On Mar 2, 3:32 am, "Peter W.. Rowe,"
wrote:
On Sun, 02 Mar 2008 03:04:19 -0800, in rec.crafts.jewelry
wrote:

How do I find out if these two are worth anything even close to what I
paid? I assumed that buying Jade directly in China would give me
steep discounts;

why would you assume you'd get steep discounts on jade, in the country where it
is valued higher than almost anywhere else in the world? In the U.S., and much
of the rest of the western world where you can buy jade, the majority of buyers
are not all that picky. If it's pretty, they're happy, which is why so much of
the jade sold here is cheap junk, either low quality, or outright dyed, or just
not actually jade. In China, while the cheap stuff is still available, it's

You've made some excellent points that I hadn't thought through
properly. These aren't like the shoes we were buying for 40RMB (US
$5.50) which sell here for US$90. There's no "real" Jade market in
the US that I'm aware of, unlike the shoes. Secondly, you're right,
this was a retail establishment in the "real" consumer market of Jade,
not wholesale, which seems obvious now, but needed your insight to
help me figure out.

I suppose I shouldn't have spent so much if I didn't realise the value
of what I was purchasing. On the other hand, every time I appreciate
and admire my and my other's bangles, I do get a better feeling for
Jade; and also asking questions like this and reading this and other
articles has helped deepen my knowledge.

I'm sure I'll enjoy these pieces for a very long time and I'm now
pretty sure I paid a fair price for some good Jade, probably better
than I would have gotten here in the states, even though it's not as
much as I would have spent (former implies the latter). And I
probably would have missed out. I wasn't buying it for an investment
or to flip it, after all.

Incidentally, the dealer did tell me about the "Burma" Jade and
supposedly this is Burma Jade, A-grade stuff. I don't know about
nephrite and jadeite, etc., his English wasn't perfect, obviously.
It's white, as I said, with green flakes, purple shadows and the more
I wear it, the more I like it.

Thanks!