Is Black Jade a Jadeite (Burma Jade) ?

Is Black Jade a Jadeite (Burma Jade) ?

Black jade is a Jadeite but can also be a Nephrite. They are simply different in material but look alike. Black Jadeite is more rare. A more accurate to tell is to put your piece into a laboratory or consult an experienced Jade Trader.

Before Black jadeite is highly recognized, some doubted that Black jade is not Jadeite and would consider it as Nephrite because they used to believe Jadeite cannot be appeared to be “black” in color. But after some professional and detailed investigation on some pieces of existing black jade, people found some is Jadeite and some is Nephrite. Black jadeite is also found in Burma mine and so it is correct to tell black jade is a Burma jade.

Jadeite found to be in Black is in fact not a real Black. They are just too dark in green color and composed of jadeite in the form of short prismatic grains. They appear black in reflected light but deep green in transmitted light.

Different Color of Jadeite (Jade)

Different Color of Jadeite (Jade)

Color is the most important for determining the value of Jade. Although a lot of equipment is available for accurately assessing color, the naked eye is still the most important tool for testing and appraising jadeite jade.

The following are the characteristics of colors of Jadeite Jade:

(Pleased be noted that this is just the most basic to value a Jade)

1. White Color Jade(Colorless Jade if this is in Icy or Glassy Variety)

White color is one of the primary color of Natural Jade and is the original color of the pure jade in gemological terms.

Jadeite with White in color is of normal quality unless it comes with high degree of translucent and luster and become colorless. A piece of Colorless Jade is highly valued.. However, most of the jade, normal white appears to be the most usual color.

2. Red Color Jade (or Orange / Yellow)

Red color is very rare in carved jade or jade jewellery.

Red jadeite jade can appear in Bloody Red, Red, Orange Red, Pink color. This color is said to be the opposite of the Green color. In the name Fei Cui (翡翠 Chinese name of jadeite), Fei (翡) is referring to the Red (or Yellow) Color Jadeite and Cui (翠) is referring to the Green Color Jadeite. Red Color Jade usually has a touch of Yellow and therefore we will sometimes categorized Red and Yellow Jade as Yellow Fei (黃翡).

Among the three color (Red, Orange, Yellow), Red is the most rare color and Yellow is the least.

3. Blue Color Jade

Blue color jade is also very rare and is said to be a weird color of jadeite.

Blue color jade will not appear in pure blue and usually appear with other color like green or purple. The usual occurring blue jade shows a bit dull, less translucent and has a touch of grey.

The Value of Blue jade is not that good even it’s rare. But sometimes is very hot and popular due to its weird.

4. Purple Color Jade (or Lavender Jade)

Purple color is also one of the primary color of Natural Jade. In ancient China, purple color is said the Color of Emperor. A real fine piece of Lavender Jade may have a even higher price than fine piece of Green one.

Purple jadeite jade comes in several tones, including: pinkish purple, bluish purple and reddish purple. It is usually rather pale forming more of an undertone than a strong color.

5. Green Color Jade

Green jadeite jade shows the greatest color variety in terms of tone, brightness, and depth of color, and this seems to be the principle reason for the stone’s popularity, at least in China and around Asia.

Why is some jadeite jade dark green while other samples are a brilliant, vivid green? Analysis has shown that the green will be comparatively dark if the aluminum ions are replaced by iron ions, and here the iron is in the ferric state, not the more common ferrous state. Where only a few of the aluminums ions are replaced, the jadeite jade appears light green. However, where more of the aluminum ions are replaced the jadeite appears darker with the color tending increasingly to blackish-green the greater the iron substitution is.

Green Color Jade, due to its popularity and value, is so complicated to explain here by few words but is worth to study. Please read more on Learning Center.

6. Black Color Jade

Before Black jadeite is highly recognized, some doubted that Black jade is not Jadeite and would consider it as Nephrite because they used to believe Jadeite cannot be appeared to be “black” in color. But after some professional and detailed investigation on some pieces of existing black jade, people found some is Jadeite and some is Nephrite. Black jadeite is also found in Burma mine and so it is correct to tell black jade is a Burma jade.

Jadeite found to be in Black is in fact not a real Black. They are just too dark in green color and composed of jadeite in the form of short prismatic grains. They appear black in reflected light but deep green in transmitted light.

7. Mixed Color Jade

When we are talking about the color of jade, not only the saturation or the color tone matter the value of jade, the uniqueness also counts.

As a natural occurring stone, Jadeite is usually in a mixture of color tone or color intensity. In making the fine jadeite stone, people used to take the evenly distributed part to be the gemstone.

However, mixed color is also highly appreciated due to its color and rich contents like a beautiful picture.

