Post by MikeS on Nov 15, 2009 14:02:38 GMT -5
Hi all
I thought I'd share some photos of some jade "slicks" from mine and my Dad's collection. A jade "slick" is a specimen of jade in which part or all of the weathering rind has been eroded away and the jade underneith has been wind polished by centuries of sand and dust blowing over it out on the arid Wyoming prairie. Specimens like these were once plentiful in the Wyoming jade fields, but 7 decades of jade hunters scouring the area have all but depleated them. Most of the specimens where cut down for jewelry making, leaving only a small percentage of the slicks in their original form. Because of this, intact specimens are now quite valueable to collectors. New erosion brings undiscovered specimens to the surface periodically, but finding one in the field now is a rare occasion.
This is a slick of light honey olive jade. Much of the rind is still intact, but it too has been polished to a high gloss.
Same specimen, other side...
Closeup of the jade under the rind....
This is a slick of dark olive jade...the top is highly wind polished...
Same specimen, different lighting...
Closeup of the wind polished jade part of the specimen...
This is a slick of snowflake jade, it has quartz in the jade matrix....
This is a slick "in progress" of dark olive jade. My son found this one earlier this summer. I say "in progress" becasue the exposed jade isn't completely polished by the wind yet. Most likely what happened with this specimen was that until recently, it was still "in situ" up in the mountains, where is wasn't exposed to as much sand and dust as it would have been down on the prairie. In a few more centuries, it would have looked more like the other ones pictured here...
And the best for last...this is a completely polished slick of imperial green jade, found by my Dad back in the early '60's. This specimen is rare for a number of reasons- the color, the purity of the jade, the high degree of polish (it isn't wet in these photos, that is how glossy it really is) and complete lack of any trace of the weathering rind on any part of it, the entire specimen is completely polished.
I hope you enjoyed the photos. If you ever find yourself in Wyoming and want to see some slicks up close, both the Tate geological museum in Casper and the University of Wyo. Geological museum in Laramie have several nice ones in their collections.
MikeS
I thought I'd share some photos of some jade "slicks" from mine and my Dad's collection. A jade "slick" is a specimen of jade in which part or all of the weathering rind has been eroded away and the jade underneith has been wind polished by centuries of sand and dust blowing over it out on the arid Wyoming prairie. Specimens like these were once plentiful in the Wyoming jade fields, but 7 decades of jade hunters scouring the area have all but depleated them. Most of the specimens where cut down for jewelry making, leaving only a small percentage of the slicks in their original form. Because of this, intact specimens are now quite valueable to collectors. New erosion brings undiscovered specimens to the surface periodically, but finding one in the field now is a rare occasion.
This is a slick of light honey olive jade. Much of the rind is still intact, but it too has been polished to a high gloss.
Same specimen, other side...
Closeup of the jade under the rind....
This is a slick of dark olive jade...the top is highly wind polished...
Same specimen, different lighting...
Closeup of the wind polished jade part of the specimen...
This is a slick of snowflake jade, it has quartz in the jade matrix....
This is a slick "in progress" of dark olive jade. My son found this one earlier this summer. I say "in progress" becasue the exposed jade isn't completely polished by the wind yet. Most likely what happened with this specimen was that until recently, it was still "in situ" up in the mountains, where is wasn't exposed to as much sand and dust as it would have been down on the prairie. In a few more centuries, it would have looked more like the other ones pictured here...
And the best for last...this is a completely polished slick of imperial green jade, found by my Dad back in the early '60's. This specimen is rare for a number of reasons- the color, the purity of the jade, the high degree of polish (it isn't wet in these photos, that is how glossy it really is) and complete lack of any trace of the weathering rind on any part of it, the entire specimen is completely polished.
I hope you enjoyed the photos. If you ever find yourself in Wyoming and want to see some slicks up close, both the Tate geological museum in Casper and the University of Wyo. Geological museum in Laramie have several nice ones in their collections.
MikeS