Ammonite Polish and create pendant

[Rory M]

Hi I'm new to this forum and the reason for joining is I have inherited part of my Grandpa's fossil collection. I have this small ammonite with some really nice detailing, which i would like to polish up and turn into a necklace so I can keep his "spirit" with me and plus I think it could look pretty cool. But I'm not sure how to go about this. Any Ideas?

[Bobby Rico]

Hi that is an lovely ammonite and a very nice tribute to your grandad. It looks like sandstone which can be a little  soft in my opinion to polish it to a shine . You could polish it a little with clear beeswax. ‘The  beeswax will bring out the colour and details without any damage to the ammonite. Are you making your own jewellery findings . Cheers Bobby 

[ynot]

This is not the type of ammonite that can be polished. Using the bees wax method is probably Your best bet.

How do You plan on setting it?

[caldigger]

Personally I would leave as is.

[Paciphacops]

If you want a shiny, polished look that is more durable than beeswax, you could coat with PVA or paraloid b72. These are stabilizers that are typically dissolved in acetone and used to consolidate loose matrix, etc. A 5% solution would probably give a semi-glossy look and help protect the fossil as well. These are reversible and can be removed with acetone, so you would not be permanently altering the fossil.