jason12x12
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since October 2011
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Post by jason12x12 on Nov 7, 2011 21:18:03 GMT -5
Does anyone know about jade and jadeite. although this was labeled mexican jade it was dated 1973. well any old timers can help I was not even born in 1973. Is it valuable or just throw it on ebay and see what happens.Any advice would be helpful.O it was an estate sale piece.The pic is a little yellower than it is in life. flic.kr/p/aCPwYg
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Post by jakesrocks on Nov 7, 2011 21:24:48 GMT -5
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jason12x12
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since October 2011
Posts: 798
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Post by jason12x12 on Nov 7, 2011 21:30:14 GMT -5
well.. ive never cut anything so hard on my saw and i cut agates..so it isnt calcite..
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Post by jakesrocks on Nov 7, 2011 21:42:34 GMT -5
Maybe it is jade, and was mis-labeled. Jade is pretty tough material.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
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Post by Sabre52 on Nov 7, 2011 22:21:03 GMT -5
The ancient Mexicans, Olmecs and such, worked jadeite jade from southern Mexico and Guatamala. Lots of it is pretty gray green in color but there was supposedly some fancy green stuff too. Your sample could very well be Jadeite jade from Mexico or nearby Guatamala. You can Google Olmec Jade or Mexican jadeite for more info....Mel
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Minnesota Daniel
freely admits to licking rocks
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Post by Minnesota Daniel on Nov 7, 2011 22:41:24 GMT -5
I'm not sure I understand your question, but there are two closely related stones called jade; jadeite and nephrite. They are similar enough and have historically both been called jade, so the term jade is an accepted name for either. Jadeite polishes as shiny as glass, nephrite usually looks waxier. I am not familiar with Mexican jade, but Guatemalan (Mayan) jade is jadeite. The kind most desired is such a dark green that it looks black and is called black jade. They do have lighter green jade too, but most I've seen was really a fine mixture of white and a brighter shade of green than your specimen. Most Guatemalan jadeite I believe is actually white, and not used for anything. I lived there for 3 years a long time ago. I saw a lot of serpentine masquerading as jade too. The picture of your specimen is about right for that, but if you cut it and say it's very hard, then it's not serpentine.
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Post by jakesrocks on Nov 7, 2011 22:54:41 GMT -5
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Post by Roller on Nov 7, 2011 23:07:11 GMT -5
I think I heard once that jade is called hard but infact it is just really just hard to break because of the structual makeup of the stone . therefore in reality it said only to be " wikipedia" "Jadeite measures between 6.5 and 7.0 Mohs hardness, and Nephrite between 5.5 and 6.0"... just throwin a stone out there !
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Minnesota Daniel
freely admits to licking rocks
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Post by Minnesota Daniel on Nov 7, 2011 23:21:22 GMT -5
I revisited Guatemala a couple years ago and there seemed to be some controversy about the validity of the "blue" jade. Some "high end" shops insisted there was no such thing. In other shops I did see jade they called blue. It was "bluish" green, more so than most jade I've seen there, but not blue, but Olmec "blue" jade isn't really blue either. I've also seen translucent yellow jade in Guatemala, but that was usually Mayan artifacts. The Mayans used mostly green and black jade.
Oh, all the jade in Mesoamerica comes from the valley of the Rio Motagua, where I happened to live. I had no idea at the time, and I had never even contemplated polishing a rock, much less sawing up junks of it.
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Post by jakesrocks on Nov 7, 2011 23:30:09 GMT -5
I'd sure like to get my hands on a hunk of that blue - blue green material to play with. Hopefully they'll start exporting some of it in the near future.
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Minnesota Daniel
freely admits to licking rocks
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Post by Minnesota Daniel on Nov 7, 2011 23:52:03 GMT -5
Guatemala is already pretty tight about letting uncut jade out of the country as it is, so I wouldn't hold my breath looking for rough anywhere around here any time soon.
Now... I once traded a pair of small Chilean Lapis cabochons for a jade piece. The guy owned a workshop that employed Guatemalan artisans to carve jade. The front end of his business was a jewelry shop though, and he had no access to lapis, so we were able to make a deal. I came back later and he had mounted the lapis stones in a pair of beautiful earrings.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2011 23:54:31 GMT -5
I have seen jadeite under a microscope and it looked fibrous which makes it so tough. The Chinese make rings out of it and they do not break. There is a guy in "I think" Casper Wyoming that sells Wyoming Jadeite for $15.00 a pound. The translucent green stuff is worth way more but I do not know how much. I will give you $20.00 for it because my stone rings break and I am looking for some Jadeite to try. IM me if that will work for you. Jim
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Minnesota Daniel
freely admits to licking rocks
A COUPLE LAKERS
Member since August 2011
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Post by Minnesota Daniel on Nov 8, 2011 0:06:29 GMT -5
Jim,
If you are addressing me, the jade "piece" I traded for was already carved into an owl. I only meant to point out that in a place like Guatemala, you can sometimes trade for things you can't buy, when you have stuff they want but also cannot get, or afford to buy, often due to excessive duties.
Daniel
l
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Post by parfive on Nov 8, 2011 0:34:53 GMT -5
April 2009 Rock & Gem – good article on Guatemalan jade. Various shades of green most common, but also blues, lilac, pink, lavender, violet, burnt orange, light brown, silvery-gray and black. More on jadeite . . . a lot more, actually. ;D cigem.ca/431.html
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jason12x12
freely admits to licking rocks
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Post by jason12x12 on Nov 8, 2011 10:24:54 GMT -5
Does jadeite have those types of fracture lines in it. thanks for all the replies
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 8, 2011 14:27:59 GMT -5
I was talking to Jason who posted the piece of jade and was wondering if he should post it on e-bay. I just made him an offer that he could accept or not. Jim
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MikeS
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2009
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Post by MikeS on Nov 8, 2011 22:42:01 GMT -5
I have seen jadeite under a microscope and it looked fibrous which makes it so tough. The Chinese make rings out of it and they do not break. There is a guy in "I think" Casper Wyoming that sells Wyoming Jadeite for $15.00 a pound. The translucent green stuff is worth way more but I do not know how much. Jim The jade found here in Wyoming is Nephrite jade...there have been unconfirmed reports of small amounts jadeite Jade found in Wyoming, personally I have never seen a sample of it or talked to any old time jade hunters who have run across it either... Hard to tell from your photo if it is jadeite or not...have you done a specific gravity test on it? Jadeite will have an SG of typically between 3.2 and 3.4., a decent test to quickly distinguish it from other materials often mistaken for jadeite....
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jason12x12
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since October 2011
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Post by jason12x12 on Nov 9, 2011 9:46:12 GMT -5
In my home sp.g test i got a reading of 3.37 or there abouts in my very scientific labratory moohhaha
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 9, 2011 10:58:26 GMT -5
I was making Jason an offer for the stone that we are talking about here. He is wondering if he should just throw it up on ebay so it sounds like he wants to sell it. I made the offer not knowing how big it is or even if it is actually jade. Jason, if you decide to get rid of the stone I would like to talk to you about it. The piece of jade that I am posting here is white jade "the favorite color of the Chinese" and the most expensive. This piece was given to me by a friend in China and he did the carving. The piece does not have a lot of value because it has a lot of internal fractures that can be seen with a back light. Every Chinese that does any kind of stone dealings has an intense light and a good magnifier of some sort. They will study a stone for hours before they put down their money. Many of them will buy stones like we buy a car "with financing". Jim
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