“Black” jade shield cabochon to test new material
I recently found a large piece of black nephrite jade in the rock pile at the Sacramento Mineral Society, so large in fact, that after I got the thing crammed into the slab saw, the thinnest slab I could cut for me first cut was a full cm thick! This is a test cabochon from that first slab.
This picture was taken in bright light which shows the deep, deep green and dark grey swirled together, showing a landscape not unlike some Oregon jaspers.
This stuff is hard! It made the 80 and 220 grit wheels (the metal-bonded ones) scream. Working with it was alot more like working with high-quality agate or jasper than any other jade I've ever worked with (which were all jadeite).
One of the members of the Sacramento Mineral Society has identified this material as likely hailing from either Victorville or Porterville, CA (most likely, Victorville). Unlike some of the black jade from the region, what I have is not ferromagnetic.
“Black” jade shield cabochon to test new material
I recently found a large piece of black nephrite jade in the rock pile at the Sacramento Mineral Society, so large in fact, that after I got the thing crammed into the slab saw, the thinnest slab I could cut for me first cut was a full cm thick! This is a test cabochon from that first slab.
This picture was taken in bright light which shows the deep, deep green and dark grey swirled together, showing a landscape not unlike some Oregon jaspers.
This stuff is hard! It made the 80 and 220 grit wheels (the metal-bonded ones) scream. Working with it was alot more like working with high-quality agate or jasper than any other jade I've ever worked with (which were all jadeite).
One of the members of the Sacramento Mineral Society has identified this material as likely hailing from either Victorville or Porterville, CA (most likely, Victorville). Unlike some of the black jade from the region, what I have is not ferromagnetic.