herb
spending too much on rocks
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Post by herb on Apr 16, 2014 14:54:50 GMT -5
Hi everyone, Not sure what forum to really put this question in! Since I am asking for a price "id" I guess this forum is ok. Anyway, the other day, I was looking through a large bucket of slabs that was marked jade. I found two slabs that had prices marked on them. I am not at all familiar with the price of jade, but the prices seemed rather high to me. I got these slabs as part of a larger collection from a guy who used to be a rough/slabs dealer back in the late 80's to early 90's so the prices he had on the slabs would be from back then which makes them seem all the more high. I don't know where this material is from, but I also have some rough that is labeled as being from California, so it is possible that is where these slabs are from. So my questions are, first off, does this look like jade, and second off what would you think a reasonable price for these slabs should be. Thanks, Herb Here is the first slab. It is about 4.25 by 3.25 inches. It is marked $10. On interesting this is the two hexagon shaped thingies on the bottom. Almost looks like a crystal cross section. The different colored section on the left of the slab I am guessing is the 'rind' from the outer surface of the original rock. Here is the second slab. It is about 3 by 2.75 inches. It is marked $6. Its color ranges from a very deep green to a rather light green.
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Sabre52
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Post by Sabre52 on Apr 16, 2014 15:11:30 GMT -5
Bottom slab looks like California nephrite jade. Could be Porterville material but not as full of black inclusions as some. Color and freedom from inclusions looks a lot more like Mariposa County Jade but man, there are a slew of nephrite jade types around and I've only collected a few of them. Price does not seem unreasonable for material that clean. Top specimen I'm not familiar with. Were it not for the crystal pseudomorphs, I'd guess jadeite jade but I've never seen jadeite with those inclusions. Kind of a cool looking specimen whatever it is...Mel
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herb
spending too much on rocks
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Post by herb on Apr 17, 2014 16:10:27 GMT -5
Thanks for the info, Sabre52! I haven't decided if I am going to keep the first slab as-is or make a cab out of the area with the pseudomorphs. Anyone have any ideas of what crystal could have left that image? I don't know much about jade, but have never heard of it being associated with crystals.
As long as we are talking jade, I am always confused about the differences between nephrite and jadeite. Are there any simple rules for telling them apart?
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Sabre52
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Post by Sabre52 on Apr 17, 2014 18:16:58 GMT -5
Hmmm. I have found nephrite at Porterville, with quartz veins through it. Never seen quartz crystals actually in jade of any kind as pseudomorphs. Maybe some mineral guy will know more. I believe jadeite is a bit harder than nephrite but the two do overlap. They are a bit different chemically as nephrite is a calcium magnesium silicate in the amphibole group while jadeite is a sodium aluminum silicate in the pyroxene group. I've hardly ever found any jadeite so don't know a lot about it....Mel
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2014 19:46:55 GMT -5
The correct price?
I have derived a large part of my career earnings by pricing things. I wonder what it is you seek here.
Do you seek the knowledge of how to know if a seller's price is fair? or do you hope to resell it for a profit and want to know the "maximum" price for greatest profitability?
Jade is highly variable in so many characteristics. Forget the nephrite/jadeite issue. We can lump them together. The colors range from white to yellow (mutton fat) to some gorgeous appley greens to ugly olive drab to almost black to black
and
everything
in
between
I think without being more specific with your price question, we cannot be of much use.
Mel's knowledge of California Jades is very good. You are smart to pay attention to him.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on Apr 17, 2014 20:21:36 GMT -5
Top specimen I'm not familiar with. Were it not for the crystal pseudomorphs, I'd guess jadeite jade but I've never seen jadeite with those inclusions. Kind of a cool looking specimen whatever it is...Mel John Sinkankas described olive green to grayish-green nephrite with quartz crystal pseudomorphs found in the Granite Mountains, Wyoming. He wrote that translucent to transparent hexagonal windows (or other shapes depending on how they're sectioned) remain visible in the slabs whether the quartz has been partially or completely replaced by fibrous nephrite.
