It's funny that you are posting all of this right now, because I just started an Escher box project two days ago myself!

The label on the stone that I'm working with was in really bad shape -- dirty and with several holes in it -- and I didn't think it would survive the process of removing it, so I just cleaned it the best I could and coated the whole surface with clear polyurethane. Well, let me say that the end result looks fantastic, and I hope it holds up over time, because the whole back surface of the stone can now be soaked in water and touched without any worries about further damage to the label. Even if it gets a little scratched up over time, you can just sand the polyurethane and put another coat on. Voila, brand new again.

The box that the stone came in was ALSO completely destroyed, but had two really valuable labels attached -- a Pike "Barber's Gem" on the outside of the lid and the traditional Escher label on the inside of the lid. To remove those labels, I soaked the cardboard in water for about 5 hours and used a toothpick to carefully peel the label off the cardboard. Both came off without a hitch.

For the box, I am going to be carving out two pieces of burl maple, one for the lid and one for the base, and pasting the labels onto the top and bottom surfaces of the wooden box.

Anyway, it's a lot of fun, and I hope to have pictures posted here soon! --Jeff