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5.04.2011

Cataclysm Gems - Finding Lucrative Cuts Via The Undermine Journal Gems Array


The Undermine Journal is a treasure trove of valuable information for anyone  interested in making gold in World of Warcraft.

Unfortunately for many of us it can also seem large (and often overwhelming) sea of information threatening to drown us in numbers. Today I am going to go over one of the most valuable tools I've found on The Undermine Journal: "The Gems Array".

How to Get There
In order to find "The Gems Array" for your US server first head to The Undermine Journal and select your server and faction. (Sorry EU there is no TUJ for EU realms. Let them know you want one by using the The Undermine Journal Contact Page. In the meantime feel free to use a US realm as a ROUGH guide.)

Navigating to The Undermine Journal's "Gems Array"


Once you are on your own server/faction Undermine Journal page move your mouse over the word "ENHANCEMENTS" and then select "Jewelcrafting" from the sub-menu.

Sifting the Data
Once on "The Gems Array" page you will notice many tables with lots of different colors and prices. It is a bit overwhelming at first but with a little practice the colors and numbers make sifting through the data painfully easy.

Example Gems Array from Undermine Journal


There are three colors a particular box can be: red, yellow, white and blue. I've listed the here in order of profit potential:
  • Red - Means this particular cut is selling for 3 times the raw gem price.
  • Yellow - Means this particular cut is selling for 1.5 times the raw gem price.
  • White - Means this particular cut is selling for a price nearly equal the raw gem price.
  • Blue - Means this particular cut is selling for under 75% of the raw gem price.

The gems in the red boxes are the cuts The Undermine Journal believes are the most profitable cuts at the moment (or as of 1-2 hours ago due to TUJ's hourly scan). We are then looking for the red boxes. (Potentially yellow boxes as well depending on the profit margin you are looking for.)

Little (Confusing) Details
The Gems Array has a ton of information contained in a small space. Here are are explanations for a few of its more cryptic identifiers.

  • Unc - "Uncommon" quality (AKA green-quality) gems (does not mean "Uncut").
  • Per - "Perfect Uncommon" quality. Cutting uncommon gems has a small chance to proc "Perfect" versions which have slightly higher stats.
  • Rare - "Rare" quality (AKA blue-quality) gems.
  • Epic - "Epic" quality gems. I'm sure this will be included once Cataclysm epic gems are introduced.

Let Your Mouse Do the Walking
Another great feature of The Gems Array is that you can move your mouse over a particular gem cut's box and see the quantity that was available at the time of the last Undermine Journal scan.

Mouse over Gem Array Cuts for More Info
This can come be very useful if you are searching for profitable gem cuts that also have a low amount of competition.

In the example here you can see that "Smooth Amberjewel" has 8 currently available on my server/faction's auction house. You can also see that the "Market Price" for this cut is 75g 92s and that the raw Amberjewels are selling for 6g 50s.

If I simple purchased a raw Amberjewel and cut it into a Smooth Amberjewel I'd have the potential to make 69 gold per gem.

Having this amount of detailed information laid out in such a useful way is a huge boon to Jewelcrafters working to squeeze the most profit possible from their gems.

It should be noted here that simply because a gem is being *listed* at a certain price (which is the number TUJ records) doesn't guarantee it will sell for that price. That said the data is still very valuable in spotting trends and finding gaps in your markets.

Obsidium Shuffle? Not Today!
One other useful part of The Gems Array is a section on the profitably of prospecting various types of ore. Not just Cataclysm ore but every prospectable ore in World of Warcraft.

While this list is not color-coded it is very valuable for spotting opportunities for making profit by prospecting under-priced ore and selling the raw gems. It also shows bar prices to help determine if selling bars is more profitable than ore.

The Undermine Journal Gems Array ore/bar and prospecting section.


In this image you can see that at the moment I have potential to make profit prospecting Adamantite Ore. The calculations involved in doing this for Cataclysm ore can be handled by an addon such as Ore Crusher but Ore Crusher only handles Cataclysm Ore. For anything lower than Cataclysm ore the Gems Array is your best bet.

(For those in the EU without access to The Undermine Journal you can enter your own ore and gem prices at WoW Prospector to get results that match your server exactly.)

Conclusion
As you can see The Undermine Journal's "Gems Array" is a very powerful tool for evaluating the state of the gem market on your server/faction. I have it bookmarked and come back to it often when needing to know the "shape" of my market from day-to-day.

Once you get familiar with how the page works checking for profitable and lucrative cuts becomes second nature. The more tools an auctioneer has at their disposal the more gold they will make.

The Gems Array is a giant sledge hammer poised to smash you competitions profits into little pieces.

Talking Points
  • How have you used The Gems Array in your day-to-day gold-making?
  • What was the biggest surprise you found while looking over your server/faction's Gems Array?
  • What other powerful tools do you use on The Undermine Journal?

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5 comments :

  1. i was actually asked to put in security questions after a half hour of looking up all prices for each gem and seeing what sold and listed. it asked if i was a bot or a gobby lol.

    ReplyDelete

  2. There is one step further that you can go. Click on the cut and check the history of the cut. If you see only a couple of sales for the last week you may find there are better options out there. I look for cuts that are active traders

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  3. @Shannon lol! The TUJ folks are pretty tech savy to say the least!

    @Brent Fantastic tip! Ty.

    ReplyDelete

  5. @Flux: Good Post!

    @Jokine: I don't .... ;-)

    ReplyDelete

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