If you are a green stone fan, chances are that you have come across the highest valued chalcedony of all time - chrysoprase. Originally mined in Poland, chrysoprase today can be found in many other parts of the world including Tanzania, Brazil, United States, Russia and Australia.
Australia recently is known for its gem grade material particularly grades sourced from Marlborough, Queensland in a remote part of the state, a couple of hours drive up north from Rockhampton. The terrain is rough, experiencing high temperatures around the 30 to late 30 degrees Celsius for the most part of the year.
Undoubtedly the best chrysoprase source in the world, Marlborough chrysoprase is rivalled by other sources of chrysoprase all vying for the lucrative share of the gem market.
Marlborough chrysoprase is characterised by the apple and peppermint greens devoid of black dendrites and found mostly in vugs and in seams in the rough. The rind of the "skin" of the rough is usually a whitish colour due to the silacrete cap which helps to protect the ore to keep its nickel content and hence its colour. Marlborough chrysoprase also tends to command a higher price for their green rock.
For this reason, I have noticed a recent increase in a number of sites and traders selling chrysoprase cabochons, rough and jewellery as "Marlborough chrysoprase" and a noticeable number of articles submitted by various websites about the unavailability of the Marlborough rough. One website I know even went as far as stating that the rough is not made available to the general public and the other writing that the mines closed down way back and that they were no longer mining. Both these claims from these sites are completely untrue.
As far as I am aware and both mines are operating at full steam ahead; one based in Hong Kong and sells mainly to China and the other an Australian operation selling to everyone else.
Interestingly though, recently it seems that the market's thirst for the great green has not only resulted in disinformation but also in recent times I have seen an incredible number of fakes, quartz injected with a colour shot of chrome, plain coloured glass or acid bleached amazonite made to look like chrysoprase, all selling for the same Marlborough price. I have noticed this particularly in the last gem show in Shenzhen and also in many parts of China where we frequent but also recently in internet trading. Obvious pieces to us which looked nothing like chrysoprase were being sold for a hefty price.
There is even a photo of a fake chrysoprase cabochon showing the chrome colouring using the Chelsea/ jadeite filter on my site for those of you who might be interested in a visual of what to look out for.
Interestingly 20 years ago, chrysoprase was worth a fraction of the price it commands today and continues to rise each year in price. Marlborough gem grade chrysoprase is extremely rare and is worth quite a bit of money, one of the many reasons why for a rising number of substitutes, fakes and misrepresentations in the marketplace.
If you are interested in genuine chrysoprase from Marlborough or Western Australia, do come and stop by our website; we have chrysoprase rough, cabochons, jewellery and carvings available for sale soon. We are very active on Facebook and have created an Australian Chrysoprase group which will provide you with more information and discussions on the green front.
No comments:
Post a Comment