Why is the price of jade beads so expensive? You will know after looking at its production process

A few days ago, a friend suddenly asked me why a small necklace is so expensive? Isn’t it just about rounding off the edges and drilling a hole? As a result, it is sold at a higher price than Buddha and Guanyin! I waited for her to finish her complaints and then told her: Actually, you are wrong.

I guess many friends who don’t know much about it also think so, believing that beads are the easiest to make and should be sold at the cheapest. However, the truth is just the opposite. Beads are the most difficult to make and produce the most waste, making them the choice that many merchants are most reluctant to make!

Now, I will share with my friends the production process, maybe you will understand why.

The first step is to select raw materials strictly

Many friends who don’t know much probably think that jade beads are carved out of leftover materials, but this is not the case. Beads have very strict requirements on raw materials, especially turning out high-quality beads that can be made into a good necklace, which can be said to be extremely difficult.

Why? Friends, think about it, a necklace, regardless of its size, would have at least twenty beads, and if it wanted one hundred and eight, it would be even more. If the material is not big enough, wouldn’t it be a tragedy if you couldn’t get ten pieces and they were gone? Therefore, when making beads, not only should the material be large, but also have few flaws, and the color distribution should be uniform and even, and the water quality should be consistent!

In other words, it must be taken from the same piece of jadeite raw stone. And sometimes, even if there are enough raw stones, it is not possible to make a necklace, because the color of the raw stones varies, and the water quality is also good or bad. When you are taking some, you find that there is nothing left to take. This is a tragedy that often occurs. Therefore, it is very difficult to take out a whole necklace of beads with excellent color and water.

Step 2: Chamfer cutting

After choosing good materials, you can start drawing beads. On the raw material, draw the diameter of the beads you want, and then cut them. Each circle is a bead. Jade beads that have been cut are generally square or cylindrical. It’s not that simple to just cut it and it will be round.

These cylinders must then be de-edged using a chamfering machine so that they can be ground into beads on a large scale. This process is quite wasteful, because the sharp edges are simply ground off, unlike the brands of Guanyin, Buddha, etc., which can be fully utilized. Just think about it yourself, how much material is wasted when grinding a cylinder like the one in the picture into a bead?

Step 3: Grinding and drilling

Although the chamfering machine can remove the edges and corners of small jade pieces, it still cannot make the beads very round. Therefore, it is necessary to continue to use a bead grinder to round it. Under the operation of the bead grinding machine, the small pieces of jade will gradually be ground into spherical shapes after chamfering.

Although many processes are now completed by machines. However, for very good materials, if they are used to make beads, they are also polished manually. Because this better reflects the naturalness of the bead necklace. However, at this time, it must be done by a craftsman with sufficient experience, otherwise, if you take a wrong step, it will become waste in minutes.

After the beads are polished, you can finally drill the holes. Friends, do you think you can relax here? No, this step is also quite critical. Generally speaking, good beads are punched after the parts are selected manually, while ordinary beads are punched using ultrasound. But no matter which method you use to drill the holes, there is a possibility of one result - the beads will be broken and all your efforts will be wasted! Only when the drilling is completed and the beads really come out, can the owner of the material truly breathe a sigh of relief.

Step 4: Polishing

Finally, the finished jade beads undergo the final step of finishing - polishing. Generally speaking, beads with a diameter of more than 20 mm are polished by hand, and beads below 20 mm are polished by a vibration barrel.

Friends, now you know why a good bead necklace is so expensive, and now you know why many times, those experts say that those who make beads are rich and willful, right? It’s because if the beads are not made in the right way, they will become waste! It is very likely that a piece of raw material that looks very large will only turn into a small string of beads after grinding. If it is not extremely expensive, the owner of the material will cry bitterly.

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