Why is jade valuable

But it also suggested that jade offered protection from physical decay. And for centuries since, there has been a deep connection between Chinese culture and the smooth green stone. More than two million Chinese are millionaires. Demand for jade is driven almost entirely by the Chinese market.

At the top end, it can be worth more than gold. A gang in the UK was recently sentenced to prison for plundering jade artefacts from museums and an auction house. Jade is in fact a catch-all title for two chemically different substances that are physically similar. Jadeite, which comes exclusively from Burma, is by most accounts the more prized of the two. But nephrite, which traditionally comes from western China, was in use long before jadeite became popular. Older Chinese nephrite pieces sometimes command huge figures at auction.

Jadeite on the contrary can show a strongly granular structure of interlocking pyroxene crystals, sometimes looking more fibrous in any intensely green areas. Some translucent varieties such as water jade show very little structure. The 'orange peel' effect visible on the surface of a jade specimen. This is a feature unique to jadeite and a key identification factor.

More recent use of diamond grit has made the dimpling less apparent and resulted in a higher lustre. This makes it easier to potentially tell the older pieces of jadeite from modern ones.

The Refractive index for jadeite is typically 1. Jade is most highly valued in Chinese culture today. The philosopher Confucius reportedly expressed this fascination by making jade a metaphor for virtue, kindness, wisdom, justice, civility, music, sincerity, truth, Heaven and Earth.

It is believed to possess the power to avert evil and bad luck while fostering health and good fortune.

During the early Chinese dynasties c. There is no coincidence that the Chinese character Yu which designates jade — and more generally beauty and preciousness — is very similar to the character Wang which refers to the king. Hence ritual objects in jade were used by Chinese emperors. Gui or jade tablets were used by the emperor to communicate with supernatural forces and became a symbol of power when worn by the emperor or the court dignitaries.

A jade carving alongside six jade cabochons in various colours. Image by Gem-A. The demand for quality jade has been soaring since the turn of the century, with prices rising tenfold in the first decade.

Overall, high quality jade may be compared to certain rare colour diamonds, with prices per carat far above ruby or sapphire. Learning it came from a wild country south of Yunnan, he sent columns of troops down to secure a supply. But even the crack Chinese armies were no match for the difficult terrain and fierce Kachin hill people. They returned empty handed, beaten back by malaria, mud and tribespeople who toyed with the outsiders from the north.

Thereafter, Chinese traders generally never attempted to venture into the hills to the mines, content to deal with the Kachin on the comparatively tranquil plains at Mogaung. A full summary of the Burmese deposits is contained in Hughes et al. By the midth century, the Spanish had spread across much of the New World. In the process they discovered a stone treasured throughout Mesoamerica. Noticing that it was used for pains of the side and lower back, they named it piedra de ijade stone of the flank of the lower back Monardes, In Dog Latin it was lapis nephriticus stone good for the kidneys.

Mesoamerican jade was the mineral now called jadeite Hacking, Hacking continues:. Sweden Nephrite. That became the German scientific name when he was translated, It entered A. The mineralogists probably, but not certainly, had nephrite samples before them. In , French chemist Alexis Damour did the first chemical analysis of nephrite, finding it to be an amphibole Damour, Later, following the British and French armies' sacking of Beijing's Summer Palace, where many Chinese jade objects were stolen and then made their way to Europe, Damour again analyzed jade.

He found the intense green stones to be chemically different from the white-to-pale green nephrite jade, and named the new stone "jadeite" Damour, ; Hacking, Figure 2. Map of China showing the location of major jade mines, markets, and carving centers.

The major source of Chinese nephrite is Hotan a. Map: Richard W. Click on the map for a larger image. The term jade today is used for two different rocks, jadeite and nephrite. While each of these jade cousins shares certain characteristics, in other ways they could not be more different. These are two different bridges to heaven. Although I have been involved with jade since , it was only when I visited China's famous Guangzhou jade market in that I was exposed to Chinese nephrite.

It was love at first sight; suddenly I understood the deeper attraction of "jade. The white Chinese nephrite is a lovely gem material possessing a sublime beauty all its own and today fetches prices that compete with the finest imperial jadeite.

