Price of Jade Question-New Hobby

Hello All,
I am sort of new to Jewelry Making. I am trying to make some beads
from jade (that stuff is hard to cut!)I found someone who sells raw
jade on line at http://www.ArtistsWorksOnline.com under the raw jade
tab on their navigatin bar. Does somebody here know if the prices they
are charging are fair (It seems like a lot of $$$ to me, but they say
its good stuff but I dont know anyone who would know). I'm interested
in one of their small sizes of jade block. They call it "Polar Jade",
and of course, say its the best neprite in the world, like everybody
else does im sure. But I've never heard of it before. Don't laugh.
Like I said, I'm just starting out. It looks like a good jade, because
they list their jewelry and carvings on the site, and they look pretty
good, and they say they use the same raw jade for those.

Thanks a million,
RedRidersCR250R

On Mon, 14 Jul 2003 18:31:20 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry
(The Jade Carver) wrote:

But I've never heard of it before.

neither have I. but it's only a marketing name, not a gemological name, so they
can call it what they wish. Means nothing other than that they like the name
and think it will sell some jade.

Don't laugh.
Like I said, I'm just starting out.

So, does that mean you've not cut jade before, or made beads from stone? It
occurs to me that you might want to achieve some proficiency in lapidary work
with simpler to work materials before graduating to more costly nephrite jade.
While it's not the MOST difficult material to cut, it certainly is a goodly ways
from the easier ones, and can be very frustrating to get a really good polish.
And drilling, for beads, unless you've got an ultrasonic drill, is gonna be
tediously slow. I hope you have a good cheap source for diamond drill bits,
because you may find they don't last very long drilling jade.

It looks like a good jade, because
they list their jewelry and carvings on the site, and they look pretty
good, and they say they use the same raw jade for those.

The pictures are kinda small. But if the material really does look pretty much
as their images suggest on the web (which, given the nature of computer monitors
and digital cameras and all the rest, is NOT guaranteed), then it appears to be
a decent quality british columbia jade, similar as well to the better wyoming or
alaska deposits. As to price, well, this isn't cheap agate. And it's also
not purporting to be a true wholesale priced web site either. The prices look
to me to be pretty much "retail level". Still, rough jade has never been
cheap, and I'd not have too much argument with the prices they seem to be
charging for the rough blocks if I were needing to buy some. And this is still
not the absolute top quality, even for nephrite. that's a good deal costlier
than they're charging for their AA grade. And even that doesn't even begin to
approach the cost of good jadeite jade, which can cost many thousands of dollars
for just one good stone. So this actually isn't priced out of line for good
nephrite, IF it really looks as good as the web site (especially their top
grade. A little duller and less intense in color, and it's value would go down
quickly.) On the other hand, I've never bought large amounts, and my memory
may be quite off on what others charge for rough nephrite, other than the note
that the lower qualities are almost dirt cheap.. Anyone else know about this
stuff?

One other note. I get a little leery of web sites where the "about us"
sections, and contact info, such as in the privacy statement's email contact
statements, aren't given. No phone, no address... Just who, reachable where,
are we dealing with here, and what do you do when your money's been spent and
you have no product in hand? Maybe it's just a really new site, but I'm wary
of that lack of info about the seller. The only contact info I found was
putting a mouse over the link for "returns", which showed an email address at
aol... Better than nothing, but still...

buyer beware is the general rule on the net. While there's lots of good dealers
on the net, and this may be one of them, there are also a few bad apples.

I think you'd do well to find other rough sellers to compare with. There ARE
others out there...
Just ,my two cents.

Peter

Although photo's can be misleading.... I mistrust the color on this
material - I suspect that it's dyed. Either that or the color has been
enhanced to make it look much deeper.

"Peter W. Rowe" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 14 Jul 2003 18:31:20 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry
(The Jade Carver) wrote:

But I've never heard of it before.

neither have I. but it's only a marketing name, not a gemological name,
so they
can call it what they wish. Means nothing other than that they like the
name
and think it will sell some jade.

Don't laugh.
Like I said, I'm just starting out.

So, does that mean you've not cut jade before, or made beads from stone?
It
occurs to me that you might want to achieve some proficiency in lapidary
work
with simpler to work materials before graduating to more costly nephrite
jade.
While it's not the MOST difficult material to cut, it certainly is a
goodly ways
from the easier ones, and can be very frustrating to get a really good
polish.
And drilling, for beads, unless you've got an ultrasonic drill, is gonna
be
tediously slow. I hope you have a good cheap source for diamond drill
bits,
because you may find they don't last very long drilling jade.

It looks like a good jade, because
they list their jewelry and carvings on the site, and they look pretty
good, and they say they use the same raw jade for those.

