If you are buying a moldavite, you should know its basic characteristics. These characteristics determine its market price. Unfortunately, often only the moldavite’s weight is listed and the buyer needs to find out the rest from its photo (how to distinguish a fake moldavite from a photo, how to distinguish a damaged moldavite). Some characteristics are hard to find and with low certainty, sometimes even the weight isn’t listed and then you are really buying a pig in a poke.
Prioritize a vendor, who gives maximum information about a moldavite.
Parameters and characteristics of raw moldavites
- Weight – the most important parameter. Weight is used to calculate the price. It is listed in grams (g) or carats (ct). 1g is 5ct. For vendors and buyers: Measuring of moldavites (dimensions and weight).
- Dimensions – length, width and depth. It is measured in the widest parts of the moldavite, listed in millimeters or inches.
- Condition – if a moldavite has some kind of damage (intact, chipped, partially or completely broken)
- Quality – more of a subjective matter. It is a combination of sculpting depth, surface quality etc. In fact beautiful moldavites have a higher quality than battered and smoothed out moldavites.
- Site of finding (deposit) – place where a moldavite was found or extracted. This detail isn´t mentioned by middleman vendors, because they don’t have an overview of every moldavite. Another problem may be listing a wrong location.
- Shape – it is usually well visible in the photo, but vendors usually don´t list it. Either for lack of knowledge or laziness. More about shapes of moldavites.
- Color – moldavites have a range of colours from light green to brown. Their color doesn’t have to be well visible from a photo. A vendor, who lists this information, has given more thought to the description of his moldavite.
- Surface – shine. Moldavites can be completely shineless or be highly shiny (rare), the shinier moldavites are the more beautiful they are considered.
- Surface – depth and type of sculpting. These details is usually not listed, because both are well visible in the photo.
- Sculpture – rare types
- Two kinds of sculpture – typical for moldavites, which have fallen apart into multiple pieces (in sediment)
- Fluidal structure – etched texture of moldavite natural fragments. In fact, more significant structure of moldavite glass.
- Closed bubbles – more about bubbles in moldavites
- Open bubbles
- Bubble imprint
- Channels
- Holes
- Lechatelierite – about lechatelierite
- Muong nong – rare type of moldavite with high structural and chemical heterogenity, thanks to imperfectly homogenized sedimentary rock
- Angel chime – rare type of moldavite with big inner tension. When they come in contact with another hard object, they make a ringing sound.
