Cost of re-cutting emerald

[GLudlow]

I have a general question I''m having a hard time finding an answer to on eBay. In general, how much does it cost to have an emerald re-cut? My specific concern is a 1.3 carat emerald I''ve found with a small indentation in the table. The cut is fairly deep but the table is already a tough bigger than ideal.

Are we talking $100, $500, $1,000 to have the stone cut to eliminate the indentation? Is it even worth it on such a small stone? The value of the stone I''m not sure of yet (waiting to hear the price) but it should be around $3000-$3500 as it is.

And I know, emeralds ar fragile, etc etc.

 

[katbadness]

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On 5/3/2004 5:30:31 PM GLudlow wrote:


In general, how much does it cost to have an emerald re-cut? My specific concern is a 1.3 carat emerald I've found with a small indentation in the table. The cut is fairly deep but the table is already a tough bigger than ideal.


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I think it may actually depend on the difficulty involved in smoothing out the indentation you're speaking of. An experienced cutter will have to take a look at the stone itself to gauge what needs to be done to do what you request him/her to do.

Other factors involved will obviously be how much the cutter will charge to do this.

 

[Richard M.]

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On 5/3/2004 5:30:31 PM GLudlow wrote:

In general, how much does it cost to have an emerald re-cut?

Be very careful here. Before laying out the kind of money you mention be absolutely certain the divot can be removed without serious weight loss. I suspect the original cutter didn't leave it by accident. It may be that removing it would have resulted in a smaller stone, possibly putting its weight under 1 ct..

Removing a "small" indentation from a flat facet can result in serious symmetry problems. Little dings can begin to resemble the Grand Canyon when you realize the entire table must be cut down to the lowest point of the cavity. What will that much lowering do to the top row of facets and the total crown depth?

Recuts shouldn't cost more than $150-$200 assuming the stone is sound. Some cutters might charge more for emerald because of its reputation for being touchy. No sane cutter will guarantee against breakage -- recuts are "at your own risk."

Before committing to buy the stone make sure you can show it to a qualified cutter and get a professional opinion. If the seller won't allow that, my advice is to find another stone.

Richard M.

 

[Michael_E]

GLudlow,
I'm a cutter with close to 20 years of experience and I'll give you a very accurate and totally objective answer, "It all depends".

Where is the indentation located ? How far into the stone does it go and in what direction ? Is it related to some internal defect in the stone ? Most importantly, has the stone been treated with any filling materials ?

When re-cutting something like this I use an epoxy to hold the stone to the dop, (part of the cutting machine). There are two ways to get the stone off the dop after it's been re-cut and polished. One is to heat the stone and dop in water, the adhesive gets soft, you pop the stone off and let the stone cool off with the water. This works pretty well UNLESS the stone has weak spots, then you run the risk of pulling some of the stone off with the dop. The second removal method is to use a paint remover material to dissolve the adhesive. This works great, unless the stone has been treated with oil or resin, in which case the paint remover will also remove any treatments...not so great.

I've never heard of an emerald this size being worth that much, even without a fissure in it's surface. It would make me very nervous to be cutting something like this, with the owner thinking it was worth that much. There are a LOT of risks inherent in cutting emerald and you should expect to be the one bearing that risk, regardless of who does the cutting. My advice would be to leave it alone, unless the flaw is very obvious, in which case the valuation is probably off by a factor of 10.

Oh, by the way, the cost to do something like that runs between $80 and $150 depending on whether the whole stone needs to be re-cut or just the crown.