[Jewelry making - Article 00585] - Re: [Orchid] Disappearing diamonds fired in PMC

[Linda Kaye-Moses]

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Hello,

    I am one of those PMC instructors (and here I state it publicly) who
    described for her students how to fire diamonds (sapphires, rubies,
    too) along with PMC (as I had been instructed). This was years ago,
    when only PMC Standard, the original formula, was available.
    Therefore, the required temp was 1650 degrees F for the required
    duration, 2 hours. 

    Although I had great success firing small sapphires with PMC, only
    one of my students arrived with a diamond she wanted to fire. I
    always added the caveat Re: cracks in stones, inclusions, etc. and
    she was willing to take the chance that the stone might be damaged
    by the process. 

    The result of that firing was...the stone was GONE! No pieces, no
    melted blob, no apparent dust. I have to say that the student was
    absolutely certain that the stone was a diamond and, thanks to my
    caveats, she was OK with the diamond being gone. Whew! There, I've
    cleared my desk of that mess! 

    Personally, I don't really care what the diamond 'became' in the
    process (CO2, fairy dust, etc.). I have never suggested, since that
    episode, to any of my classes that diamonds can be fired with
    PMC...period. 

    For an excellent list of stones that survive firing in PMC and it's
    several formulae, check out Kevin Whitmore's list somewhere on . 

    http://tinyurl.com/you9s9 

Hope this helps (it sure helped me),
Linda Kaye-Moses
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