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herb
spending too much on rocks
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Post by herb on Apr 18, 2014 8:15:46 GMT -5
The correct price? I have derived a large part of my career earnings by pricing things. I wonder what it is you seek here. Do you seek the knowledge of how to know if a seller's price is fair? or do you hope to resell it for a profit and want to know the "maximum" price for greatest profitability? Well, Like I said, I bought out a dealers inventory who was active from the late 80s to early 90s. I now have about a 25000 year supply of material for my own personal consumption. Since I am probably not going to live that long, yes, I will need to sell some material. While I am not trying to squeeze every last cent out of what I end up selling, I also don't want to sell a 10 carat diamond for $1 because I don't know what it is or what it is worth! Likewise I don't want to waste my time trying to sell a 10 carat piece of glass for $1000 for the same reasons. I was just surprised at the marked prices. Not knowing anything about jade, if someone asked me "how much do you want for the slabs?" not knowing any better, I would have guessed less than $10 and $6. And if you consider these were priced in the late 80s or early 90s, and take 25 years of inflation into account, according to the BLS inflation calculator that is something like $18 and $11 in today's dollars, which is why, not knowing anything about jade I was surprised at the marked prices. Maybe rocks were more expensive back then, or jade is a lot more expensive than I imagined, but I can't imagine someone willing to paying the equivalent of $18 of today's dollars back in the 80's for that slab.
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Post by rainshadowbeads on Apr 26, 2014 21:19:46 GMT -5
The slab with the green jade with pseudomorphs is quite unusual in my experience as the pseudomorphs usually occur in the black Wyoming jade. Wyoming jade has always been a bit rare and when it is good it is very good because it is often uniformly hard and undercuts less than many jades. Wyoming jade is quite desirable to jade cutters as a way to extend the number of varieties in their collection and especially stone cutters from Wyoming where it is a very well known rough . There is usually a good selection of Wyoming jade on ebay so you can get an idea of prices. And yes the jade is similar to the Guatemalan jade on the market now , quite surprising.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on Apr 26, 2014 21:49:42 GMT -5
And yes the jade is similar to the Guatemalan jade on the market now , quite surprising.
Are they finding nephrite in Guatemala now? Jadeite from the Motagua River Valley is the only type of jade I've seen from that country. I bought this miniature Mayan jadeite funeral mask at Tikal on a visit to Guatemala shortly after the long-sought source of Olmec and Mayan jadeite was rediscovered.
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Post by beefjello on Aug 3, 2014 12:43:58 GMT -5
Top specimen I'm not familiar with. Were it not for the crystal pseudomorphs, I'd guess jadeite jade but I've never seen jadeite with those inclusions. Kind of a cool looking specimen whatever it is...Mel John Sinkankas described olive green to grayish-green nephrite with quartz crystal pseudomorphs found in the Granite Mountains, Wyoming. He wrote that translucent to transparent hexagonal windows (or other shapes depending on how they're sectioned) remain visible in the slabs whether the quartz has been partially or completely replaced by fibrous nephrite. Haven't been around for a while, but this thread has been in the back of my mind as I have some examples. Similar to Herb's slab above, but more along the lines of what John Sinkankas decrided. Got the chance to sort through some slabs yesterday and 'refound' them. They are marked 'Wyoming Indio Show"
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Sabre52
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Post by Sabre52 on Aug 3, 2014 13:35:25 GMT -5
Man, those are sooooo cooool!....Mel
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Post by snowmom on Aug 3, 2014 18:34:02 GMT -5
so interesting... thanks for the pics and info...
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2014 21:41:44 GMT -5
I have recently seen Wyoming jade listed for 15 to 50 dollars a pound depending on type and quality. Doesn't take much to make a pound. The stuff I saw listed was mined but all that I find is float and a lot of it is mixed with feldspar of some kind. The feldspar can be quite crystalline but I have not found anything like the super cool forms in those slabs
I would love to know prices too because I would like to start selling some of what I have. I do not see those prices as being outrageous because the cost of cutting the slabs is a pretty good portion of that price. You can say "make me an offer" but the people buying don't have a clue what to offer either. Jim
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