pugdog
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Feb 24, 2003, 12:06 PM
Post #1 of 1
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Stone variations -- getting what you pay for.
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I have been *TRYING* to come up with a way to start this thread, but a comment in another forum, seems to have summed it up perfectly:
I don't like Labradorite or Iolite. Too much inconsistency in the stones unless you're spending way more than I will.
It's that last part that is the *KEY*.
Good quality stones cost, and there is 10-100x more low grade stuff, than high grade stuff. We are all familiar with things like Rhodochrosite or malachite that varies greatly in banding, color, matrix, etc.
Specifically mentioned above, is Labradorite. good quality stuff goes for $.60/carat or MORE!! That is over $3.00 a gram for "good" stuff. But, there is loads of stuff without the electric blue, the beautiful depth of color, and such which *is* labradorite, (metaphysically, holistically, but *NOT* aesthetically) and is sold cut into beads. those beads are "dead", "dull" and quite frankly, "unattractive."
Blue tiger eye is another like that. most is "dead", without good chatoyance, or movement. Those beads can be $8 a strand. Get one with great eyes, good movement, and the strand can be $80 or more. Why? It's *RARE* and desireable.
This is in contrast to things like seed beads, where strands of Miyuki 11/o's are pretty much the same from one deal or batch or strand to another. You see differences, though, in Czech, Miuki, Toho, Matsuno, and chinese-low-grade stuff.
This is part and parcel of my previous thread about buying by mail, and getting "A strand like this" or getting "that exact strand".
Mother Nature rarely, if ever, repeats herself. There is always variation, and it can be the difference between a strand of beads being $8, or the "same" strand (or a strand "like it") being $350.
PUGDOG's Rock & Bead Shop
Pittsburgh, PA 15217
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