Does anyone have any good advice on buying Jade. I am going to do some shopping for Christmas and want to buy some Jade. I have been told that in some of the Jade Markets much of the Jade os not real. I live in Taichung city and have been to the Jade market only one time but did not buy anyhting. I was afraid of getting ripped off. Some people have told me that when you hold Jade it should feel cold. Although, I am still not sure of how to tell if I am buying nicely coloured glass or the real thing. If you know of any Jade buyers guide sites please let me know. Also if you have any good advice regarding Jade, it would be greatly appreciated.
At the top end (south) of the Weekend Jade Market in Taipei (not the old one by the computer street) there is a desk with people who can help you with your purchasing decisions.
Try contacting the Chienkuo Holiday Jade Market Council, which runs the market.
Here is a bit of background for you: Taipei market a journey through jade wonderland
Much like the boycott of African “blood diamonds” there is also an effort to boycott Burmese jade and jadeite. President Bush signed into law in 2003 a prohibition of importing into the United States anything that is produced, mined, manufactured, grown or assembled in Burma. A small area in the north of Burma is for all practical purposes the only place on earth you can mine “jadeite”, one of the kinds of jade that you are able to purchase in Taiwan.
If you are able to, please avoid buying this kind of jade. It’s known as Imperial Jade. It’s harder and looks better (lighter color, more vivid and translucent) than the other kind of Jade. The miners are paid for their work in heroin and they must share needles miners because of the short supply of needles. This is an AIDS tragedy. Journalists must escape from villages in order to publish their stories. “The junta keeps the workers digging by providing uncut heroin through needles shared by literally hundreds of users. AIDS is rampant and ignored.”
My mum recently handed down her jade bracelet to me, which she had worn for around 40 years. I think that the material of the jade is more telling than the colour, when my mum first got hers it was ugly as sin. an ashen grey thing that was pretty coarse, its become a vivid light green - but the material is hard as hell and didn’t break when her watch got smashed playing tennis.
Anyhow, the colour of jade gradually changes with the constant body temperature. You can tell after a year or so after wearing it when you spot ‘clouds’ and crystals appearing in the stone.
[quote=“Gloria”]My mum recently handed down her jade bracelet to me, which she had worn for around 40 years. I think that the material of the jade is more telling than the colour, when my mum first got hers it was ugly as sin. an ashen grey thing that was pretty coarse, its become a vivid light green - but the material is hard as hell and didn’t break when her watch got smashed playing tennis.
Anyhow, the colour of jade gradually changes with the constant body temperature. You can tell after a year or so after wearing it when you spot ‘clouds’ and crystals appearing in the stone.[/quote]Interesting. A Taiwanese friend in the UK told me that a jade bracelet will get darker over time as it absorbs the sins of the wearer! Jade is supposed to have a protective effect and if you frequently go to places with negative energies, such as nightclubs, the jade bracelet you wear will soak up the bad vibes and change colour.
The body temperature thing sounds more likely, if prosaic.
I’ve heard this too, but more in the healing sense that jade protects you from illness and absorbs the bad elements of whatever is in your body. I think they used to give children jade bracelets out of this belief…
I think I’ve got to get fatter wrists though to get the body temperature/ metamorphic process going.
My understanding is that, when struck, real jade will emit a ringing sound, rather than a knocking sound. Don’t know the scientific explanation behind this, though.