Real jade (no, I'm not joking)

Taiwan Where Can I Find...?
1

We’re looking to get some jade rings, preferably carved/engraved. Good jade - the pricey stuff. Not little discs of jade set in gold/platinum (though if we found one pretty enough we’d consider it), but 100% jade rings.

But with all the fake jade about, we don’t dare try the Jianguo jade market and don’t know what to make of the plethora of jewelry shops. I’ve had students buy at those shops and end up with very expensive fakes.

We’re considering the government gifts shop on Zhongshan Road because at least we know that jade is real…but can anyone recommend a reputable dealer?

This is for a fairly important event so it would be really bad if it ended up being fake.

Thanks!

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If it’s that important, go to government sponsored shops with an expert in tow. It’s really hard to tell fake from real. where to find an expert? I don’t know.

Price is not necessarily a good indicator, and you know already to avoid the JianGuo Rd fake market.

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Haha, an expert. I don’t know any jade experts. And it is that important. I’m not into diamonds (at all), and for our engagement rings we’d like to get something that is somehow related to our time in Taiwan. Taiwanese jade seems like a perfect choice. But yeah, it’s gotta be real.

The government shop on Zhongshan has lovely jade, and while I trust the government shop, I’d still like to know for sure. No idea how, though!

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I have a large and very expensive solid jade ring. About three jade experts have told me its real and about three have told me its not. One appraised it at NT$250,000 and one appraised it at NT$1,200. :laughing: Its a pretty green stone ring and the experts don’t appear to know fuck-all. If you like it, buy it. If an expert tells you its a fake, tell him he don’t know SHIT!
If you REALLY need to know, take it to one of those fortune tellers on the street who use the little white zebra finches to predict the future. If the birdie lands on your ring, its real, if it doesn’t, its fake. Oh, wait – is it the other way around? No matter.

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he he he…

of course, there is a destructive test that will tell you if something WAS jade. bit like burning silk.

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Hah.

“Congratulations! Can I see the ring?”
“Sure. Do you like it?”
“Uhhh…yes?”
“Thank you! It’s real jade you know. You can tell by the color of the ash covering my finger.”

7

The Community Services Center used to run a class by a professional gemologist on how to tell whether jade was real, buying jade in Taiwan, etc. I don’t know whether I can still scare up the gemologist’s name card, but you could call them to see if he still does the class.

I do recall that you should invest in a strong magnifying glass, with a light, to examine the jade (preferably UNmounted), looking for bubbles (a telltale sign that it’s a glass fake). Don’t ever buy a mounted piece that has the sides and back covered, as those often have a thin layer of real jade, glued atop one or more other layers or atop a mirror (the latter reflects the light back out, making dark, low-quality jade appear brighter and more valuable). You’re best off buying an unmounted stone and having it mounted, for this reason. Examine the sides to see if it has been made from layers (laminated). Finally, jade has a specific harness and index of refraction which can be tested by a professional appraiser. If your appraiser subjects it to an index of refraction test using expensive equipment, he’s probably a trustworthy pro. If all he does is hold it up to the light and eyeball it, he’s not very professional.

And expensive jewelry shops are more likely to sell you real jade (at a premium) than some sidewalk vendor with a mainland accent. But as always, caveat emptor.

That’s all I can remember from that course, which I took about 10 years ago.

PS – Congrats! :bravo:

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Jade comes in two principal forms: jadeite (Burmese jade, or feicui) being the more precious variety, and nephrite being the more common type. Within these two classes are a wide range of qualities.

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Dragonbones - thanks! It’s not really ‘official’, though, 'till we get me a ring and him an engraved flask (so he can drown the stress of the party-planning).

I know not to buy pre-mounted pieces with the side and back covered, but I don’t want a mounted piece anyway - I want a full ring. I saw one a few years back that was not too expensive in a lovely kiwi green color (apparently mined in Taiwan) with engraved leaves and am wondering if we can track down something similar.

I can tell the difference between real jade and glass or green tourmaline (a real stone, and a pretty one, but not jade)…it’s the jadeite/nephrite thing I worry about.

I know about the difference between jadeite and nephrite…but I don’t know how to find out for sure which is which. I’ve been told the government shops stock only jadeite, but who knows.

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Oh, sorry, missed that in your OP but now I get it.

Oh, well, jadeite and nephrite are both real jade, and easy to tell apart with a bit of experience, so no worries there. Jadeite, which when high in quality is by far the more valuable, is glassy in shine, and the most typical valuable types are a brilliant, extremely glassy, semi-translucent to translucent apple green resembling emerald. Nephrite is waxy and never as translucent, and when green, is a dark, dull green. The glassy-waxy and translucency distinctions are quite dramatic. The green colors also differ markedly in quality. Of course, both come in many colors, but for expensive jadeite, green, or green mixed with white , is typical. For nice nephrite, jewelry is usually very dark green, but for carvings, a creamy, fatty looking white is highly prized too.

They might sell both, but should be able to tell you which is which. If they know their stock, they won’t try to fool you. Nephrite, being marginally softer (although very hard), is sometimes referred to as ruan3yu4, soft jade, or Taiwan jade (although much of the “Taiwan” jade comes from Canada). If made into jewelry it is typically a very dark, waxy green. Jadeite, being marginally harder, is called ying4yu4, hard jade, and often comes from Burma.

If you see bright, single gems at the government store they are likely to be jadeite; if you see darkish green pearl-necklace-style necklaces, they are likely to be nephrite. This is a simple function of mass and value; the necklaces would be too expensive if they were made of that mass of top quality jadeite. Simple bands of jade as rings, like a wedding band, smooth and without any carvings, are more likely to be jadeite at a jewelry store or government outlet for the same reason, although at the jade market they might be nephrite or glass.

