI may take this cut better. So see if there are any straight up comparisons to tourmalines with open cullets on his page.
 
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