Unraveling the mystery of jade carving prices

In fact, the labor cost of carving a piece of jade is neither simple nor complex. In general, you get what you pay for, but if you look into it in detail, there are many tricks involved. Generally, jade carvers are divided into apprentices and master workers. Master workers can be further divided into general master workers and veteran master workers. Of course, there are also the master workers we often hear about. The labor fees for different workers are naturally different.

So how do we usually know whether a piece of jade is made by an apprentice or a master? Many friends may say that it is simple. If it is well carved, it must be made by a master, and if it is not well carved, it is naturally made by an apprentice. For example, looking at the bamboo joint plaque in the picture above, I think everyone can tell that it is not made by a master. So how can we tell roughly how much the labor cost for these carvings?

For new friends who have just come into contact with jade, we can roughly infer the cost of the workmanship of this piece of jade from the quality of the material. For example, for the landscape brand in the picture, we can first make a rough judgment on the water quality of this brand. As shown in the picture, there is obvious cotton in the lower right part of the icy glutinous rice, and the texture of the upper left part is more delicate.

Put yourself in their shoes. If you were the owner of the goods, how much would you be willing to spend on this not-so-good material? If I asked you to put one or two thousand dollars in labor costs on it, would you be willing to do it? I think many friends would say that the labor fee of one or two thousand does not seem to be worth it, so put yourself in other people's shoes and think about it this way, then you will have a rough idea of ​​the labor fee.

Look at this landscape plaque again, and compare it with the landscape plaque above. Its water quality is obviously much better. So how do we estimate the labor cost of such jade? Similarly, based on the quality of this brand, we ask ourselves, if this material belonged to us, would we be willing to give it to an apprentice who only gets a few hundred dollars to carve it? I think my friends all have the answer. For such good material to be used as an apprentice for one or two hundred yuan, either the material is too capricious or the mine is too powerful.

Therefore, at this point, if our new friends who have just come into contact with jade want to know the approximate price range of a piece of jade, they can first look at it from the perspective of water quality. We can roughly summarize it this way. Generally speaking, based on the premise of controlling costs, if the owner takes jade to carve and sell, the labor cost will not be more than the material price.

In addition to looking at the labor costs from the perspective of water quality, we also need to look at the complexity of a jade carving. Generally speaking, the more complex the carving, the more expensive the labor costs. For example, if the same material is used to make a Buddha and a Tara, the labor cost will be very different. A Buddha statue may only cost a few hundred yuan, but Tara may cost one or two thousand yuan, or even more.

I would also like to take this opportunity to say that sometimes friends will come to me with jade and ask why, although they have the same quality, her Tara is one or two hundred yuan more expensive than other people’s Buddha statues. The answer is here. The workmanship of Tara is more complicated, so the cost is naturally more expensive. If the labor cost is expensive, the price of the finished product will naturally be more expensive, otherwise the boss will lose money.

Some friends have questions about the labor fees. Some people are obviously not masters, so why can their labor fees be charged nearly ten thousand? Is it really worth it? Without seeing the actual jade, I dare not say what it is worth, but such labor costs are indeed normal.

In fact, there are many carving masters who are not famous masters, but their craftsmanship is not much inferior to those masters. Objectively speaking, some masters' craftsmanship is even better than that of the so-called masters. It’s just that these masters are used to getting paid based on how much work they do, and they have no pursuit of fame.

For example, I saw a master carving Tara. His craftsmanship was so exquisite that even the bracelets worn on Tara’s hands were hollowed out and carved. Some friends may think that this detail is amazing. It is indeed amazing. The bracelets worn by Tara that we usually see are not hollowed out, because after being hollowed out, if you are not careful during polishing, it will be damaged and the item will be ruined.

The craftsman not only hollowed out the sculpture but also made it look crystal clear. When the finished product came out, we all said that it was the absolute highlight. The whole Tara looked more and more lively and ethereal the more we looked at it. The pair of bracelets were like a pair of divine objects, emitting a fascinating glow. It's a pity that I didn't take the picture in time. It would also be a respect for the owner. I didn't dare to take pictures without the other person's consent. So I'm sorry that I don't have any pictures to share with my friends. I can only try my best to use words to describe one percent of the craftsmanship of the master and a bit of the charm of the Tara.

If it is a Seiko product of this type, a few thousand yuan is usually normal. So generally speaking, the labor cost of a piece of jade on the market can be roughly divided into general labor of one or two hundred to several hundred yuan, to fine labor of about one thousand yuan for better quality, and to fine labor of several thousand to tens of thousands of yuan (pure machine carving and master work are another matter and are excluded here). I will not go into details about the labor costs for different water quality ranges, I think my friends can understand it.

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