Minimum stone size to cut

This is a great thread, thanks, answered a lot of questions for me.

This is a great thread, thanks, answered a lot of questions for me.

WalnLiz said:

Sorry to disappoint you Col but spinel and sapphire are two completely different stones. Sapphires are gem quality Corundum Al203.... and Spinel MgAl204...is a completely different chemical composition.... Spinels can come in a variety of colours and some are similar to Sapphire...Most coloured stones come from places like Burma and Sri Lanka and only very few are found in OZ. Unfortunately the black variety..." also known as Black jack "... isn't worth much. It is sometimes substituted for Black Onyx in jewelery.... does however polish up really well...Cheers Wal.

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G'day Wal, just joined the forum, it's been a real pleasure to learn from you all here. I work out in the Hunter Valley and get the chance to pan the creeks! As I'm completely new to the fossicking world I've busily sponged up all the info I can get on identifying gems. I suppose it's fairly obvious that you've found something when the stone has some clarity but I was wondering how to know when you've found a sapphire if it has no clarity? I've noticed that some stones can be decieving when your out by the creek. I reckon I've watched every one of you n Liz's vids a few times over trying to take note hahaha
Any advice would be awesome! Cheers mate
:lol:

WalnLiz said:

No min size Col....larger stones make great solitaires...and the smaller ones make nice complementary shoulder stones.Only worth cutting the larger stones which will end up over one ct here in Ozz. Much cheaper to send the smaller ones to Lambert Holdings in Bangkok as they only charge a few dollars per ct cut. They do a pretty good job and we have sent hundreds over to them with no complaints thus far....Cheers Wal.

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Hello wal n liz. My husband and I are new to gem fossicki g this year and like 'smallbird' have watched alot of your videos. Thank you for your effort. Its much appreciated by newbys like ourselves. We have maybe had a dozen trips to fossickers way region and now starting to find some decent stones. I m curious about this sapphire, it has strange triangle marks on one face. Does it look like a cutter ? Any advice would be appreciated. I hope i have posted it right. Cheers , Bec n WadeI

Hi Bec,
Hard to judge a cutter from a photo but needs a bright light behind it to see if its clear not opaque and those lines are cracks which need to be cut out and then there is the question of size in carats. Triangular patterns or sargents stripes often occur in sapphires due to rutile inclusions. Regards Ted

Ok thanx ted. Its 6 carat. On corners in light u can see bluish green but rest of its so dark blue I cant see thru. I will take it to the lapidary club and see what they say.

Hi Bec. The stone unfortunately looks like a generally opaque corundum crystal, and would not be of facetable grade. They can sometimes be cabbed for a dress ring, but having those growth lines can often make polishing difficult.

The stone would be best kept as a specimen for your mineral collection as crystal edged stones always draw attention. Great to hear that your starting to get some better results with the gem hunting and best of luck out there on the streams.

Cheers Wal.