Jade - real or fake - Can you tell the difference?

Jade is a very special gemstone in the jewelry making industry. In the Far East it is regarded as the royal gem stone, valued equally as gold and diamond

Unfortunately there are many fake ones too. Recently I had an opportunity to learn about the difference from a recent trip to Beijing, China.

I was stranded here for 36 hours on my way home to San Francisco from India and I took the advantage to visit the famous gem stone factory in Beijing. At the end of the demonstration we were given a quiz to find the real jade bracelet from a variety of similar bracelets which were actually made of acrylic, plastic, marble and other stones. And I tell you, this test was not very easy. Now, I am going to pass on what I had learned.

The value of this special gemstone depends on the following criteria:

*Color and the intensity of that color

In the West we recognize the different shades of green as the proper colors for this gemstone like the soft apple green, emerald green or the dark spinach green shade. In the Far East the expert connoisseur highly esteem the pure white, mellow yellow, light peach and violet hues or lavender as acceptable colors of this gem.

*Vivacity and texture.

*Clarity and transparency

Also, many pieces of Asian art are claimed to be made of this precious gem stone while they are often jadeites or nephrites.

Jadeites are rarer and are mostly found in China, Russia and some parts of Guatemala. The best ones are in Burma (Myanmar) according to wikipedia.

Valuable tools and weaponry were made since antiquity with jadeites. Spiritual figurines, object d'art and other fine pieces are often created with this stone.

These are highly valued and do have a huge market even in modern culture

Unfortunately, there are many fake materials like acrylic, plastic, marbles and other forms of cheaper stones that are all claimed and sold as jades!

So, how to tell the difference?
1.The Scratch Test: Nothing can penetrate into this real gem stone therefore it can not be scratched.

2.The Cheek Test: Place it against your cheek , on your face. The real one will feel exceptionally cool to touch.

3.The Hot Pin Test: If touched by a very hot pin nothing will happen to the real one. Nothing can penetrate the real one.

4.The Specific Gravity Test: The specific gravity or density of this real gemstone ranges from 2.9 - 3.33. Though a bit cumbersome, if you have a spring scale and a small bucket of wa

This test basically determines how much the stone weighs in air compared to in water. To do this test you will need a springs scale and a glass or small bucket to place the gemstone items in. The bucket must be big enough to cover the item. Record the weight in air and when submersed in water than calculate the gravity. Your looking for a number between 2.98 and 3.33

To calculate the volume of the gemstone item:

Volume of the item = Its weight in Air – its weight in water

To calculate the density of the item:

Density of the item = Weight of item in Air/Volume of Item

Example: The weight of a piece in Air = 600 grams

Its weight in water = 415 grams Its volume = 600 – 415 = 185

Its density = 600/185 = 3.24

Again you are looking for a number between 2.98 to 3.33 so in this example we have jade!

5.The real stone may have pits and other marks. Colors may often vary throughout the piece and this what may seem like imperfection or non uniformity to our untrained eye, is perhaps the signature of authenticity of this perfect gemstone.

My experience in Beijing and this research gave me this knowledge about the real and fake version of this gemstone.

As I share this information with you it makes me an infopreneur. As an infopreneur you can also earn. How?

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