Lately I’ve come across a couple of new channel set diamond rings
that have a substance coating the diamonds and the channel. It is not
visible. I do my sizing and without much heat building up the
substance begins to smoke and turns BLACK! It won’t wash off in the
ultrasonic with BCR cleaner and it won’t steam off either. I have been
able to remove it 97% but putting the ring in a jar of acetone and
setting the jar on a rack in the hot ultrasonic. Even at that it has
to run for an hour. I wish I could tell if it is a glue or wax used by
the setter to hold the baguettes in place for the setting process and
if so I wish they would clean it off before it goes out. Two different
stores merchandise…maybe using the same manufacturer? Anybody else
had this problem or have any insight. I suppose I will have to clean
every “new” ring before I size it. Thanks for listening,Patty
DEar B&L YOu don’t put pearls in attack or some
stones…like???Putting the stone in wax to set is a new idea to
me sounds interesting tho…Maybe shall try on…calgang.
Patty, You might try oven cleaner on yor ring to get it clean.
Sometime ago someone on Orchid had mentioned this technique, and it
has come in handy those times when I forget to clean a piece before a
soldering operation. I have only used it on gold and diamond jewelry.
Maybe someone else would know if other stones or metals are safe.
about ‘dirty diamonds’ - this is probably one on those adhesives that
would come off with the uncommon conglomerants’ debonder solvent
(which isn’t a very toxic ‘solvent’ at all) that i keep touting for
it’s user frinedliness - (& low price) - ive no, i don’t have any
financial interest in the company or any relatives working there -
it’s just great stuff for removing all of the adhesives i’ve tried it
on - including superglue from my lip (we are not going there!)
I wish I could tell if it is a glue or wax used by the setter to
hold the baguettes in place for the setting process and if so I wish
they would clean it off before it goes out. Two different stores
merchandise...maybe using the same manufacturer? Anybody else had
this problem or have any insight.
Patty, Sounds pretty typical to me. Have you tried soaking the rings
in sodium hydroxide(lye) or Drano? Most organic substances can be
cleaned off this way.
I have some times put a drop of nitric acid in the hole behind the
black ened diamond and let it sit there for a minute or so and then
rinse off and but in baking soda for sveral minutes then ultrasonic it
once again. Stubborn ones I have done twice. I keep a glass dropper
bottle for my acid and remember to keep the acid away from all of your
metal tools and bits because the vapors will rust them. I keep my
bottle on a small square of flat glass and put a small bell glass(find
them at hobby stores)over the top when storing. also be carful not to
get on your skin or you will get nice yellow stains. Hope this helps
and is the last resort type of action…first should be always clean
very well befor putting the tourch to the job. Ron Kreml http://www.kreml.com
Lately I've come across a couple of new channel set diamond
rings that have a substance coating the diamonds and the channel. It
is not visible. I do my sizing and without much heat building up the
substance begins to smoke and turns BLACK! It won't wash off
I have some times put a drop of nitric acid in the hole behind the
black ened diamond and let it sit there for a minute or so and then
rinse off and but in baking soda for sveral minutes then ultrasonic it
once again. Stubborn ones I have done twice. I keep a glass dropper
bottle for my acid and remember to keep the acid away from all of your
metal tools and bits because the vapors will rust them. I keep my
bottle on a small square of flat glass and put a small bell glass(find
them at hobby stores)over the top when storing. also be carful not to
get on your skin or you will get nice yellow stains. Hope this helps
and is the last resort type of action…first should be always clean
very well befor putting the tourch to the job. Ron Kreml http://www.kreml.com
Check with your client, they may be hair dressers and it maybe a
build up of hiar spray, (lacquer). This does have to be removed
before working on it, just like you did. Good luck.
Patty, Yes you SHOULD clean every ring in your ultra and steamer
before you size it.Especially Baguettes.Perfume,Hand creme and other
unpleasant substances become carbonized when heated creating a rather
tuff crust that is hard to remove.I have removed stones to clean them
after forgetting to clean the ring first.Some rings with baguettes are
so tight it is hard to clean in between the stones or under the
gallery if the lotions or perfumes become toast.I heated a hair
stylests ring during sizing it with out prior cleaning.BIG mistake it
had a rather large ball of hair.Then there are the little old blue
haired ladies that have’nt taken their ring off in thirty years.I have
been told that some foreign substances can etch the surface of stones
although I have never seen this happen.Also if you have a large stone
and don’t clean it you might not notice cracks or problems with the
stone that were there before you worked on it.Then the customer
notices them and says my diamond was flawless.Even though they had a
G-I1.In theory a scam artist could go into store after store with a
cracked diamond and pack it with debris until they find a jeweler that
does not loupe and clean, if you did not notice it.It would be a major
head ache.We had a jeweler here that was arrested for swapping cz’s
for large diamonds mainly to older people.He made a custom fashion
ring for a lady.It had cz’s that she thought were diamonds but they
were cz’s.She takes it to another store to have it sized.The jeweler
never louped it BIG BIG mistake he quenched it.BUMMER.The manager was
brought in.She insisted she had brought in a diamond ring threatened
the store with a law suite.Walks away with three grand.Jeweler loses
account she goes back to the theif (I won’t honor him with the title
of jeweler)HE makes her a new custom fashion ring complete with yes
cz’s.End of story.Best J Morley Coyote Ridge Studio
This is a shameless plug: The holiday season is closer than you
think. Is that ultrasonic cleaner really doing its job? Is the
“backup” working? Remember Lone Star Technical Services. We repair
ultrasonic cleaners, all makes and models to include some of the
“older” tube type units. Fast, Economical, Professional. www.ultrasonicrepair.com.
Mike
PS i have a couple of units “remanufactured” units for sale, some
with heat some without.
Blackening of Diamonds after De-Stoning process in Aqua Regia
August 1, 2018
Q. Dear Sir’s
I introduce myself as Prakash V Pai from India.
I work as a senior manager, Castings in a firm which manufactures Gold & Studded jewelry for Exports.
Our Exports consists of 75-80 Studded jewelry. Recently one of the orders were cancelled by a customer who had ordered studded rose gold rings. The cancellation was done when the cast pieces were in QC stage. Due to this, we rejected the entire production.
To de-stone the jewelry and to recover the gold, I had to process the rings in Aqua Regia acid which we normally do without any problems, but this time the stones changed color and turned from white to blackish.
I tried boiling the stones in order to recover the original color by doing the following process:
Re-boiled the diamonds in Aqua Regia.
Boiling the diamonds in Perchloric Acid
Kept the Diamonds in Cyanide solution
Boiled the diamonds in Hydrochloric Acid
All the above processes did not yield any results and the diamonds had a shade of black with it.
Can somebody please explain and shed some light, as to what was the cause of diamond turning black?
How to clean it again to bring back its original whiteness? What are the chemicals I need to use?
Re Cutting & Re Polishing on lathe again of diamonds means loss … Please Help!!
Eagerly awaiting for your reply…
Warm Regards,
PRAKASH PAI
Shop Employee cum Hobbyist - MUMBAI MAHARASHTRA, INDIA