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Post by bobby1 on Feb 15, 2011 22:47:30 GMT -5
At the Tuscon Electric Park RV show I came across a dealer with Kentucky Agate. I'd seen a few samples of this material and I knew it could be quite colorful but this is the first time I saw a dealer with some rough material. He said that this material was collected (mined?) last year. These photos show some slabs. These photos show some better quality partial slabs. These show some of their premium (small) pieces. This material can be very beautiful but can you rationalize paying $2.25 a gram for an Agate? If you want to see some more examples here is his website: johnnysrocks.com Nonetheless, I didn't buy any of this material. Bob
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Post by deb193redux on Feb 15, 2011 23:21:47 GMT -5
i might go for the 40 cent stuff
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Post by Roller on Feb 15, 2011 23:28:15 GMT -5
1k$ a lb ...wooowee sure is nice though ..
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Post by jakesrocks on Feb 15, 2011 23:28:55 GMT -5
Man, and I can remember a time when gem rhodochrosite was selling by the gram. I still have a 5 pound chunk that I saved as an investment. Don
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Post by parfive on Feb 15, 2011 23:55:18 GMT -5
Just weighed a little 2 ½" x 1 ¼" Bot slice next to my desk – 26 g.
That’d be $58.50 in Kentucky. ;D
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stoneviews
fully equipped rock polisher
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Posts: 1,864
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Post by stoneviews on Feb 16, 2011 6:47:44 GMT -5
Nice looking material.
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ssexton
having dreams about rocks
Member since August 2010
Posts: 55
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Post by ssexton on Feb 16, 2011 10:07:59 GMT -5
wow good thing i live here
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Post by rockmanken on Feb 16, 2011 10:16:00 GMT -5
I don't know who started this 'per gram' pricing of stones, but I think it sucks. I know what an ounce or pound would be, in my head. Don't even bother looking at anything a dealer has if it is priced by the gram. There are too many other 'honest' dealers out there. Just my opinion, Ken
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Post by deb193redux on Feb 16, 2011 10:54:25 GMT -5
I got real angry a few years back when a dealer brought some rough priced by the gram. He was a club member, and the show chairman for our central PA show, and we had asked him to bring in more dealers who would bring rough.
He brought a small tote of agate, jasper, and obsidian - some half-fist chunks and some small 2x3 slabs. None of it was stellar material. .... and he priced it by the gram - even the obsidian. I was so pissed because I knew that was not how this material generally sold. I felt he was being passive aggressive - because he had been very clear about wanting to have an upscale show with finished pieces, faceted stones, and zillion dollar fossil plates ... etc.
Even some expensive material, like top grade African Pietersite, should IMHO be priced by the slab and not the gram. It may make the price expensive but there will eventually be the right buyers for rare top quality slabs.
Something about per gram pricing suggests that every bit of the slab is the same quality. That a square cm on the bottom corner is worth just as much as any other square cm. We all know that in every slab there are some great preforms and some scrap.
I find things like small thumb-sized chunks of black Honduran Opal or sometimes Australian opal being sold by the gram. Victoria Stone, which has been discussed here recently, is always priced by the gram at our local show.
I guess there are sometimes some reasons to use gram pricing, and it is not tantamount to the vendor being a crook. But I have also seen per gram pricing abused by vendors I steer clear of.
I saw a guy at the World of Agate show several year back that had only Kentucky agate. Maybe this same guy. I bought a few postage stamp sized pieces for a few bucks each. His large half nodules were going for hundreds or thousands.
I think that while the pattern is mostly yellow with a thread of pale red, the price stays lower. It seems to be the dark black centers with thick red fortification bands against deep yellow that really commands the highest price. At its best it is a high-shine fracture free look of top quality Morgan Hill type pattern. BUt, if ever there was a case for ultra thin blades ....
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Post by bobby1 on Feb 16, 2011 11:42:20 GMT -5
One thing I noticed was that many of his slabs were quite thick. Some of the ones in the photos were at least 1/4 to 3/8" thick. Forces you to pay a lot more to get a good slab if you are buying it by the gram. Bob
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Post by jakesrocks on Feb 16, 2011 11:55:00 GMT -5
If this is the way of the future for our hobby, I'm sure glad that I have more rock than I can possibly slab and cab in my lifetime. Several years back, I bought a triple beam gram scale at a police drug seizure sale. I hate to think that I'll have to take it along with me to rock sales, just to keep the dealers honest. Don
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Post by Jack, lapidaryrough on Feb 16, 2011 12:04:40 GMT -5
Oh so true by the gram price, And the material look like trim saw waste our floor sweepings. fir the thumbler
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Post by Jack, lapidaryrough on Feb 16, 2011 12:10:43 GMT -5
Oh so true by the gram price, And the material looks like trim saw waste our floor sweepings. for the tumbler. High grade Holley Blue just after the site was closed. the price went from $10.00 a lb. to $1.00 gram, and cabbing grade was $100.00 a lb. facet grade was $1.00 caret. Rulilated Quartz Facet grade i sell $80.00 a lb. though a lot of seller want $1.00 a gram. Cabbing grade $65.00.
But Ken-ucky red agate no way. better material on the Queensland river. Did i spell that wright
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lparker
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Post by lparker on Feb 16, 2011 12:50:54 GMT -5
I price by the gram if I buy by the kilo which is generally from overseas. It's the easiest, most accurate way to be sure I get my money back (and make a little). Can't see pricing by the gram on most rock tho'.
Lee
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Post by Hard Rock Cafe on Feb 16, 2011 13:56:18 GMT -5
Let's see, $0.40/gm x 28 gms/oz x 16 oz/lb = $179.20 per lb!!! Yikes!
Forget about the $2.25/gm stuff. As Roller said, that's $1000/lb. That's beyond Fairburn pricing and I think Fairburns are prettier.
Way out of my checking account.
Chuck
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nuevomundo
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2010
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Post by nuevomundo on Feb 16, 2011 17:08:33 GMT -5
There is nothing inherently wrong with charging by the gram... for SOME materials, like fine rhodochrosite, gem silica, most facet rough, gem dino bone, etc, because end-consumers rarely buy pounds or kilos of the stuff.
BUT... those prices, for an agate, do seem quite excessive.
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Post by frane on Feb 16, 2011 20:41:39 GMT -5
Wow! Now, that is nice material but I would just walk on by and not buy any of it! I think it is way overpriced! Lets face it. You buy it in order to make a cab to sell in a wrap or silver setting. How would you convince a customer that it is an expensive gemstone worth the price you would have to sell it for? I don't think you could. Fran
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CallMeShane
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2010
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Post by CallMeShane on Feb 17, 2011 13:02:46 GMT -5
Hmm,that's just nutty. While not all the KY I bought last year is stellar, I paid maybe $25 for around 7 pounds of slabs. And the big hunk I just bought was $10 for about an equal amount as last year. If you really want some and have the time and money,just go hunting for it in Estill county,Ky.
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Don
Cave Dweller
He wants you too, Malachi.
Member since December 2009
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Post by Don on Feb 17, 2011 14:10:55 GMT -5
I'll pay by the gram for precious stones, but for agate/jasper, etc, no chance. That KY agate looks nice but at $2.25/gram I'd rather buy opals.
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oldgrouchy
starting to spend too much on rocks
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Post by oldgrouchy on Feb 17, 2011 21:56:26 GMT -5
That is what i paid for Honduran opal preforms last year!! They were not the best grade but were a darn site prettier than those agate chuks he had for $0.40 per gram!! I have found that many people just want to keep their rocks more than I want to buy them. Just keep on walking by.
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