Fixing a chipped diamond - Before and After Pictures

[greekmike]

And here is the stone after recutting. We lost five points and a bit of diameter, so now the stone weighs 0.96ct. Cost to the customer for the recut was $75.

My point is simple. While chips sound terrible, they can often be repaired inexpensively and with little loss to the weight of the diamond.

Hope this helps.

I have an old mine cut of about 1.88 carats. It’s got a few nicks in it (tiny) and was thinking of a light repolish but was nervous about it fracturing on the wheel or losing weigh

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

This is an old thread but
wow !

 

[blingmeupscotty]

Hi Guys,

With all the stories of chipped diamonds (accompanied by an equal amount of confusion and anxiety), I thought it might be helpful to share a recent experience we had with one of our customers.

This particular customer purchased a GIA 1.01ct I-VS1 princess set into a classic platinum solitaire. Here is what the ring looked like right before we put it in the Fedex box.

My question is this [yes this is an old thread but I'm hoping for a response],

Was the diamond enhanced? Was the diamond originally purchased from JA? Or is this just a service you offer?

Thanks

 

[demantoidz]

Here's another amazing recut story, though not to fix a chip, but to change the cut from round to radiant, resulting in a massive color difference.

.55ct
Natural Light Green

to

.48ct
Fancy Intense Green

Green FCD: Amazing Recut Results

I received this information on September 23rd. I made a thread on another diamond forum that I frequent and I fully intended to post it here, but for some reason forgot. Then yesterday I saw the diamond on Leibish and it reminded me to do this. Months ago I decided to focus my FCD collecting...

www.pricescope.com

 

[greekmike]

I have an old mine cut of about 1.88 carats. It’s got a few nicks in it (tiny) and was thinking of a light repolish but was nervous about it fracturing on the wheel or losing weigh

Amazing!!!

 

[denverappraiser]

To be fair, since this is mostly an educational post, I would expect that repair to cost 3x that (or more), plus a new GIA, plus resetting, possibly some prong repairs, plus some shipping, and I would expect more weight loss than that.

 

[denverappraiser]

I have an old mine cut of about 1.88 carats. It’s got a few nicks in it (tiny) and was thinking of a light repolish but was nervous about it fracturing on the wheel or losing weigh

Losing weight is a given. The only thing a cutter can do is subtract. How much you'll lose will depend on the details. Normally, cleaning up the edges of a OMC doesn't take all that much in terms of weight but there are exceptions. The risk of further damage is decently low but not zero, and no cutter will assume the risk if there's a problem, nor will they guarantee their results in terms of weight loss. I have to say, I've had hundreds of damaged stones recut over the years, and never a single one fracture on the wheel. That sound you hear through your computer is me knocking on wood.

 

[denverappraiser]

For people following this, the usual process is:

• Evaluate the problem. This may involve hiring experts and may require reports for the benefit of your insurance company if you have one involved. It’s a complicated question and there may be a fee here. If you’re insured, the fee is part of the loss, by the way.
• Remove the stone from the mounting. Don’t do this at home, hire a pro. It’s easy to cause additional damage to the stone, the mounting, or both. It's usually not all that hard but practice and the right tools helps a lot.
• Ship it insured to a cutter. Get an evaluation and an estimate. As with the above, there’s sometimes a fee here and, if you are in the middle of an insurance claim, that fee, and the shipping, are part of a covered loss.
• Recut. Sometimes this is easy, sometimes it’s a full remake of the piece. The difference is why step #3 is there.
• Repair the mounting. Often the prongs are damaged in the same event that damaged the stone. In others, it’s just wear and tear. There may be other problems as well (which is why you did step #1).
• Ship it insured to GIA and back. If it was GIA before, it’s not now. It’s smaller if nothing else but the cut, clarity, and even the color may change. The old inspection and report no longer apply. Your jeweler, your cutter, or your appraiser may be able to help.
• Reset it.
• Update the appraisal.
• Update the insurance.
• Live long and prosper.

 

[CalliopeCladdagh]

 

[Wink]

To be fair, since this is mostly an educational post, I would expect that repair to cost 3x that (or more), plus a new GIA, plus resetting, possibly some prong repairs, plus some shipping, and I would expect more weight loss than that.

I agree with @denverappraiser. I would have paid my cutter more than that.

 

[La2020]

Amazing!

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

For people following this, the usual process is:

• Evaluate the problem. This may involve hiring experts and may require reports for the benefit of your insurance company if you have one involved. It’s a complicated question and there may be a fee here. If you’re insured, the fee is part of the loss, by the way.
• Remove the stone from the mounting. Don’t do this at home, hire a pro. It’s easy to cause additional damage to the stone, the mounting, or both. It's usually not all that hard but practice and the right tools helps a lot.
• Ship it insured to a cutter. Get an evaluation and an estimate. As with the above, there’s sometimes a fee here and, if you are in the middle of an insurance claim, that fee, and the shipping, are part of a covered loss.
• Recut. Sometimes this is easy, sometimes it’s a full remake of the piece. The difference is why step #3 is there.
• Repair the mounting. Often the prongs are damaged in the same event that damaged the stone. In others, it’s just wear and tear. There may be other problems as well (which is why you did step #1).
• Ship it insured to GIA and back. If it was GIA before, it’s not now. It’s smaller if nothing else but the cut, clarity, and even the color may change. The old inspection and report no longer apply. Your jeweler, your cutter, or your appraiser may be able to help.
• Reset it.
• Update the appraisal.
• Update the insurance.
• Live long and prosper.

I too have had heaps of diamonds repolished. Maybe more than 1,000 but less than 5,000.
I had one break - when we were selling lots of princess cuts a decade or more ago I had my local cutter polish a tinly flat on the 4 corners to reduce the breakage risk.
One carat F VS2 from memory lost about 1/4 of the stone and has beautiful cleavage cracks all through the stone.
Tried to find a photo but can't - I am sure I have posted it on PS before???