Below is some reference on the value of various type of mixed color

Color mixed	Name	Value
Red + Green	翡翠 (Fei Cui)	High
Purple + Green	春帶彩	Higher
Red + Green + Purple	福祿壽 (Fuk-Luk-Sau)	Very High
Red + Green + Purple + White (or Yellow)	福祿壽嘉	Very Very High
Red + Green + Purple + Yellow + White	五福臨門	Extremely High

More detailed explanation and demonstration is available also in Learning Center.

Nick

Grade A, B or C Jade?

Grade A, B or C Jade?

Jade may be enhanced (sometimes called “stabilized”). There are three main methods, sometimes referred to as the ABC Treatment System:

Grade A (or Class A / Type A) jadeite has not been treated in any way except surface waxing. This is the only type we, CollectaneaJade.com, considered the real genuine jade. We don’t sell Jade that’s not Type A. Or other words, we sell only 100% Natural Burma Jade (Jadeite).

Grade B (or Class B / Type B) treatment involves exposing a promising but stained piece of jadeite to chemical bleaches and/or acids and impregnating it with a clear polymer resin. This results in a significant improvement of transparency and color of the material. Currently, infrared spectroscopy is the most accurate test for the detection of polymer in jadeite.

Grade C (or Class C / Type C) jade has been artificially stained or dyed. The red color of Red jade can be enhanced with heat. The effects are somewhat uncontrollable and may result in a dull brown. In any case, translucency is usually lost.

B+C jade is a combination of B and C: it has been both artificially dyed and impregnated.

Grade D jade refers to a composite stone such as a doublet comprising a jade top with a plastic backing.

Grade	Substance	Colour	Texture	Foreign Material
Grade A	Mainly Jadeite	Natural	Natural	No
Grade B	Mainly Jadeite	Removal of Secondary Color	Damage Natural	Expoxene exist
Grade C	Mainly Jadeite	Artificial	Natural or Damaged	Color Agent
Grade B+C	Mainly Jadeite	Artificial	Damaged	Expoxene and Color Agent

You will not find any Grade B, C, B+C, D Jade on www.collectaneajade.com.

What is Jade?

What is Jade? Jadeite or Nephrite?

"Jade”, or “Yu” (玉), as it is called in Mandarin, is strictly speaking a generic term for two different gems, Nephrite and Jadeite (翡翠 Fei Cui).

The name “Jade” is derived from the Spanish “piedra de ijada”, loin-stone, jade having been recognized by the Amerindians as a remedy for kidney ailments. Because of its beneficial effect on the kidneys, the stone was also known as “lapis nephriticus”. That, indeed, is where the term 'nephrite' came from.

Jadeite and Nephrite are both regarded in China as “zhen yu”, “genuine jade” (真玉). It was not until the beginning of the 19th century that mineralogists and gemmologists started to differentiate between them, since they bear a considerable resemblance to each other in terms of their appearance, their hardness and the properties they exhibit when being processed.

In almost all dictionaries, the Chinese character “Yu” (玉) is translated into English as “jade”. However, this frequently leads to misunderstanding: Chinese, Koreans, and Westerners alike generally fail to appreciate that the cultural concept of “jade” is considerably broader in China and Korea than in the West. A more accurate translation for this character on its own would be “precious/ornamental rock”. It is seldom, if ever, used on its own to denote genuine jade in Mandarin Chinese; for example, one would normally refer to “ying yu” (硬玉 “hard jade”) for Jadeite, or “ruan yu” (軟玉 “soft jade”) for Nephrite.

The Chinese names for many other ornamental non-jade rocks also incorporate the character “Yu”, and it is widely understood by native speakers that such stones are not, in fact, true precious nephrite or jadeite. Even so, for commercial reasons, the names of such stones may well still be translated into English as “jade”, and this practice continues to confuse the unwary.

Jadeite and Nephrite are both tough, since they consist of dense, close-grained, matted aggregates, but they differ from one another in their chemical composition and colours.

Nephrite ranges mainly from mid to dark green or grey-green, but it can also be white, yellowish or reddish.

In most case, Jadeite displays hues and its colors are more vivid and include green, white, russet, black, and delicate lavender. Some saying said that: the red or yellow ones are named “fei”, the green ones are named “cui” which concludes the name of the collection: Fei Cui (翡翠).

In both minerals, the way the colour is distributed varies a great deal. Only in the very finest jade is the colour evenly distributed. Both nephrite and jadeite often have veins, blemishes and streaks running through them, though these may not always be regarded as flaws. On the contrary, some of these patterns are considered particularly valuable.

At the moment, due to the comparatively higher reorganization and higher value, we are selling only Jadeite which is coming from Burma and is carved in China Canton.