To date, the best source of this white "mutton fat" nephrite is near Hetian in western China's Xinjiang province. Whereas jadeite is lipsticked gloss and neon-lit high-heels, the beauty of Chinese nephrite involves a far different experience, where depth and feeling rule. Having now experienced both worlds, I must say that, as I grow older, I tend to be drawn more and more to the world of nephrite.

In summarizing the difference between the two materials, I'd say that jadeite is miniskirted eyes-wide-open candy. In contrast, nephrite involves encountering your lover in a dark room, where beauty is hidden by blindfold, and thus discovered via sweet caress and touch. Even the manner in which the gems are displayed is radically different.

Jadeite struts her stuff under gaudy lights surrounded by the sparkle of diamonds; in contrast, nephrite is placed in front of the public like fine art, with dark backgrounds and generous space, befitting a stone that the Chinese consider to be more valuable than either silver or gold—the most precious substance on earth—literally the bridge to heaven. While a number of fanciful terms have been used to describe jadeite, its evaluation is similar to that of other gemstones in that it is based primarily on the "Three Cs" — color, clarity, and cut fashioning.

Unlike most colored stones, the fourth "C" — carat weight — is less important than the dimensions of the fashioned piece. However, two additional factors are also considered — the "Two Ts" — translucency diaphaneity and texture. In the following discussion, Chinese terms for some of the key factors are given in parentheses, with a complete list of Chinese terms for various aspects of jade given in Table 1.

One of the key concepts in understanding jadeite jade quality is that of the base material in Thai this is termed nua — the 'meat'.

This term describes the quality of the material itself, completely separate from color. The best jadeite is semi-transparent; opaque jadeite or material with granular cloudy patches typically has the least value. It is interesting to note that even if the overall color is uneven or low in saturation, jadeite can still be quite valuable if it has good transparency. In jade, texture is intimately related to transparency.

Typically, the finer the texture, the higher the transparency. Further, the evenness of the transparency depends on the consistency of the grain size.

Top jadeite has an extremely fine grained texture. This allows it to take a glassy polish with no undercutting or dimpling. Figure 3. Jadeite Colors The three basic elements of any color are hue position top , saturation and tone bottom. Note that saturation and tone are interrelated. As saturation increases, so does tone lower left. However, there reaches a point where increasing absorption of light increasing tone results in a decrease in saturation lower right.

This is the most important factor in the quality of fashioned jadeite. As per standard color nomenclature, jadeite's colors are best described by breaking them down into the three color components: hue position on the color wheel , saturation intensity , and tone lightness or darkness.

The Doubly Fortunate necklace shown below is an excellent example of top-quality hue, saturation, tone, and color distribution. Figure 4. For jadeite, the intensity of the green color, combined with a high degree of translucency are the key factors in judging value. Stones which are too dark in color or not so translucent are less highly valued. Color distribution must also be taken into account.

Note that top color in jadeite jade is only realized when the base material meat is of fine quality. Hue zheng : Top-quality jadeite is pure green. While its hue position is usually slightly more yellow than that of fine emerald and it never quite reaches the same saturation of color, the ideal for jadeite is a fine "emerald" green.

No brown or gray modifiers should be present in the finished piece. Saturation nong : This is by far the most important element of green and lavender jadeite color. The finest colors appear intense from a distance sometimes described as 'penetrating'.

In these cases, the jade is more valuable when thick, symmetrical, and proportional; there ought not to be any flaws or imperfections visible to the naked eye and dome shapes ought to be uniform with no flat spots or unevenness. Other times, jade can be cut into round beads which are then matched to others of a similar hue and saturation to be strung together. Because of the difficulty in finding beads of a matching color, long strands with larger beads can be extremely valuable.

Another highly expensive cut of jade is bracelets or bangles that have been cut from a single piece. Of course the most important step in ascertaining the value of your jade is to seek professional appraisal. Only a professional will be able to provide you with a sure and certain range of value for your item by using their experience and expertise to eliminate as much chance for misstep and error as possible.

Luckily here at Value My Stuff, there are experts in the field that will be able to provide professional appraisal and valuation services so that you can take the necessary steps to discover the value of your jade today! Start valuation.