Bangles from a Jade Boulder

A cobble of high quality jade from the White Jade River in Hetian in north west China is inordinately expensive. It is essential for a craftsman to extract the maximum return from it. The most profitable items he can carve are bangles. A circle of really high quality white jade without flaws or blemish is a rarity and will sell for thousands, or tens of thousands of dollars. It will sell for even more if it has a small portion of the rind incorporated into the carving. Even after selling all the bangles cut from this stone at thousands of dollars a piece, the craftsman may not have covered the initial cost of buying the boulder. His profit will be made from the pendants, necklaces, bracelets, rings and anything else he can fashion from the jade that is left over. It is a risky but highly profitable enterprise. The carver who buys the cobble can never be sure of the quality of the stone inside until he cuts it open. If he has chosen well, then he can carve a great many objects of beauty. But selling everything cut from the cobble could take months. The life of a jade carver is not an easy one.  Learn more on the JADE  FIEND website.