New "Old" Jade Bangles added to Jade Heaven

Most of the  jadeite bangle bracelets I added to the Jade Heaven web site today are the fine grained old mine "lao pit" jadeite, mined prior to the year 2000.  They are part of the collection I purchased while I was still working a "real" job and spent every extra dollar I had buying jade when I went to China each year.  I didn't know that an embargo was in the USA government works, and I didn't know that jadeite was going to increase so much in price because of politics, and the jadeite getting more rare.  

If you have been looking at jade since the turn of century, you have probably noticed the changes.  The color started looking "too good" as color treatments were used more for commercial quality jadeite.  Then the last few years, you see the deeper colors, or very little color on grade A jadeite bangles with certificates. This newer jadeite is really grade A, because the government is trying to stop the fraud of B and C grade being sold with fake certificates as A grade.  The color has more deeper dark green veins and less translucence.  It is sometimes referred to by Chinese people as "modern" jade, the kind of jade younger women in China wear because it's not like their grandmother's jade.  By washing the deep yang color out with acid, and sometimes adding color, the jade would look "prettier", more translucent with a more delicate color like the older jade.  The photos below are of newly listed jade bangles from the older jade collection:

 

The photo below is an example of the new jadeite with certificates

Since jade bangle bracelets were worn mostly by women, the softer more yin colors were favored by Chinese women and are more traditional.  And modern women like the yang deeper colors of the newer jade because they work and/or seek fortune and fame and prefer to have more yang, if they even want to wear jade bangle bracelets.  These newer jade bangles are also wider, and have more jade inside to outside so they are more sturdy for every day wearing in the lifestyle of modern Chinese women.

The older jadeite has a higher value and are collector's items.  I had the boxes of these older jades in storage since 2003 when I saw how jadeite was changing.  And by keeping jade for several years, I could also see if the colors remained true, another indicator of really being natural color. 

So, yes, the prices of the old mine jadeite is higher than the "modern" jade.  But my jade advisor/consultant in China tells me I have them prices considerably lower than they are worth.  So if you buy the old mine jade, you are not only getting a traditional fine quality jadeite stone, you are also investing in jadeite that is getting more rare every day.

You can view these and purchase on the Jade Heaven web site.  More are also available on Ying Yu Jade.