Help! Gem experts! Danburite Disaster!

[Independent Gal]

OK, now I''m pretty dumb iwth the whole gemstone thing, but I thought Danburite was supposed to be fairly hard, right?

Anyway, my little bundle of gem-joy arrived yesterday, and today I dropped it (I know, duh) and it CHIPPED! Oh well, at least it wasn''t expensive. BUT.

Does that sound right? Could I have been ''taken for a ride''?

 

[Harriet]

I''m no expert, but they are 7 on the MOH hardness scale. Where did you buy them?

 

[MustangFan]

it''s 7 on the mohls scale

if it had a inclusion it might have just hit it on the right angle?

Sorry to hear, where did you get it from?

 

[Independent Gal]

I got it from AJSGems.com, and it was described as ''loupe clean''. Weird!

7 is pretty hard, right?

 

[diagem]

It can even happen (rarely) to 10 scaled Diamonds...
Sorry to hear,

 

[belle]

''hardness'' by the moh''s scale only defines how easily the gem is scratched. it doesn''t define the indesctructibility. there is a risk of damage anytime you drop anything.

sorry!

 

[Independent Gal]

WAAAAAHHHH!

I guess I''ll get over it.

 

[chrono]

Is it bad? Salvageable? Pics?

 

[Dee*Jay]

IG, my loose sapphire (so harder than your stone) was dropped a few inches onto a granite countertop and chipped.

 

[Independent Gal]

Dee Jay! That is TERRIBLE!

Chrono, yes, it''s bad. I suppose I could get it re-cut, but I don''t think that would be worth it. After all, part of the joy of danburite is that it''s delicious clean white sparkliness comes at about $17 a carat. So it''s not like I''m out a lot of cash.

Still, I had grown quite fond of the little guy in the 22 hours we had together.

 

[Richard M.]

I.G.,

Your comment about your "little bundle of joy" makes me think of babies, of course. And the first rule with gems, as with babies, is never, ever drop them!

As Belle pointed out, hardness has nothing to do with a gem''s breakability. Dropping any gem, including the hardest, diamond, can easily damage them.

Back in the boom days of the diamond rush in South Africa there was a diamond buyer who made a fortune by exploiting that misunderstanding. When sellers came to him with large rough diamonds he''d "test" them by putting them on an anvil and smacking them with a hammer. When they shattered he''d say "Sorry, not a diamond." Once the sellers were out of sight he''d pick up whatever pieces were left and sell them for cutting. That scoundrel is infamous for destroying one of the largest red diamonds ever found with his "anvil test."

Richard M.

 

[Independent Gal]

Richard, that''s a great story, and one I will keep in mind! This was my first ''loose gem'' experience since looking over my brother''s shoulder when someone gave him a rock polisher as a bday gift when I was ...7?

I have learned my lesson and promise to treat any unset gems I acquire in the future with greater care! Guess I shouldn''t have coated my fingers in oil before I took it out to look at.

Another way of looking at this: maybe I shouldn''t have KIDS!!!

Are you the Richard who is cutting the Danburite for Gypsy?

I tried to check out your website but it says ''under development''. Do I use the e-mail address on that page to discuss a possible replacement with you?

 

[FireGoddess]

So sorry to her IG....the only consolation is that it wasn''t very expensive. I hope you can get another you love as much!

 

[pricescope]

Nothing odd about it IG, if you drop a diamond bad enough it might chip too, has little to do with hardness. If it makes you feel better i dropped my fresh new out of shipment package sapphire on the tile floor and chipped it's corner.
Can your danburite still be set, chip covered by a setting?

ETA: sorry i did not see all the posts before reply, rushed to comfort you

, but to be useful here's the link to Gallery's Showcase where Richard M. recently posted his danburite.

 

[Richard M.]

Date: 4/26/2007 12:35:41 PM
Author: Independent Gal

Are you the Richard who is cutting the Danburite for Gypsy?

I tried to check out your website but it says ''under development''. Do I use the e-mail address on that page to discuss a possible replacement with you?

Yes to both questions.

Richard M.

 

[Gypsy]

I''m sorry you dropped your lovely new stone!! That''s so dissapointing!

I''m getting three danburites from Richard. He''s been very nice about getting me photos of his stock. And um... I went a little nuts. But I''m excited. Mine are all smaller ones. 5x5 to 8 x 6 ish.

 

[Mag00]

eee! sorry to hear that!

I dropped a small sapphire in my dorm (only gem I had there, now its home)
and of course our carpet is mixed shades of blue...

took me a while to find it! lol

 

[MustangFan]

Can you post pics anyway? I love to see it

 

[twodoor2]

I don''t know where I heard this (maybe in pricescope), but if you drop a kunzite, you get lots of "baby kunzites." Unfortunately brittleness is not always related to hardness. At least it wasn''t a super expensive stone if that''s any consolation.

 

[ger100]

I''m no expert either. But how a stone breaks or shatters, chips, polishes, whatever...doesn''t that have something to do with its CLEAVAGE? Isn''t this what gem cutters have to be aware of, the type of cleavage?

Ger

 

[londonblue]

With sharp, blunt trauma, the stone''s cleavage will determine how easily a piece chips or is sheared off. The drawback of diamonds are that they have perfect cleavage
I believe it has to do w/ the arrangement of the atoms in the crystalline structure of a stone that determine which angles and planes that it will split most easily on.

So although a gemstone like diamond may be high on the hardness scale, I''m sure many diamond fans are aware of their weakness to sudden, blunt force.

 

[Independent Gal]

Cleavage, huh. Now, see? I always thought cleavage was a GOOD thing.

Well, my new Danburite is on its way, and I intend to treat it like one of grammy's antique teacups. Actually, my grammy doesn't have any antique teacups, but if she did. Y'know. That's how I'll be treating my new gem. When it gets here! (Thanks Richard!)

Picture attached!

 

[Independent Gal]

Oops!

Here it is. Hello sparkles! I hope those aren't inclusions. Richard says it's completely eye clean, so I'm guessing that's a camera issue? 3.8ish cts

 

[pricescope]

it''s not the camera either, it''s the background showing thru, don''t worry. Beautiful gem!

 

[Gypsy]

My photos had the same grainyness... and Richard said the stones are eyeclean... and they TOTALLY ARE. He sent me that one too, and while I loved it... I wanted all different shapes to play with them and see how the cut shape affects performance. Wierd but true. At the price... I could totally do that without breaking the bank! I can't wait until you get yours!