Occlusions and so on also greatly influence the cost of jade. You can get real jadeite with good color but mediocre translucency and a few obvious occlusions for fairly low prices at the jade market. Perfection raises prices exponentially.

BTW, high-quality jadeite is worth a LOT. We’re talking obscene.

High quality nephrite in large pieces is still of very significant value.

Low quality jadeite and moderate-quality nephrite in large pieces, or high-quality nephrite in small pieces, are of moderate value.

Moderate to low quality nephrite is of little value, like the various stones that often pass for it. And if a seller tries to market quartz and similar stones to you as “yu4”, don’t punch them. The Mandarin concept is very vague, and includes a variety of similar stones. The sellers are not necessarily being dishonest – they might just be using the vague concept. The buyer is expected to be discerning. IMHO.

If you have any more questions please don’t hesitate to ask.

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That was VERY helpful - thanks!

From your information, it’s clear that the government shop sells both jadeite and nephrite (they insist, however, that that “Taiwan Jade” really comes from Taiwan…I don’t know about that). On one side they sell very affordable nephrite necklaces and other stock, and on the other is the obscenely priced stuff -$20,000 to $300,000 bracelets etc. It sounds like the kiwi-green carved band I fell in love with last year is nephrite - it wasn’t dark or waxy, but it wasn’t very translucent either.

When I’m just buying small bits of jewelry for myself I don’t mind nephrite, but we figure this is somewhat more important than your regular shopping excursion, so we’d rather have the real-real thing.

Fortunately jadeite rings are a lot smaller than jadeite bracelets and are probably within our budget…and if not, getting a small gem and having it mounted would be alright.

Thanks again!

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Taiwan jade (a dark green, waxy nephrite) also comes from Taiwan. But I was told by an instructor during my National Palace Museum docent training that much or most of that kind of jade comes from Canada. Due to the name “Taiwan jade”, it’s not likely that retailers will realize this. That’s my understanding, anyway. I don’t claim expertise.

Not all jadeite is highly translucent – only the finer stuff. But it will still have a glassier shine than nephrite. Was it like this? That color looks like a typical nephritic light green to my eyes. Nephritic colors (like iron-based pea-soup green) tend to look organic, and jadeite colors tend to look more chemical (like chromium-based imperial green).

Nephrite IS the real thing. Both it and jadeite are recognized as jade by gemologists.

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Yes yes, jadeite and nephrite are both ‘the real thing’ but one is marginally nicer than the other. For something we’ll be wearing for the rest of our lives (knock on wood) we’d rather have the nicer of the two.

The band I liked was not organic-looking in color. It was almost exactly the color of the inside of a ripe kiwi (the bright part, not the center). Not translucent but definitely glassy, not waxy.

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Most bands, bangles, cabochons etc. are jadeite, yes; in small pieces, it is the more precious of the two, yes, especially nowadays. I personally prefer nephrite, e.g. in Neolithic, Han and Song Dynasty carvings, but I like rustic and organic-looking things. Just my taste.

Good luck with this!

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There’s a fairly classy looking shop a couple doors west of the new Sogo (ZhongHsiao/Fuxing) on ZhongHsiao East Rd. Seems to attract a lot of fairly well-to-do looking people. All they deal in is jade jewelry. Sorry, don’t know anything more except I walk by it everyday.

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I took the class Dragonbones mentioned, the one by “Peter Delight” at the Community Services Center.

He was very knowledgeable and shared some good information with us. I still don’t feel like I could tell the real stuff from the fake though. It was a fun class.

Delight Jewelry is across from Minquan West Road MRT Station on the Danshui line. (On Google, there’s an address #73 Minquan W. Road and a number 2587-3377)

Go out the main exit right onto Minquan W. Road, right next to the station is a NET. Stand in front of NET and look across the street and you’ll see Delight Jewelry.

(Congratulations!)

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Thanks!

We’ll check both those stores. Our original idea was to get me a jadeite ‘gem’ in white gold as an engagement ring, and we checked the government shop which had pretty enough, but not really distinctive, pieces. We also checked Shinkong Mitsukoshi which had lots of Burmese jade, but it was all designed for obasan…for grown children to buy their aging mothers/grandmothers. Way too “Lao Tai Tai” for my taste.

While there I fell in love with a gold ring - no gem, just gold - in an ornate design so we’re going to get that, and seek out jadeite bands to exchange at the hootenanny* we’re planning. The two store referrals are very useful for that. Thanks again!

*if you’re American you get what I mean, if not, look it up :slight_smile:

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One of the stores the place I work uses to get jade presents from and that I have visited is Lucoral. It’s got pretty nifty things, from obasan style to modern. Check it out as a reliable source of real jade -salespeople take time to explain the stuff to you:
台北-總公司 TAIPEI, TAIWAN HOME OFFICE
大東山珊瑚寶石股份有限公司

LUCORAL & LUPEARL CORPORATION

90, NANKING E. RD SEC 3,

TAIPEI, TAIWAN 104

TEL: 886-2-2506-9191, 2506-9696

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Thanks! Very helpful. I think I’ve been by that store. I’m sure someone will have the bands we want (they don’t have to be the perfect clear jade - which for full jade bands is probably not in our budget - polished jade ‘gems’ set in gold would be).

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Because if you were joking you would have said something like, “A default Sans Serif font walks into a bar. The bartender says, ‘Sorry, we don’t serve your type here!’”