Help! What to do about tiny chip in good ruby?

[boerumbiddy]

This is my first post, and I would call myself a discerning beginner. Now I have my first problem. In December 2012, bought my first serious gem, a 1.97-carat unheated and otherwise untreated round ruby with GIA certification, of uncertain origin. It has an excellent color, what I would call stop-light red, and several jewelers who have seen it have told me that it is the true pigeon's-blood hue. (I wish I could figure out how to upload a picture. Will try later.) I got it from a dealer from whom I have bought other things for many decades and whom I trust, and I think I got quite a bargain. Is it crass to mention dollars? About half what I think it would cost to replace it, and I won't be buying anything like it anytime soon. I had it set in yellow gold, with gold-colored prongs for the ruby and white-gold ones for the trilliant side diamonds, and I must say it makes a good impression, especially on me!
That is until today, when I was compulsively re-examining it with a loup. There is a tiny chip just at the point where two facets meet each other at the girdle. I am 99.99 percent sure it was not there when I bought it or when I picked it up after having it set, as I am near-sighted and picky, and I think I would have seen it when I examined it. It is not mentioned in the GIA report. It is just barely visible without a loup if you know where to look. I have must have done more rough work with my hands than I remember, alas.
The questions are: Have I managed to destroy a big share of the value? Not that I plan to sell it anytime soon; in fact I have promised it to a niece when I shuffle off this mortal coil. And what if anything should I do about it? Should I try to get it polished? I think the flaw would disappear in a bezel setting; should I consider having it reset? It is now in an 18-karat classic four-prong Tiffany-style mounting, for which I paid under $1000.
Help!

 

[LD]

This is my first post, and I would call myself a discerning beginner. Now I have my first problem. In December 2012, bought my first serious gem, a 1.97-carat unheated and otherwise untreated round ruby with GIA certification, of uncertain origin. It has an excellent color, what I would call stop-light red, and several jewelers who have seen it have told me that it is the true pigeon's-blood hue. (I wish I could figure out how to upload a picture. Will try later.) I got it from a dealer from whom I have bought other things for many decades and whom I trust, and I think I got quite a bargain. Is it crass to mention dollars? About half what I think it would cost to replace it, and I won't be buying anything like it anytime soon. I had it set in yellow gold, with gold-colored prongs for the ruby and white-gold ones for the trilliant side diamonds, and I must say it makes a good impression, especially on me!
That is until today, when I was compulsively re-examining it with a loup. There is a tiny chip just at the point where two facets meet each other at the girdle. I am 99.99 percent sure it was not there when I bought it or when I picked it up after having it set, as I am near-sighted and picky, and I think I would have seen it when I examined it. It is not mentioned in the GIA report. It is just barely visible without a loup if you know where to look. I have must have done more rough work with my hands than I remember, alas.
The questions are: Have I managed to destroy a big share of the value? Not that I plan to sell it anytime soon; in fact I have promised it to a niece when I shuffle off this mortal coil. And what if anything should I do about it? Should I try to get it polished? I think the flaw would disappear in a bezel setting; should I consider having it reset? It is now in an 18-karat classic four-prong Tiffany-style mounting, for which I paid under $1000.
Help!

It's a tiny chip right? Stop panicking. So long as it's just a chip then it's best to leave well alone. If you repolish it you'll have to find somebody who is reputable and you trust to do it, then they have to unmount it, polish it and set it again. For a tiny chip it's really not worth it. What you shouldn't do is think about bezelling over it. If it's not a chip then this could have disasterous consequences. To be on the safe side, just take it to a jeweller and make sure it is only a chip and not anything more sinister.

Gemstones, even diamonds which are the most durable, will crack, break or chip if dropped or banged just in the wrong direction. That's a way of life.

As for affecting value? It's highly unlikely.

BTW just for future reference, we recommend using AGL not GIA for coloured gemstone reports and we will never use the term pigeon blood red because basically what person A thinks is that colour, person B won't! It's highly subjective and not an accurate descriptor.

Hope that helps.

 

[boerumbiddy]

Yes, that helps a lot. Leave well enough alone is always good advice. I would have taken it to my jeweler as soon as I found the chip but of course it was after sunset on Friday of a big holiday weekend..... It came with its GIA cert. so of course I did not think to take it elsewhere, as I loved the color, and the price. And you are right, as I tried to make clear, I understand that pigeon's blood is a subjective designation, and not one that I myself would make.

