Jet Specimens / Rough (Whitby, UK)

Whitby Jet Specimens

Small black Whitby Jet specimens, available in a few sizes.

There are typically regarded to be two types of Jet: soft and hard - the hard being more suitable for jewellery carving. However, this does not mean that the soft cannot be carved. The soft stuff will take just as good a polish, just won't handle very intricate carvings as well.

Our current stock includes:

• 'Hard Jet' - sold singly. Suitable for carving small cabochons. This is beach and sea rounded Jet, found along the coast around Whitby.
• 'Soft Jet' - sold singly. May be suitable for carving, ideal as specimen pieces.This is beach and sea rounded Jet, found along the coast around Whitby.

• 5-12MM mixed bags, which haven't been tested just due to it being fiddly! Sold in ten gram bags.
• Our thin pieces, which are typically a good size for cutting a small cabochon or inlay. They are typically only 4-7MM thick.

• Seam Jet - an extremely rare thing to find for sale! This is Jet as it was originally mined, bought from an old collection. It is now illegal to mine, as far as I'm aware - and old mines are extremely hazardous. This material occurs in various sizes, but is rarely more than 10MM thick - most pieces are between 4-7MM thick. Typically, 10 grams should be 1-2 pieces; however, if you order more there may be some larger pieces available weighing over 10 grams if any are still left. It is almost always 'hard jet' and is often perfectly for cabochons or inlays, being flat.

Whitby Jet is a gemstone formed by wood decaying under specific conditions, around 182 million years ago.

Whitby is a world-famous locale for Jet, which has been collected and used for jewellery since ancient times. It was prized by the Romans, the Vikings and Saxons, and later came back into fame as funeral jewellery for the Victorians. In modern times, Whitby has become popular with the Gothic subculture - handy, since a black stone is found there.

We are glad to be able to offer a few sizes of these specimens, which have been hand collected from around the Whitby and Robin Hoods Bay area.

The pictures you see here are representative of the products and are usually not the exact item you will receive. Where various grades are available we do try to photograph each grade - but some photographs are still on their way!