52069.1 - "Silverform" Pendant Australian Chrysoprase in Pure Silver Gold Plated
- Condition : New
- Dispatch : 2 Days
- Brand : Viking Loot
- ID# : 224123318
- Quantity : 1 item
- Views : 27
- Location : Australia
- Seller : eBidSurfsands (0)
- Barcode : None
- Start : Wed 09 Oct 2024 18:34:43 (EDT)
- Close : Run Until Sold
- Remain : Run Until Sold
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Seller's Description
Natural Untreated Australian Chrysoprase set in Pure Silver (999), except for the bail which is Sterling Silver (925).
Each piece is individually hand crafted with the final process in making the piece being quite complex.
Each piece is individually wire plated (hard gold plated) which will last a life time under normal wear.
(Beware of anything similar that may have been made with just plain copper and then only gold gilded.)
100% Australian Made.
Although Chrysoprase is found in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia, the Queensland material is certainly the best.
Chrysoprase used to be called "Australian Jade", but other than the very close resemblance to Jade (Jadeite), the two Gemstones have no relationship to each other.
The other factor that distinguish Chrysoprase from Jade is the price; a whole ring, like a wedding band, made purely from Jade (Jadeite) has sold for more than A$100,000.00
The manufacturing process by which these
pieces were made became very important around 1980, due to its efficient use of
Silver, at a time when Silver prices went berserk. From 1975 and up to 1978, Silver had been
hovering between about $0.10 to $0.14 per gram and then quickly increased to
about $0.20 pr gram by January 1979. THEN; just ONE year later, January 1980, it
had skyrocketed to about A$1.60 per gram…!!! An INCREDIBLE 700% increase in just ONE
year… AND… it was a man-made increase, or more correctly, three brothers manipulation
of the Silver market which resulted in them having really and truly “cornered
the market”. But the Hunt brothers lost control over their
“venture” and by mid-1980 the price had fallen to about A$0.30 per gram… and
incredible rise, and fall, in one single year. Tiffany got involved and placed an ad in The
New York Times where it condemned the Hunt brothers for their actions, an
action by which it was estimated that they had gotten control over about 35% of
the entire world silver stock not held by governments. It is a fascinating story and one which had
a dramatic impact on the jewellery industry at that time. And, it was one which unfortunately caused people to
sell beautiful old handmade and hand engraved Silver household items like
cutlery, candle holders, silver photo frames etc along with Silver chains and
jewellery... which was all melted down. Even though it is illegal to do destroy
CURRENT money, Australian 50, 20 10 and 5 cent coins of certain dates which
contained Silver worth more than the face value of the coin itself were melted
down. And “down” is also where the Hunt brothers
went… right down to an eventual bankruptcy…
Listing Information
| Listing Type | Gallery Listing |
| Listing ID# | 224123318 |
| Start Time | Wed 09 Oct 2024 18:34:43 (EDT) |
| Close Time | Run Until Sold |
| Starting Bid | Fixed Price (no bidding) |
| Item Condition | New |
| Bids | 0 |
| Views | 27 |
| Dispatch Time | 2 Days |
| Quantity | 1 |
| Location | Australia |
| Auto Extend | No |