 

[chrono]

A slight nick does affect the value but only ever so slightly. It's not a chip, right? If you cannot see it with the naked eye 6 inches away, leave it as is. It is normal to get little stuff like that called "wear and tear" throughout our daily activities.

 

[LD]

A slight nick does affect the value but only ever so slightly. It's not a chip, right? If you cannot see it with the naked eye 6 inches away, leave it as is. It is normal to get little stuff like that called "wear and tear" throughout our daily activities.

Oooooh that's interesting because I use the word chip where you have used the word nick! I'm not sure where the difference is apart from a chip can be a big or small nick! I wonder if this is an across the pond language thing!?

 

[chrono]

Sounds like a verbiage thing. Chip sounds big! Nick sounds tiny. Basically, if you can't see it without a loupe, let it go. If you can see it or feel it with a nail, polish it out. I know that when reselling, people always shy from stones with a chip, and sometimes with nicks, expecting a discount.

 

[minousbijoux]

Yes, I too, do not see a difference between a nick and a chip, other than in my head I think of a nick more of as a gash and less as a chunk chipped off.

Unfortunately, OP, that is the price of wear and tear. The good news is that it sounds very small. I agree with the others that you should wear it and enjoy it. When it changes hands some day, or changes setting, you can send it to a reputable lapidary and have it ever so slightly recut or polished out. I would be very curious to see photos of its color and the chip and to know what you paid for a stop light red untreated ruby of unknown origin.

 

[boerumbiddy]

I am afraid it is more of a chip than a nick. I can in fact feel it with my fingernail, and can see it without a loup, though I do know exactly where to look. It seems to me that it might be polishable while still in its four-prong setting, but will have a knowledgeable jeweler look at it to be sure.

 

[boerumbiddy]

The ruby (1.97 carats, unheated, red/transparent, per GIA) and the trilliant side stones (0.52 carat total, G/VS) were $5300; the 18K yellow-gold setting (which I believe was mass-produced, not custom-made) was $700. I would love to post a picture, and have uploaded one, but it disappeared into the ether of this forum. Any suggestions on how to do it properly would be gratefully accepted.

 

[boerumbiddy]

I have successfully uploaded the pre-chip Iphone shot to my profile picture; cannot figure out how to attach full-size version to my post, however. This may be it.

 

[boerumbiddy]

You might be interested in one of my false starts, a much larger (3 carats) and cheaper ruby that looked red in the dealer's online post but turned out to be a pleasing neon pink. I could have returned it but it has its own charm, and I kept it to wear with compatible colors.

 

[boerumbiddy]

In other words, neither of these stones looks like its picture. The small one is truly red, with a hint of blue in some lights. The big one is pink.

 

[Fly Girl]

Here is a great ruby. This is a 8.24 ct ruby ring that was appraised for $1 - $1.5 million. It sold just over a year ago for $4.2 million. It has several chips or nicks where the facets meet, but apparently that did not affect the value. Nor did they bother to polish them out.

I saw no mention of the nicks in the AGL report, which focused on the color and clarity. I was surprised to see this, but I'm sure Liz Taylor wore and enjoyed her ruby ring, nicks and all.

 

[chrono]

I would still leave it alone. A stone cannot be polished mounted; it must be removed from the setting if the lapidary cares to do a good job correctly. In the late Ms Taylor's case, a ruby of that size, colour, clarity, untreated state and provenance makes it so rare that hardly anything will affect its value, short of major damage. Mere mortals like us own simpler stones of lower quality that are more easily affected price-wise when damaged.

 

[boerumbiddy]

Fab! I saw the Liz Taylor ruby in real life, just before she died, in the Van Cleef & Arpels exhibition at the Cooper Hewitt. I love the color of that one and had no idea about the chips. She apparently asked for one with an excellent color, and got it. Just like Liz, I plan to wear mine and enjoy it. I will worry about flaws if I ever have to sell it, God forbid. The small blemish I found does not seem to interfere with its appearance. As my mother always said, on a dark night on a galloping horse, who can tell?

 

[Fly Girl]

That's the spirit! Rock those pretties!

Oh, I wish I could have seen some of Liz Taylor's amazing jewels in person. I do have the Christie's 5 volume color auction catalog and that is where I noticed the nicks on this ring. Evidence that she really wore and enjoyed her jewels. As should we all.

 

[minousbijoux]

At the risk of stating the obvious, I would say that just the fact that it was Liz's adds quite a bit to the provenance!

As for yours, brb, I LOVE your mum's expression! I'll try and remember that one.