[Jewelry making - Article 00001] - Re: [Orchid] Unusual Busticated Diamond

[Peter W . Rowe]

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>     It sounds like the lady hit the stone in a direction parallel to a
>     cleavage plane, and she hit it hard enough to cleave the stone. 

    right, of course, Wayne. But the described break IS unusual in one
    important way. The direction of the cleavage plane in this stone was
    close to parallel to the table of the stone, meaning the stone was
    not oriented in the usual direction to the original diamond crystal.
    This usually means a mishapen rough, a macle, or something of that
    sort. Most of the time, the cleavage planes, which are paralell to
    the octagonal faces of the usual octagonal diamond crystals, run
    close to the pavilion angle, just a bit steeper than the pavilion
    facets, and blows to the crown can flake off a cleavage running
    girdle to culet. In this case, the cleavage plane is horizontal to
    the stone, which would require different impact directions to do.
    I've seen this sort of break mostly on small stones being pave set,
    where the forces in just seating the stones, or tighteing beads, can
    cleave stones oriented this way, but it doesn't seem common in
    larger stones. Among other things, the cleavage plane directions are
    not only the easiest to break, but they are also the hardest to
    polish, so cutters understandably try to avoid putting the table
    facet along a cleavage plane or too close to it... 

    I agree with you that damage to the stone remains the responsibility
    of the owner, or whomever was handling the stone when it broke. But
    one should also keep in mind that perhaps, if it seems a given stone
    was unusually prone to damage, that some leeway might be in order in
    determining where the money to replace the stone can come from. This
    situation of course is hard to evaluate, since in all likelyhood, the
    stone did not present any obvious clues to it's unusual orientation,
    or the changed risks of breakage that might cause, so the jeweler
    cannot easily be held responsible in terms of selling a stone more
    likely to break (if that is even the case). But still... 

cheers
Peter Rowe
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