Scratch on my spinel, need answers about polishing.

[Lovinggems]

Today is the first day I had the opportunity to view my spinel out in the sun and I can see a long scratch on the botton pavilion, I can see it pretty clearly face up since it''s an emerald cut.

I was wondering if it''ll be pretty easy to polish it out?

I am not sure if it arrived in this condition or if I scratched it, I did held the gem in a diamond grabber like this one
http://www.aussiesapphire.com.au/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=11_15&products_id=631 .

I am hoping it is an easy fix.

 

[Michael_E]

It all depends on where the scratch is, what the angles of the stone are, and what your requirements are. Polishing is not really polishing, since it usually requires that the area to be polished receive a light grind, called a prepolish, to get down to the level of the bottom of the scratch. Polishing itself doesn''t remove any material to speak of, but that prepolish can cause facets junctions to get out of whack and this often necessitates that the entire pavilion or crown be repolished. If the scratch is located very close to the culet and there''s enough room to just repolish the two opposing facets along the culet, then this would be quite easy and inexpensive, (maybe $20 or so). If you have to do a repolish on the entire pavilion then you might be looking at $60 or $70. The toughest part is getting the stone out and then in again without messing up the prongs. Just out of curiosity...how did it get scratched in that location ?

 

[Lovinggems]

Date: 12/11/2009 11:19:17 PM
Author: Michael_E
It all depends on where the scratch is, what the angles of the stone are, and what your requirements are. Polishing is not really polishing, since it usually requires that the area to be polished receive a light grind, called a prepolish, to get down to the level of the bottom of the scratch. Polishing itself doesn''t remove any material to speak of, but that prepolish can cause facets junctions to get out of whack and this often necessitates that the entire pavilion or crown be repolished. If the scratch is located very close to the culet and there''s enough room to just repolish the two opposing facets along the culet, then this would be quite easy and inexpensive, (maybe $20 or so). If you have to do a repolish on the entire pavilion then you might be looking at $60 or $70. The toughest part is getting the stone out and then in again without messing up the prongs. Just out of curiosity...how did it get scratched in that location ?

Thank you so much Michael_E for replying, I have no idea how it got scratched, could it be the retractable gem grabber? I feel pretty bad if I did scratch it. I only had the opportunity to view it in full sun today.
This is not my stone (borrowed the photo from Peter Torraca''s website) but the facet is similar to the bottom of my emerald cut stone. The black line represents the scratch, the scratch is a straight line and not wobbly.

By the way my stone is loose.

 

[marcy]

I am sorry to hear that. I seriously doubt if you scratched you stone with a gem grabber. Can you contact the vendor you purchased it from and tell them you found the scratch when finally viewing it in sunlight and ask them to polish it for you? I wouldn''t offer to pay for it unless they say no way was it scratched when they sent it to you. Good luck.

 

[Lovinggems]

Date: 12/12/2009 12:12:54 AM
Author: marcyc
I am sorry to hear that. I seriously doubt if you scratched you stone with a gem grabber. Can you contact the vendor you purchased it from and tell them you found the scratch when finally viewing it in sunlight and ask them to polish it for you? I wouldn''t offer to pay for it unless they say no way was it scratched when they sent it to you. Good luck.

Thank you MarcyC for the suggestion, I did send an email to the vendor and will see what they say, but I think it''s probably safer if I get whoever is setting it (someone reputable of course) to fix it than sending it back all the way to Tanzania, if fixing the scratch problem is not something that lessens the value of my stone.

 

[cellentani]

Lovinggems, are you sure it''s a scratch and not a needle-like inclusion? Can you feel it on the surface of the stone? I photographed a stone just last month that I swore had a scratch, and it was very visible when tilted at the right angle, but I could never actually feel anything. Turned out to be a needle inclusion that was just beneath the surface. If you have a trusted jeweler, he should be able to scope or loupe your spinel and give you a definitive answer. Also, I don''t think you are the cause because I''m pretty sure I can see it in the vendor photos.

 

[Lovinggems]

Thanks Cell, I''ll going outside to view the spinel once more, actually the scratch extends to 2 facets, so I think it''s most likely a scratch not an inclusion, but I''m new to this and I may be wrong, I couldn''t see it in the vendor photo, I must be more careful next time. Hopefully if it''s a scratch it''s fixable per Michael E''s post.

 

[Michael_E]

If those dark lines are the extent of the "scratch", my vote would be for it being a surface reaching veil or other planar inclusion. Tipping the stone in numerous directions under a desk lamp will often show these inclusions as a faint lighter plane. If you can''t see it when looking from the top of the stone, I''d forget about it and just enjoy the stone as-is, (it is after all a natural stone and if you look close enough, they all have some natural traits which are part of their appeal and proof of their natural heritage).

 

[Lovinggems]

Date: 12/12/2009 7:52:00 PM
Author: Michael_E
If those dark lines are the extent of the ''scratch'', my vote would be for it being a surface reaching veil or other planar inclusion. Tipping the stone in numerous directions under a desk lamp will often show these inclusions as a faint lighter plane. If you can''t see it when looking from the top of the stone, I''d forget about it and just enjoy the stone as-is, (it is after all a natural stone and if you look close enough, they all have some natural traits which are part of their appeal and proof of their natural heritage).

Thanks Michael, I am not sure what it is anymore and hopefully the vendor will reply telling me it''s an inclusion.