[Jewelry making - Article 00048] - Re: [Orchid] Buying rock collections

[MillsGem]

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Dear Will, Gerry et al,  

    This thread has been kinda" fun......and, it has only scratched  the
    surface. I can certainly identify with the dilemna of the uninitiated
    widow who hasn't the foggiest about values. Brazilian agate is a good
    example, especially the "babies" This is the stuff that is dredged up
    from the delta of the Rio Plata in Buenos Aires and is used as
    ballast on ships or as aggregate in concrete. It can be gorgeous
    material, but, there is just too damned much of it and, the result is
    that its' ultimate value is whatever it costs to get it to
    market....plus the profit of the seller. 

    Melee diamonds are another good example when it comes to
    supply/demand ratios. In reality they have gone down drastically in
    value in the past twenty five years inasmuch as they are not only
    selling for less per carat now than twenty years ago, but the dollar
    value has not been adjusted for inflation. This is one of the reasons
    that jewelry featuring melee has had such a good run on the market.
    When you take $250 per carat goods and combine them with cheap labor
    and then sell the junk by "total carat weight" you have the makings
    of the classical "sucker market" 

    Getting back, however, to the widow's dilemna......not only does she
    have to get rid of gobs of multi-decade accumulated baubles, she has
    to do it in a hurry because she is moving to a condo or mobile home
    park. I conducted an estate sale this weekend and had to dispose of a
    three car garage full of chingaderos and white elephants.....some of
    it pretty neat stuff. We were fortunate to have good weather and
    excellent response to advertising and got rid of everything...enough
    to cover her moving expenses and much more. What I am trying to point
    out here is the the realistic widow will recognize the logistical and
    commercial realities of the situation and will let the stuff go at a
    fraction of new replacement in order to get the ordeal over with and
    meet her time deadlines.     

    Ron at Mills Gem, Los Osos, 
    CA 

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