Diamond and Stone Removal

Many of United’s customers utilize the stone removal services offered to safely extract stones from finished jewelry sent in for refining. One of the most frequently asked questions is:  

“Which stones survive the process, and which do not?”  
Here is a list to answer this frequently asked question:

GEMSTONE	Heat Resistance	Acid Resistance	Special Notes
Diamonds	Excellent	Excellent	Fractured filled stones lose filler
Moissanite	Excellent	Excellent
Cubic Zirconia	Excellent	Excellent
Ruby & Sapphire	Fair to Good	Good	Sapphire may lose color
Cats Eye – Alexandrite	Fair to Good	Fair to Good
Spindel	Fair to Good	Fair to Good
Precious Topaz	Fair to Good	Fair to Good
Emerald	Poor	Fair to Good	Etching and roughness on oiled stones
Aquamarine	Poor	Fair to Good
Tourmaline	Fair to Good	Fair to Good	May lose color
Garnet – Rhodolite	Fair to Good	Fair to Good	Etching or roughness may occur
Rutilie – Fabulite	Poor	Fair to Good	May crack
Amethyst – Citrine	Fair	Fair to Good	Color may change
Peridot	Poor	Poor	May crack
Tanzanite	Poor	Fair	May crack
Jadeite – Nephrite	Poor	Poor	Etching, roughness, color loss
Kunzite – Hiddenite	Poor	Poor	May crack or lose color
Zircon	Poor	Fair	May crack
Moonstone	Poor	Poor	Acids may etch
Opal	Very Poor	Very Poor	May partially dissolve or crack
Hematite	Poor	Poor	Acids will attack stone
Turquoise	Very Poor	Very Poor	Acids will dissolve stones
Lapis Luzuli	Very Poor	Very Poor	Acids will attack stone
Shell – Cameo	Very Poor	Very Poor	Acid will dissolve stones
Coral	Very Poor	Very Poor	Acids will dissolve coral
Pearls – Mabes	Very Poor	Very Poor	Acids will dissolve pearls and mabes
Ivory	Very Poor	Very Poor	Acids will disolve ivory
Amber	Very Poor	Very Poor	Acids will dissolve amber

Note: Color Treated, Dyed, Fracture Filled, or Oiled Gemstones may be damaged in this process.

In addition to stone removal, United offers FROSTING services. This secondary process involves a chemical treatment performed on clear stones (diamonds and cubic zirconia) which makes it easier for the customer receiving returned stones back to distinguish between the diamonds and the CZs. The chemical used does not cause any damage to diamonds, but the CZs become etched and appear similar to frosted glass. Upon receipt, one can easily see the now white CZs from the clear diamonds – a real time saver for jewelers and pawnbrokers alike.

For more information about the Stone Removal process and our Frosting services, contact our sales team at 1-800-999-FINE. 

Video link for more information on STONE REMOVAL.