Polyhex
Brilliant_Rock
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2003
- Messages
- 550
I have been eyeing a pair of midcentury jade cufflinks in 14k gold on eBay for some time. They are unmarked, but the seller represented them as confirmed by a jeweler to be 14k and grade A jade. I finally bought them after the holidays. I do not know very much about jade except that I like it. 
I am scrapping the settings and after removing the jade and weighing them, if the seller is right the jade discs will only cost me about $10! I already sent the settings off so I'll know by mid-week if the seller was right.
Here are the jade discs in different lighting conditions. They are about 19mm with a ~6.7mm hole.
This was the seller's photo, when they were still in the cufflink settings. The cufflinks were about 10 grams and the gold parts were well-made and about 8 grams by themselves.
What I am thinking about doing with them, is using Diamondmounts or CaiMao to make art deco earrings with diamonds, onyx, and possibly colored stones. I have a bunch of unset diamonds, including old cuts and some blingy but low cost 5mm GIA Ms. I bought some small onyx links that will arrive in the next few weeks. I think that given the # of stones I already have, and using the Diamondmounts or CaiMao bench, I can get these done at reasonably low cost. Here are the kind of earrings I have in mind:
I will have to make some design changes because I am not going to get onyx custom-cut to fit around the diamonds, but the onyx links have not been hard to find. These are on their way to me, in 8mm, 10mm, and 12mm sizes. I think 8mm is likely going to be the right ones to be links.
I also wish the 19mm jade discs were bigger, so I am probably going to put some kind of a frame around them, not exactly like this but as an illustration:
So questions... I really love the discs, how worried should I be that they are not grade A? Is that something that a jeweler can tell (assuming the cufflinks were made in say 1940s-1970s with whatever treatments were available in that time period) or would I need to send them to a lab to be reasonably sure? I know I would have to send them to a lab to be 100% sure, but what about reasonably sure?
Also, is there any hope of me finding small, reasonably matching jade cabs to go in the top of the earrings where they go through the ear? If so where? I already have good leads for onyx cabs, and I could use diamonds or colored stones as well. I am thinking about putting the 5mm diamonds inside the jade discs, and I don't think I want to spend what it would cost to buy a second pair of 5mm diamonds. I do have plenty of 4mm diamonds I could use, or create a cluster, or use onyx cabs with diamonds around them.
I am also thinking about making an art deco pendant out of a jade disc my husband bought me around 2003-2004, when we were right out of college. He paid a few hundred dollars from a jewelry store in the US that catered to people of Chinese descent. Since it doesn't match the earring discs, I wouldn't be trying to make a matching set, just using a complimentary style.
I am scrapping the settings and after removing the jade and weighing them, if the seller is right the jade discs will only cost me about $10! I already sent the settings off so I'll know by mid-week if the seller was right.
Here are the jade discs in different lighting conditions. They are about 19mm with a ~6.7mm hole.
This was the seller's photo, when they were still in the cufflink settings. The cufflinks were about 10 grams and the gold parts were well-made and about 8 grams by themselves.
What I am thinking about doing with them, is using Diamondmounts or CaiMao to make art deco earrings with diamonds, onyx, and possibly colored stones. I have a bunch of unset diamonds, including old cuts and some blingy but low cost 5mm GIA Ms. I bought some small onyx links that will arrive in the next few weeks. I think that given the # of stones I already have, and using the Diamondmounts or CaiMao bench, I can get these done at reasonably low cost. Here are the kind of earrings I have in mind:
I will have to make some design changes because I am not going to get onyx custom-cut to fit around the diamonds, but the onyx links have not been hard to find. These are on their way to me, in 8mm, 10mm, and 12mm sizes. I think 8mm is likely going to be the right ones to be links.
I also wish the 19mm jade discs were bigger, so I am probably going to put some kind of a frame around them, not exactly like this but as an illustration:
So questions... I really love the discs, how worried should I be that they are not grade A? Is that something that a jeweler can tell (assuming the cufflinks were made in say 1940s-1970s with whatever treatments were available in that time period) or would I need to send them to a lab to be reasonably sure? I know I would have to send them to a lab to be 100% sure, but what about reasonably sure?
Also, is there any hope of me finding small, reasonably matching jade cabs to go in the top of the earrings where they go through the ear? If so where? I already have good leads for onyx cabs, and I could use diamonds or colored stones as well. I am thinking about putting the 5mm diamonds inside the jade discs, and I don't think I want to spend what it would cost to buy a second pair of 5mm diamonds.
I do have plenty of 4mm diamonds I could use, or create a cluster, or use onyx cabs with diamonds around them.I am also thinking about making an art deco pendant out of a jade disc my husband bought me around 2003-2004, when we were right out of college. He paid a few hundred dollars from a jewelry store in the US that catered to people of Chinese descent. Since it doesn't match the earring discs, I wouldn't be trying to make a matching set, just using a complimentary style.
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