On Thu, 06 Mar 2008 20:50:11 -0800, in rec.crafts.jewelry Maren at google
wrote:

On Mar 5, 3:58 pm, wrote:

Incidentally, the dealer did tell me about the "Burma" Jade and
supposedly this is Burma Jade, A-grade stuff. I don't know about
nephrite and jadeite, etc., his English wasn't perfect, obviously.
It's white, as I said, with green flakes, purple shadows and the more
I wear it, the more I like it.

From your description it's clearly jadeite and not nephrite.

And thanks to Peter for the elaborations, I think I bought the right
material beads, going for jadeite rather than nephrite.

Neither is right or wrong, they each have their respective strengths. Nephrite,
for example, is less "crystaline" looking, and for some uses, that's nice. Also
the usually much lower price makes it attractive in some instances. It's also
tougher and harder to break, though both types of jade (nephrite or jadeite) are
quite tough as far as gem materials go. Jadeite is of course, the more highly
valued in it's finest qualites, but as I say, for some uses, nephrite may be
the preferred choice. Which is right, depends on your use and tastes.


Maren
HiloBeads: Beads - Beading Supplies - Hand-made Jewelry
http://www.hilobeads.com/
(yes, I know, I shouldn't call that jewelry here, I'm just a bead
person)

If it's jewelry, call it so. Jewelry does not mean it must be metal. I'm
writing this now from the annual meeting of the Society of North American
Goldsmiths (SNAG). Lots of wonderfully creative jewelers here. I had dinner
with, among others, a nice lady who, in her midlife age range, went back to
school learned jewelry making, and is now just finishing up her well deserved
Masters degree. None of the wonderful jewelry she was wearing was made of
metal. Paper, bone, porcelain, and other things, but little if any metal.
Another lady at the table showed off an absolutely stunning and sumptuous
necklace made of fabric, to which she'd stiched some 60 thousand seed beeds. An
amazing piece of work, which she says took her over 200 hours. Again, no metal,
mostly bead work, and clearly deserving of the term jewelry.

Jewelry is jewelry. Whether its metal or some other material, the key to
whether it deserves respect for it's craftsmanship, and/or for it's aesthetics
and are, are not dependent on the material, but rather how, and how well, those
materials have been used. There are people who, never having had any art
training (either self taught or in school), who see some cute bracelets at some
cheap crafts fair, and figure, correctly, that they could do that. So the buy
some beads and string up their own, are proud of themselves and think they've
made art. Sometimes, rarely, they have. Usually they've just copied someone
elses work. Still, this is a start. with practice, they can get creative, and
explore the material. If they get past the stage of doing things they've
already seen elsewhere, and start doing their own explorations with a material,
and explore pushing it in directions that may be new to them or better, new to
the material in general, then that creative effort can well deserve the respect
as, and the term, fine art. Doesn't matter if it's beads, or silver, or paper
mache. These are just the "paint". It's the picture and the creative thought
and work that determine it's worthyness and identity.

This group, while mostly a tradition of metalworkers, welcomes discussion about
jewelry making itself, both the craft skills and craft level, and the fine art
level of working. Those who are just beginning are encouraged to keep at it,
keep exploring, keep learning.

Now, it's true that bead workers don't spend as much time here. That's mostly
because there are several other newsgroups spec ifically devoted to bead work.
And this group has some members who have occasionall shown little patience with
people who find a new hobby doing some very simple beading projects that amount
to little more that basic hobby crafting with little skill or creativity, but
who are now convined that their new website selling their simple things will
bring the world to their door and the dollars to follow, with acclaim as artists
closely behind. Understandably, some people are unkind to such grandiose
expectations, as they tend to discount and degrade the higher levels of
experience and excellence that many professional and serious amateurs try to
achieve.

But even if you're a beginner, if your work is sincere, your desire to learn and
advance also real, you'll find plenty of people to welcome you. No apologies
needed.

cheers

Peter