The pictures are kinda small. But if the material really does look pretty
much
as their images suggest on the web (which, given the nature of computer
monitors
and digital cameras and all the rest, is NOT guaranteed), then it appears
to be
a decent quality british columbia jade, similar as well to the better
wyoming or
alaska deposits. As to price, well, this isn't cheap agate. And it's
also
not purporting to be a true wholesale priced web site either. The prices
look
to me to be pretty much "retail level". Still, rough jade has never been
cheap, and I'd not have too much argument with the prices they seem to be
charging for the rough blocks if I were needing to buy some. And this is
still
not the absolute top quality, even for nephrite. that's a good deal
costlier
than they're charging for their AA grade. And even that doesn't even
begin to
approach the cost of good jadeite jade, which can cost many thousands of
dollars
for just one good stone. So this actually isn't priced out of line for
good
nephrite, IF it really looks as good as the web site (especially their
top
grade. A little duller and less intense in color, and it's value would go
down
quickly.) On the other hand, I've never bought large amounts, and my
memory
may be quite off on what others charge for rough nephrite, other than the
note
that the lower qualities are almost dirt cheap.. Anyone else know about
this
stuff?

One other note. I get a little leery of web sites where the "about us"
sections, and contact info, such as in the privacy statement's email
contact
statements, aren't given. No phone, no address... Just who, reachable
where,
are we dealing with here, and what do you do when your money's been spent
and
you have no product in hand? Maybe it's just a really new site, but I'm
wary
of that lack of info about the seller. The only contact info I found was
putting a mouse over the link for "returns", which showed an email address
at
aol... Better than nothing, but still...

buyer beware is the general rule on the net. While there's lots of good
dealers
on the net, and this may be one of them, there are also a few bad apples.

I think you'd do well to find other rough sellers to compare with. There
ARE
others out there...
Just ,my two cents.

Peter

The Jade Carver wrote:

Does somebody here know if the prices they
are charging are fair (It seems like a lot of $$$ to me, but they say
its good stuff but I dont know anyone who would know). I'm interested
in one of their small sizes of jade block. They call it "Polar Jade",
and of course, say its the best neprite in the world, like everybody
else does im sure.

Glad to see somebody interested in jade. Seems to have gone out of
popularity in recent years. Hope its popularity is coming back. For the
jade at the site you mentioned: The price is right up there for nephrite,
yes.

However, I do remember a few years ago somebody using that "Polar Jade"
tradename for the nephrite had a booth at one of the Tucson shows, and
their best quality was indeed top quality. If these are the same people,
then it looks like they can be offering top quality -- at top prices. (So
what else is new :-)

What sort of beads are you planning to make? And why beads of nephrite?
As you know, you can get excellent round nephrite beads already made for
less than what you might pay for the rough. If you want the challenge --
then great, go for it. But round beads generally require special tooling
(bead mill) and as Peter says, the drilling is tedious. If you want to
make special shapes of beads, then that's an opportunity for creativity
and a whole different story. Maybe a pendant bead as a centerpiece would
be a practical start.

Then, on the subject of jade, you know the difference between nephrite
jade and jadeite jade, right? Most of the great oriental artwork in jade
carving was done with jadeite jade, rather than nephrite. Have you been
looking for jadeite?

As an afterthought, I'm cleaning up some old inventory of cutting rough,
including nephrite and jadeite. Not a whole lot of it, but if you're just
starting out, there might be something you could use, if you don't find a
source right away. Top of the line stuff was highgraded out, back when we
carried cutting rough, but what's left is not junk. For that matter, we
had some really good nephrite beads, and they might still be in stock.....

Polar jade comes from the "Polar Jade" mine and is marketed my "Jade
West" They have a booth at the GJX show in Tucson. The prices of the
jade shown on the web site are retail. If you think you are entitled to
wholesale prices I would suggest contacting Jade West directly.

The pictures on the web site are close but as Peter pointed out are not
and cannot be exactly accurate. The jade is not color enhanced, they
don't need to. Their best material is as good as any nephrite, BUT it
has several characteristics that can make it more difficult to deal with
than most other nephrites. As with most nephrite it will orange peel and
as the translucency goes up so does the tendency to be brittle, somewhat
unexpected if your not use to working the more translucent nephrites,
Siberian can have the same problem.

People who have worked with Polar have a tendency to love it or hate it,
in any event it is not a good place to start learning to work jade.

Hey All,

When I holidayed in NewZealand, A place called hokaticka, not sure how you
spell it, but you get the idea, It was on the coast opposite Christchurch in
the south island. They were telling me that the majority of Jade comes from
China/Asia or NewZealand. I bought a bag of scrap jade and some small pieces
to try calving and shaping with. The bag of Jade cost me $12NZ, about
$10AUD

Not sure if that info helps anyone and not sure about truth of the
locations.

Cheers

Space Monkey




"Richard Friesen" wrote in message
...
Polar jade comes from the "Polar Jade" mine and is marketed my "Jade
West" They have a booth at the GJX show in Tucson. The prices of the
jade shown on the web site are retail. If you think you are entitled to
wholesale prices I would suggest contacting Jade West directly.

The pictures on the web site are close but as Peter pointed out are not
and cannot be exactly accurate. The jade is not color enhanced, they
don't need to. Their best material is as good as any nephrite, BUT it
has several characteristics that can make it more difficult to deal with
than most other nephrites. As with most nephrite it will orange peel and
as the translucency goes up so does the tendency to be brittle, somewhat
unexpected if your not use to working the more translucent nephrites,
Siberian can have the same problem.

People who have worked with Polar have a tendency to love it or hate it,
in any event it is not a good place to start learning to work jade.