As a gemstone Jade is really an oriental preference at least for the older generation in Hawaii. Who does not know a mother, father, uncle or aunt that does not own any jade jewelry? Many in the younger generation are inheriting these jade pieces and do not know what it is worth or what to do with them. The younger generation are generally not interested in jade jewelry. They may be thinking of not keeping any of the jade because they do not care much for them. Be very careful before you give them away some of these jade jewelry pieces may be worth a small fortune. A girl had inherited a jade ring from her grandmother that she considered ugly and had planned to give it to a friend. She luckily had it appraised and found it to be worth as much as $20,000. You can guess that she kept that ring seeing it in a whole new perspective.
There are only two materials that are considered as jade. These are nephrite and jadeite. Nephrite comes in variations of green, black and in a creamy white color commonly called “mutton fat”. Jadeite on the other had come in a wider variety of colors including green, lavender, pink, blue, orange, yellow and brown. Of the two, jadeite is rarer. The emerald green translucent jadeite known as “Imperial Jade” is extremely rare and is the most valuable.
It may become confusing because there are a lot of jade simulants around, other kinds of stones that strongly resembles jade. Some of these are colored glass, serepentine, chalcedony, soapstone, adventurine, green quartz, and agate. They even have names with jade in it like, “Korean jade”, “Indian jade”, “Australian jade”, “Hunan jade” and quite a few others. Identification to determine if it is really jade can be done by a specific gravity test.
The difficulty of evaluating jade is compounded by the problem of enhancements that will improve the look and make it appear more valuable. These enhancement techniques are not always easy to detect. A Chelsea filter will help to determine if the jade was dyed green. Dyed lavender jade until recently was not detectable. Other enhancement treatments are polymer resin impregnation. Spectroscopy is the best method to detect polymer resin infusion.
These are the different categories of enhancement:
- Type A – jadeite that has not been treated. Traditional waxing is not considered an enhancement treatment.
- Type B – bleaching a piece of jade and impregnating it with clear polymer resin.
- Type C – jade that has been dyed or stained
- Types B and C can be combined.
- Type D – are composite stones like doublets, a jade top with a plastic backing.
Valuating jade is difficult. One has to first determine whether it is real or not, then if it is nephrite or jadeite and if it has gone through any enhancements. In assessing its value color is generally the most important characteristic, the uniformity of color has to be taken in account along with its translucency, imperfections such as fractures and the density are also evaluated because it will determine the luster and shine of the jade. Appraising jade should be left to a jade expert, a gemologist trained and with equipment to determine its quality and value.
Jade is a very beautiful gemstone, one that if inherited may be worth evaluating before you decide on its future.
Mahalo,
Russell Oshita
The Diamond Specialists Inc.
Our website: www.thediamondspecialistsinc.com
Email me: russell@thediamondspecialists.com
Email me:inquiries@thediamondspecialists.com
Our romantic love story blog: www.SweetMomentsRomance.com
Our jewelry information and advice blog: www.Jewelry411Help.com
