Master Quill’s Calligraphy was unique. He absorbed the style of the ancient masters and created his own, which made him very important in this field.
After hearing that Canaan was related to this master, Maximilian could not help laughing, “You are related to Master Quill? You are not joking, right?”
“No. Master Quill once instructed me.” Canaan said with seriousness.
Looking at the back of that three middle-aged “artists”, Maximilian shook his head with a bitter smile, “Let’s not talk about art. We should go to the exhibition.”
The moment they entered, they saw a giant stone. It was dark green. Maximilian assumed it was dozens of tons in weight.
“What is this rock? It looks ugly.” Victoria asked.
This rock was indeed not good-looking. Beside the color, its surface was rough and pitted. It didn’t seem to be any kind of jade.
Maximilian said with a smile, “This is Manasi Jasper. Domestic Houtian Jade is usually better than that from other countries. But this kind is an exception. Russian Manasi Jasper is much better than domestic type in terms of color and quality, so domestic Manasi Jasper is always at a low price.”
“Domestic type is usually darker like old spinach. However, the Russian type is light green, which is more pleasant to the eyes. That’s why the Russian type is more popular and expensive. Besides, the domestic type is usually stained with black dots.”
Victoria was looking at her husband with admiration when he said those words. She felt like Maximilian was like a living encyclopedia.
Flora pursed her lips and held Maximilian’s arms. “This is not worthy of our attention. Let’s go inside. Are their many mining fields of Hotan Jade? You have to tell me more about it.”
Maximilian said while walking, “In the narrow sense, this jade is only available in Houtan, Yutan, Qiemo areas. Especially the sub jade, it could only be found in the river near Houtan.”
“In the broad sense, there are many other areas where this jade can be found. As long as the tremolite reaches the standard, it can be qualified as Houtan Jade. The jade from on the plateau is usually white. Some of the jade have snow pattern on the surface. Some may even be colored with green, gray, or purple.”
“As for the Russian type, it’s white and some of it is mixed with yellow and black. It’s usually used for sculpture. Some merchants even sell this jade as Suet white jade, which has fooled many people.”
“The Korean type is more grayish and low in density. So it’s the worst and cheapest type.”
“The buyer of the Korean type usually use machine to sculpt and refine it. There are many of them in the market. If one buys a piece of Hotan Jade with only hundreds of dollars, the jade is usually the Korean type.”
Maximilian’s words made others feel there was a lot to learn about jades.
“Maximilian, you know so much about jades. Why didn’t we know you are so knowledgeable?” Marcus asked with a smile.
When Maximilian was about to go to the section where better jade was displayed, he suddenly stopped and focused on a piece of jade. It was big and white, placed in a pile of Russian jades. It seemed the boss of the stall took it as Russian Jade.
After asking the price of two Russian jade, Maximilian pointed at that specific one, “How much is this one.”
“This one is good. White, pure in texture and no cracks. It’s the best material for a bracelet. So the price is higher.”
The stall keeper didn’t say the price immediately. Instead, he told Maximilian the advantage about this piece of jade. Then he stared at Maximilian and said slowly, “So, it’s 4 million dollars.”
“That’s too high. No matter how good it is, it’s still from Russia. It could make 7 or 8 bracelets, which is not enough for me to make any profit.”
Maximilian was surprised by the price because it was not even possible for a piece of Russian Jade.
The best bracelets made out of Russian Jade worth a hundred thousand dollars at most. And seven or eight bracelets were not even worth 2 million.
Even if the offcut could be put into other use, the profit 1 million dollars could be gained at most. Hence, only 3 million could be made out of this piece, if nothing went wrong. So the price of 4 million was too much.
The stall keeper laughed awkwardly, “I just said the price casually. You seem to know a lot about it. The price is open for discussion.”
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