This is the only piece of Emerald I have ever encountered from Turkey. This piece of rough started out much larger and
very severely included but I though I saw a reasonable sized piece inside that looked moderately clean in the center.
I knew that I would be losing about 3/5 of this emerald rough before I started the actual faceting.
So, how do I facet a piece of rough that is a little to thin? I put lots of facets onto it. Lots and Lots and Lots of facets... Polishing was a nightmare!
Click on any of the pictures below to see a close-up shot of each view.
I rough cut this material with a 360-grit plate, followed with a fine cut on a 1200-grit plate, and finished with a 14k polish. Remember to cut slowly and use plenty of water.
Although Emerald has a hardness of about 7.5 it tends to have internal fractures and cleavages making it susceptible to fracturing. Also, most emeralds are treated (usually with oil, resin, or epoxy) so cleaning them can risk removing the treatment.
So, how do I facet a piece of rough that is a little to thin? I put lots of facets onto it. Lots and Lots and Lots of facets... Polishing was a nightmare!
Click on any of the pictures below to see a close-up shot of each view.
I rough cut this material with a 360-grit plate, followed with a fine cut on a 1200-grit plate, and finished with a 14k polish. Remember to cut slowly and use plenty of water.
Although Emerald has a hardness of about 7.5 it tends to have internal fractures and cleavages making it susceptible to fracturing. Also, most emeralds are treated (usually with oil, resin, or epoxy) so cleaning them can risk removing the treatment.