Fighting Blood agates from China

Dear collectors of the finest and rarest agates,

This week, we have a comeback that very few people probably expected: agates from China!

It has been ten years since the quarries in China were shut down. While it was initially claimed that the closure was only temporary to reduce dust emissions ahead of the Winter Olympics, the shutdown is now permanent. With strict mining bans and official resource-protection regulations firmly in place, any new mining on-site has become oficially impossible.

The reason I haven't offered many Chinese agates lately is as simple as it is painful: I was quite literally running completely out of stock. So, I figured it was time to fly over to China myself and get a firsthand look at the situation. Thanks to the invaluable help of my sister, who stepped in as my translator, I was able to undertake this incredible journey.

By reconnecting with my old network of trusted dealers and collectors, I managed to secure some absolutely outstanding pieces. However, this came at a cost—prices averaged about two to four times higher than in the past. In fact, many of the pieces I was offered were priced well above what I would even value them at for resale today. Because of this, this trip wasn't just a standard sourcing run; it was a genuine investment in the future.

In the end, I am incredibly happy with the pieces I was able to acquire, especially keeping an eye on what tomorrow holds. I don’t know of a single locality worldwide that once produced top-tier quality, shut down or became exhausted, and didn't see its prices skyrocket after.

You can find a detailed update on my journey and the current situation on the ground in this week's video on our YouTube channel.

Fantastic new pieces from China are now available in this week's update on our website. Among them are two very special highlights that were actually featured and published in the renowned Mineralien-Welt magazine ten years ago!

Have a wonderful weekend,

Joshua & the Agatebay Team