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Gluing Chrysoprase and Lapis together

Jewelry Discussion
#1

Hello All,

Thanks very much for your previous input on chrysoprase.

I just cut a rather flat piece of chrysoprase. It is almost
transparent, but it has the pale sea green color. I cut the sides at
a steep angle (like 80 degrees instead of perfectly perpendicular)
and polished them, and cut the top into a rectangular shape like it
was going to be faceted, but I later smoothed over the sharp angles
that would have been the facets. It looked better, at least to me.
The neat thing is that on the edges where I left the sharpness and I
polished it with cerium oxide, the green color glows nicely in the
light from above from the offset (from perpendicular) polished edges.
It had a pretty effect. I agree with those of you who commented about
chrysoprase, it can be really pretty.

I have hollowed out an ellipse in the top center of the stone and I
was going to set a piece of lapis lazuli that I am going to cut in
the shape of an old english monogram in the hollowed area. The top
would then be the light green chrysoprase with the slight
"backlighted" effect on the edges with the lapis monogram in the
center. Now, stupid question, would it be better to cut the bottom of
the lapis to fit the hollowed area and then glue the lapis to the
chrysoprase or drill a small hole, set the lapis in sterling to fit
the hollowed area, and then attach the silver through the chrysoprase
to the ring I am trying to make?

I guess what I am trying to ask is gluing dissimilar stones together
a cheap or dumb idea or is it usually acceptable? Is the coefficient
of thermal expansion differentials a problem for two stones glued
together?

By the way, in a book a just finished reading originally printed in
1904, a minerologist named Bauer wrote extensively on many, many
He didn’t tell how judge the quality of chrysoprase, but
there was a picture or two of it faceted (color plates). It was
really pretty. He said in the book it was faceted alot, at least
back then. He said in the book that some forms of it can even have
the chatoyant effect like chrysoberyl.

I really appreciate the advice from you guys.
Sincerely,
Seech

#2

Seech,

As I mentioned in a previous reply, during the early 20th century
Chrysoprase was used extensively in jewelry from costume up to
Platinum and Diamonds.

One of my specialties over the past 35 years has been Antique
jewelry and I have handled many pieces over these years from the
1920s to 1930’s that was faceted with a flat back and a emerald cut
crown. This was very popular back then and looked nice.

As for your other question about assembling stones I am sure that
many of the lapidaries on Orchid will chime in but let me mention
that a very popular lapidary art form over the past 20 years has been
Intarsia where a number of differing materials are glued together to
form a design. This is not a cheap way out but instead the method
that was needed to create the desired look.

Greg DeMark
www.natureinspiredjewelry.com

#3 
would it be better to... glue the lapis to the chrysoprase
or...set the lapis in sterling..

Having taken in repair jobs for a jeweller, glue is never permanent -
glues dry out, become brittle, etc. Securing the monogram
mechanically would be a more permanent solution - you would not want
to make another monogram if the original one was lost, would you?
Just my layman’s opinion.

jeanette

#4

I have wondered about thermal coefficients, but I have put together
quite a few intarsia pieces now and it has not been an issue. Is
that type of even available? I use a large number of
different materials, and glue them together with CA glue, with a
solid backing glued on using epoxy. I have not had anything come
apart yet, with the exception of some rather fibrous charoite. I have
noticed that certian materials adhere better than others. I use a lot
of lapis, and it is really wonderful to work with, and adheres
nicely. The other thing is that, if I understand your pproposal
correctly, you want to inlay the lapis into the 'prase. So, once
glued in there will never be any appreciable force pushing the lapis
outward. In fact the only way you could do this would be to do
somehting like the beeswax trick used for extracting cabochon
settings. If the fit is good, and you use a good adhesive, I wouldn’t
expect any problem. The depth of the inlay should be at least 2 mm if
possible. Make sure the surfaces to be glued are not polished, and if
using epoxy, use a slow drying type and mix precisely by weight. If
you want to go whole hog, you can buy something like HXTAL NYL-1,
which is very slow drying, and ultra pure, and will not deteriorate
or discolor for a very very long time.

Todd Welti
Living Color Opal and Intarsia

#5

If you want to go whole hog, you can buy something like HXTAL NYL-1,
which is very slow drying, and ultra pure, and will not deteriorate
or discolor for a very very long time.

Absolutely. It is the only glue I use for It costs about
$50 for 60 grams, has to be very accurately weighed out and takes
five days to cure. But is is unbelievably strong. For a picture of
the
strength, check out my blog at:

http://meevis.ganoksin.com/blogs/2008/10/25/more-experiments-with-cz/

Cheers, Hans Meevis