Translucent and opaque stones...

The reason I say that is the way they make me feel. While I like how faceted stones look, apart from appearance and obvious beauty, I don''t really feel "connected" to them. Maybe it''s a cultural thing, maybe it''s something to do with me connecting gemstones with legends and stories, but when I hold some sort of a opaque/translucent material, I''m much more under the influence of emotions, than when I see faceted stones. They don''t even need to be fashioned if you ask me, and they''ll still make me wonder some things and spark my imagination. Like how a tree sap fell on the ground God knows where some tens of millions of years ago and now I hold that same piece of nature in the form of an amber! Or how a white piece of rock that, at a glance, almost looks like chalk can all of a sudden start showing all kinds of colors twinkling from within (opal). Or how sea creatures give us corals and pearls. Or how that tiger''s eye really does remind you of a tiger''s eye, not to mention having your own piece of moonlight in your hand by holding a moonstone - those are the things that drew me to gemstones in the first place. And while many of them will never be thought of as the most beautiful gems in the world, to me they are more magical and wondrous than so many coveted and sought after pieces.

Well, that''s a bit of my view on the subject. Sometimes I go a bit gah-gah when writing about my fascination with gems - don''t hold it against me

Same as Chrono, I love them all, cause they all have a certain charm and appeal. In fact, I somehow feel that cabs and phenomena stones are more of gemstones than faceted materials, in my personal opinion.The reason I say that is the way they make me feel. While I like how faceted stones look, apart from appearance and obvious beauty, I don''t really feel "connected" to them. Maybe it''s a cultural thing, maybe it''s something to do with me connecting gemstones with legends and stories, but when I hold some sort of a opaque/translucent material, I''m much more under the influence of emotions, than when I see faceted stones. They don''t even need to be fashioned if you ask me, and they''ll still make me wonder some things and spark my imagination. Like how a tree sap fell on the ground God knows where some tens of millions of years ago and now I hold that same piece of nature in the form of an amber! Or how a white piece of rock that, at a glance, almost looks like chalk can all of a sudden start showing all kinds of colors twinkling from within (opal). Or how sea creatures give us corals and pearls. Or how that tiger''s eye really does remind you of a tiger''s eye, not to mention having your own piece of moonlight in your hand by holding a moonstone - those are the things that drew me to gemstones in the first place. And while many of them will never be thought of as the most beautiful gems in the world, to me they are more magical and wondrous than so many coveted and sought after pieces.Well, that''s a bit of my view on the subject. Sometimes I go a bit gah-gah when writing about my fascination with gems - don''t hold it against me

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Everything 100% equal? I'd go with the translucent because I suspect they'll maintain resale value better and I've heard reports of all surgical blacks not being equal.

That said I own several translucents and surgical blacks and translucent blacks and in use I don't tend to prefer one type over the other. If there's a price difference at the vendor I'd ask them if there's any performance difference or if it has to do with availability/demand. If they say they're equal, I'd buy the cheaper.

A translucent Hard arkansas is what it is and hasn't changed in a century (the only difference being it used to be called "hard", now it's called "translucent".

Where there used to be hard arks, soft arks and various grades of washita... It's flipped.

Now there's a single "Washita" grade which most people say is soft ark, not real Washita.

"Soft Ark" (Varies by vendor, but good vendors material is supposedly comparable to Vintage Soft Ark)

"Medium Ark" (Stones that would have been tossed or practically given away as waste material before)

"Hard Ark" (Same as Medium for most vendors, but may be as good as Translucent or Surgical Black for some (I hear Norton's Hard Ark is still quite high quality))

"True Hard Ark" (I haven't tried this stuff, may be as good as Translucent or Surgical Black, may not)

"Black Ark" (I haven't tried this stuff, may be as good as Surgical black, may not)

"Translucent Ark" (What used to be sold as hard ark)

"Surgical Black Ark" (What used to be very occasionally sold as hard ark)

and "Translucent Black Ark" (What used to be very occasionally sold as hard ark)


Heck there may even be some grades I'm forgetting.

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