He is valuable, he is desirable, he has a rich history, he is beautiful and seductive! He delights anyone who sees him. Jadeite is perfect. This is the most expensive ornamental stone.
The price of jadeite is determined by factors such as transparency, clarity and color of the stone. For example, in the photo, the ring on the left at the 1stdibs auction is valued at $38,989.39, the second (on the right) is $10,500.
Jadeite is a very durable mineral. Hardness and strength are different properties. A hard mineral is difficult to scratch, and a hard mineral is difficult to crack. Diamond can scratch any other stone, but it is very fragile.
Jadeite is 24 times stronger than diamond and 200 times stronger than sapphire.
The history of jadeite is a love story over many thousands of years, spanning all continents. But every love story has its own drama. Such a desirable and such a rare jadeite, of course, is counterfeited or replaced with less valuable minerals.
The eight most common stones that are passed off as precious jadeite
1. Jade
Beautiful and no less beloved than jadeite - jade, however, has a lower price in the jewelry market. Its history is much older. Often, jade and jade did not differ from each other, which causes some confusion today. But look - they are not the same.
2. Green quartz
Fairly common, dyed quartz looks very beautiful. But its cost is not so high. Quartz is not as strong and hard as jadeite and quartz is the most common mineral, while jadeite is extremely rare.
Another disadvantage is that the green color of quartz is given artificially, while the color of precious jadeite is of natural origin.
3. Aventurine
Aventurine itself is a magnificent stone. It has a feature that is named after this stone - avanturescence - the optical effect of flickering, colored sparkling brilliance, bright glow with point highlights.
If you like this stone, you're in luck - it's not expensive compared to jadeite, but it's nowhere near the durability of jadeite.
4. Chrysoprase
A beautiful stone with a fascinating story of its own, but don't buy it like jadeite!
Chrysoprase - This is a variety of quartz, so it is inferior in strength and price to natural jadeite. In addition, chrysoprase is often tinted and over time it loses its original color.
Some dishonest sellers try to sell cheap chrysoprase to uninformed buyers under the name "Australian jade". This is wrong, wrong and a professional can easily distinguish these stones.
5. Bowenite
Bowenite deserves a separate story. It is also called "Boven jade", but it is significantly inferior in hardness and is actually a type of serpentine. The stone is very beautiful, has its own history, but is significantly inferior in price to both jade and precious jadeite.
Not as hard, durable and not as valuable as jade
6. Grossular
grossular stone really beautiful and expensive! But much cheaper than jade. Possessing the same hardness (or maybe more) than jadeite, however, it does not have the strength of jadeite.
Grossular is not as rare as natural jadeite.
7. Serpentine (Coil)
Serpentine - a group of minerals of the subclass of layered silicates, magnesium-iron hydrosilicates (not to be confused with the rock serpentinite).
Among this group of minerals there are samples resembling jadeite. An inexperienced buyer may well be deceived.
8. Green Onyx
green onyx - a valuable variety of quartz, but, as mentioned above, quartz is inferior in strength to jadeite and much cheaper.
Significant deposits of jadeite are single and rare. Occurs exclusively in high-pressure, low-temperature metamorphic rocks of continental margins.
Jadeite is found in the form of pods or veins or in the form of scattered grains in Myanmar, the Alps, Russia, California (usually in a mixture of various rocks), Japan.
Gem-quality jadeite is mined in only one deposit, Myanmar.
