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Post by stardiamond on Jun 7, 2018 19:07:30 GMT -5
Out of curiosity, I took a look at Morrisonite rough and slabs. The prices being asked were shocking. I took a look at the cabs that sold and there were almost none. I understand that ebay is now a bad place to sell cabs, but even at other places, cabbing Morrisonite destroys value instead of creating it. I need to think twice about cabbing good Morrisonite slabs.
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Post by parfive on Jun 7, 2018 19:49:27 GMT -5
Then why bother buying it in the first place?
Arbitrage? : )
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Post by stardiamond on Jun 7, 2018 20:01:30 GMT -5
My remaining inventory was purchased years ago. It can't be replaced for what I paid originally. I've bought a few small pieces in the last few years at the anti sniper sale. I could never justify buying any on ebay.
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Post by rockjunquie on Jun 8, 2018 8:56:01 GMT -5
Don't compare your good materials against cheap cabs. There are people who sell too cheaply for whatever reasons. If you have the good stuff, your cabs will sell at an appropriate price. They may not sell as quickly, but they will sell. People are always looking for quality. For some purposes cheap will do, but the better artists know the true values and will pay for it.
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Post by stardiamond on Jun 8, 2018 13:49:43 GMT -5
I'm not. There were hardly any Morrisonite cabs sold on ebay at any price. Buying good cabbing material on ebay would cost about $20+ per cab and with my time the selling price of the cab would make for very little profit. I have never tried to sell, but have gifted cabs. When I was working I would rather spend my limited free time creating than selling.
I'm retired now and have more time. I have about 80 Morrisonite cabs cut and I will explore the market before cutting my best Morrsionite.
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zarguy
fully equipped rock polisher
Cedar City, Utah - rockhound heaven!
Member since December 2005
Posts: 1,791
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Post by zarguy on Jun 9, 2018 1:39:21 GMT -5
I'm not. There were hardly any Morrisonite cabs sold on ebay at any price. Buying good cabbing material on ebay would cost about $20+ per cab and with my time the selling price of the cab would make for very little profit. I have never tried to sell, but have gifted cabs. When I was working I would rather spend my limited free time creating than selling. I'm retired now and have more time. I have about 80 Morrisonite cabs cut and I will explore the market before cutting my best Morrsionite. Yes, We would love to see close-up pictures of 80 Morrisonite cabs! Thanks so much.  Lynn |
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Post by stardiamond on Jun 9, 2018 10:10:53 GMT -5
Best I can do is group shots. I sorted and photographed my cabs in riker boxes. Most are in these two boxes but I found stragglers as I continued sorting.   |
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zarguy
fully equipped rock polisher
Cedar City, Utah - rockhound heaven!
Member since December 2005
Posts: 1,791
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Post by zarguy on Jun 9, 2018 12:32:36 GMT -5
Best I can do is group shots. I sorted and photographed my cabs in riker boxes. Most are in these two boxes but I found stragglers as I continued sorting. They look wonderful! If you ever plan to sell them, let me know. I may buy a couple or a few. Lynn |
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timloco
has rocks in the head
Member since April 2012
Posts: 545
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Post by timloco on Jun 9, 2018 14:21:30 GMT -5
Those are really nice, some awesome variety! I hate setting pointy stones in a bezel :-)
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Tommy
Administrator 
Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,977
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Post by Tommy on Jun 10, 2018 9:38:02 GMT -5
I've never specifically bought or cabbed any of the *really* special Morrisonite but I have cabbed a few decent looking pieces and I have noticed your observations about selling cabs to be true - but it's not just an Ebay thing. I've never sold cabs on Ebay but every Morrisonite piece I've put up on Etsy or Facebook has gone unsold or sitting unsold until I price it to blow out or pull it down and give it away.
I don't really understand why this is but I have a few of the following opinions that could explain it - the true knowledge base of the folks who know about the "King of Jaspers" material was learned 30-40 years ago and now what we are left with is a really rare and expensive material that is more revered for it's rarity and beautiful design shown in totality (ie: slabs or faced specimens). Morrisonite cabochons don't come close to capturing the 'scene' of the stone and just sort of fall flat compared with the slab they were cut from in my opinion. People buy bright colors that make bright jewelry, easy to photograph for re-selling, and Morrisonite is definitely not a bright material.
I find similarities between it and Kaleidoscope jasper - expensive as hell and gorgeous in slab form but a difficult to sell dark cabochon.
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Post by Rockoonz on Jun 10, 2018 11:04:08 GMT -5
Tommy nailed it IMO. When I first started I was all gung ho for the blue Biggs and Deschutes. After cutting a few I realized that until a person is a couple feet away it just looks like a dark grayish brownish lump. stardiamond many of your cabs wouldn't have that problem at all, lots of good color contrast and appealing shapes.
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Post by Rockoonz on Jun 10, 2018 11:05:41 GMT -5
Those are really nice, some awesome variety! I hate setting pointy stones in a bezel :-) That's what prongs are for...  |
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Post by stardiamond on Jun 10, 2018 11:06:18 GMT -5
I agree with everything you said and I will add a few things. There are three groups of buyers who are interested in Morrisonite; specimen collectors, slab collectors and cab collectors. Once cabbed, the market is smaller. When I buy rough or slabs, I am first interested in scenes, then pattern and color.
A big scene doesn't necessarily translate into small scenes. I've seen museum quality faced rough that is very expensive but not necessarily cabbing material. I don't even consider those. I have taken the picture for a slab I'm interested in and enlarged it to see how many good scenes are in the slab and thus cost per cab. Cabbing material can have scenes, wallpaper patterns or color. Leopard skin is wallpaper and the cabbing choices are limited. Picture jasper generally has the most scenes along with Tahoma, Montana and Willow Creek, Morrisonite the best I can normally do is color.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jun 10, 2018 12:51:02 GMT -5
My 2 cents...
Most gem-grade jaspers are collector stones, whether specimen, slab or cabochon. To the average Joe and Josephine on the street, and if they know what jasper is at all, it is just a solid reddish stone that one sometimes sees strung as beads. Companies that manufacture for the mass market are only interested in material that is consistent in color(s) and pattern for their cookie-cutter designs. The high-end boutique jewelers have only occasionally dipped their toes into scenic jaspers.
There have been waves of popularity for picture and one-off patterned cabs over the years. A recurring demand for western-style belt buckles periodically creates high demand, as have cuff bracelets, brooches and similar that come into and out of fashion. I've "rescued" some very fine examples of Biggs, Deschutes, vistaite, poppy, etc. from old pieces for my own collection.
Same goes for the agates that we prize here as diggers, slabbers, cabbers and collectors: not available in large amounts with consistent patterns means manufacturers aren't interested and the average person will continue to think of agate as a striped, often dyed stone that one sees in strands of beads. That is even the attitude I've encountered among more jewelers than not.
Fortunately, there are jewelry artisans and buyers out there who do appreciate fine jaspers and agates. Their numbers seem to be on the increase over the last couple of decades, and I do think people are tiring of the mass-produced junk jewelry. I'm not sure that ebay or other online places are ideal ways to reach those people. I'm amazed that anyone (including me) shops gems online. Nothing, absolutely nothing, no matter how many pictures or videos, substitutes for holding something in your hand and examining (I write this as I am pumping myself up to go to the Prineville show later this week, but it is still valid).
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