Rubies and Emerald Query?

[penny5658]

Hi

I have some 2mm and 3mm rubies and emeralds and diamonds. Does anyone know if they can be encased in glass like the CZ's?
I bought them off of ebay a couple of years ago and was going to use them for polymer clay.I think they could look very pretty in an encased floral.
Any answers? Thanks in advance.
Bye for now.
Penny

[RSimmons]

I think that you'll probably not have good luck incorporating these into hot glass. The emeralds will lose color at the very least and you'll likely get cracking. Small CZs work OK, but I've never seen real gemstones work out. I have seen gems in bezel sets incorporated into beads, though. You do this by drilling an appropriate hole in the bead and gluing the set stone into place.

Robert S

[penny5658]

Hi
Thanks for your response. So I see putting them into hotglass wouldn't work. Well thats good to know. I will probably just use them with the polymer clay or pmc. Thanks again
Penny

[alexm]

I've heard that diamonds work in glass, but other stones don't. If you want the ruby or emerald look in your glass beads, you can get red and green CZs, and they're much less expensive than the real thing.

[ukiacat]

Emeralds cannot take heat! They have to be removed or protected in mountings when the mounting needs to be repaired with solder and a torch. For one thing, most emeralds are treated with an oil that enhances their color. That oil would be affected by heat. Rubies can take heat but it's a gamble. I can solder right on top of them if I need to repair a prong but these days rubies and saphires are usually heat treated [in a kiln] for better color so heating to solder can change that color. Now, it is safer to remove them if they are larger, nicer, stones. They might survive being embedded but who knows whether they would keep their color. And yes, diamonds can take lots of heat. Sometimes they are even left in a wax carving, embedded in plaster, put into a kiln which eventually reaches 1350 degrees and then the flask is removed from the kiln, and filled with molten gold. However, there are times when things go wrong and the diamond comes out brown/black. The diamond has been burned and it is a mess. I'd stick with CZ's unless there was a sentimental reason for embedding a tiny diamond....that would be fun to try.

[NLC Beads]

I tried emeralds at one point - they lost color and literally blew out the sides of the bead.

[penny5658]

Hi
Thanks again for this info ,I do not think I want to take the chance of ruining them. They are just too pretty. I think I will mount them in a PMC project or polymer clay. I think that would be the sensible thing to do.
Thanks
Penny