Tumbling gemstones with a mystic coating!

[Claire English]

I've had a stone tumbler for years and when I discovered I could harden and polish my jewellery in it there was no stopping me..I love it, BUT just a word of warning; I was just about to tumble mystic topaz earrings when I remembered my labradorite necklace and how when I photographed it, the mystic quartz looked clear.

I got the necklace out and I'm glad I did. The mystic quartz appears to have lost its coating, it is there a little bit and I can't be completely certain as I only have one other stone to compare them to. Luckily they still look pretty and a nice silvery colour which still looks well in the necklace but I don't think I'll be risking my expensive topaz in there!

Is it my paranoia or does anyone else have experience of this?

Claire

[agent44]

It's a bad idea to tumble anything with a coating, as they usually wear off quite easily, along with some very soft stones and pearls, where the surface can be ruined. If you really want to risk it then it's an idea to test an individual stone before you throw in finished jewellery containing those stones as sometimes you'll find an exception to the rule, but in general, it's going to ruin the stone. Another idea/workaround, depending on how the piece is constructed is to tumble part made, and add the stone components after the rest has been tumbled.

Hope that helps :)
Lucinda

[Claire English]

Thanks Lucinda, yep I normally test everything and it was stupid of me not to with the quartz, I don't think I thought about it when I threw it in there. I've thought about tumbling part finished work, but I don't really work methodically enough to do that.

I've had accidents with chains getting caught in the lid as well, but I'd still swear by it. I'm essentially a lazy person and using a tumbler as well as hardening work, certainly cuts down on the amount of elbow grease required when polishing!