Trade Show Jade Update and How Do You Know if Jade is "Real"?

This weekend is a jewelry, gem and fashion trade show in our area.  This is the best time of year for this trade show, since it's still "winter" in Florida and that's when we have the most people living here, the part time winter-in-Florida lovers.  There are two vendors who sell jade jewelry and items, and they hold back some jade they think I might be interested because I always go when the show opens the first day.

Only one of the vendors was present.  In fact, there were so few vendors that I wondered if trade shows are going to slowly disappear because of online sales especially Amazon.  The vendor didn't have any jade for me, she is working on selling out and stop selling jade.  She even had some color treated jadeite bangle bracelets.  She is from China and used to sell only genuine and natural Chinese jade and Burmese jadeite.  We discussed that now most women wear larger jade bangles than they did 20 years ago when we both started selling them.  And she gets offended when buyers ask her if her jade is really "real".   We had a good discussion, because we both deal with the same issue: real jade.

Other vendors had a few pieces of jade jewelry, and it was obvious to us that the jade in them was either color treated or "something else".

The only way to know for sure if your Burmese jadeite is "real" is to have a gemologist test it, usually by refraction.   I own a refraction meter so I can test every jadeite piece I purchase before I list it.

When I went to China to purchase Burmese jadeite, I went to the Burma border and bought directly from the jade carvers.  I could see their raw jadeite stone, watch them work.  I always wore one of my very good grade A Burmese jadeite bangle bracelets so they knew that I knew "real" jade.  And since I spoke some Chinese, they respected that.   My friend in southern China is a officer in the southern jade association.  He owns his own jade carving shop and sells jade.  He has everything we need to test jade.  So I know that all the "old mine" jadeite I have listed is genuine and natural color. 

And just because jade has been color treated does not mean it is "fake".   Fake jade is something other than jade: aventurine, amazonite,  quartz, serpentine, soapstone.  Some "jade" sellers advertise their jade is old, it was found underground, and still has the "dirt" on it.   That's fake, for sure.

Color treated jade can be colored with vegetable dye, like the Chinese jade that has the "blood red" on it.  Most color treated jadeite is bleached with acid to remove the unattractive colors, then color is added.  The acid will eventually bleach out the color, and may cause burn to your wrist. 

Vegetable dye treated for red color - this is "real" jade

Color treated Burmese jadeite, bleached with acid and color added
A more fragile jade bangle that breaks more easily

But there is nothing "wrong" with color treated jade, grade B or C.  What's wrong is if the seller is not telling you that it is B or C grade.  Many people like color treated jade.  I have a few color treated B and C grade bangles because they are really pretty, fun to wear for certain occasions. 

Then there's the question of the jadeite bangle bracelets with certificates of gemology testing.  Are the certificates fake?  Sometimes.  When I was shopping in jade market in Guangzhou,  I would see tourists buying jade bangles, and the seller pulling a stack of "certificates" out, choosing one to give as "certificate of authenticity".   My jade associate in China is part of the government, so when he buys the newer modern jadeite bangles for me,  he gets them all tested and certificates made from a reputable gemologist, who would not want to mess with someone from the government.

If your jadeite bangle bracelet has the number taped onto it and it matches the certificate,  it is probably a "real" certificate.  There is usually a web site address on the certificate so you can put in the number and get validation.  Because of all the jade the company tests, it may be difficult, especially since it is in Chinese language.  

20 years ago when I first started selling jade here in the USA, there was no question about jade being "real".   Then more people started selling jade, didn't buy it directly from the jade carvers in China, and don't really know about jade, so don't really know what they are selling.

And that is not fair to customers.   I buy and sell only jade that I know what is, have had it tested, and as stated previously, treat customers the way I expect to be treated.

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My Jade Bangle Bracelet Has a Crack

When I went to Beijing, China for the first time in 1999 with a qigong, Chinese medicine group, I wore a gold necklace with a heart that was a gift from husband.  He was nervous about me going to China without him, and I wanted to keep him in my "heart".   One of our group guides asked me if my necklace was gold and I proudly told her that it was.  She looked confused, and I thought maybe she was envious of my pretty gold necklace.  One day she took us to a government high-end jade store for shopping.  The jade was beautiful, very green and translucent. The prices were quite high, none of us in the group wanted to pay those high prices.  I asked her what made this jade so expensive because when we were shopping at the street markets, jade was so much cheaper.  (That was before I knew about "fake jade".)  She explained the difference between Chinese jade and Burmese jadeite.  And she mentioned that the beautiful green jadeite stone was set in 22-24k gold.  Then she smiled at me, and I understood that my 10k gold necklace was "fake gold" to her! 24k gold is the highest quality gold, but can break and scratch more easily, and 22k gold is more sturdy and slightly less expensive.  She told me China and Asia recognize only 22-24k gold as "real gold". And the expensive Burmese jadeite deserved the 22k gold.

The year 2005 was the first year my husband went to China with me during my annual jade shopping trip.  Having husband jade shopping with me meant I could buy more because I had more help carrying it after I bought it.  It also meant I could take more USA cash with me, and convert it to more Chinese RMB,  and there was a limit on how much "tourists" could convert each day. So we had to stay in Guangzhou until we got all our dollars converted. 

While in Guangzhou I went to their big and famous jade market.  I had to be careful there because although the jade sellers all claimed their jade was genuine and natural, a lot of it was questionable.  I took some of the pieces I bought to a gemologist to test them for me.  He had a small shop and sold unique and interesting jade.  I found a beautiful green color Burmese jadeite bangle bracelet and was surprised to see gold etching on it.  The gemologist told me it was grade A, and the gold was 22k.  When I put it on my wrist, it felt like the gold was covering a crack, and he agreed that it was indeed a crack.  He said the jade itself was very valuable due to the coloring, so he had gold etching added to it to disguise the crack and make it look good so someone would buy it. I was concerned about the crack causing the jade to break, and he told me that because of the quality of the jade it probably would be as strong as one with no crack, and the crack actually took some of the pressure off the bangle so it would be less likely to crack if it struck something hard.  We bargained for awhile and I got a good price, and purchased it because I loved it and it fit me perfectly. 

I've had it and worn it occasionally for 14 years and it is still beautiful and not broken.

In a former blog post I wrote about my wrists being sore from toting broken luggage off a cruise ship to our bus pickup location.  I posted a photo of the jade bangle described in this post that I was wearing instead of my beloved carved jadeite regular bangle because it was more slender, lighter and more comfortable than the heavier carved bangle.

My grade A Burmese jadeite bangle bracelet with gold etching on crack

The color of this jade bangle is a very cherished shade of green and has a few imperial green veins
that add to the beauty and value with the 22k gold.  The slender size feels so comfortable on my wrist

BB2225 Burmese jadeite and 22k gold bangle bracelet

This jade bangle BB2225 is a jade bangle I purchased in 2000 from a friend of a friend in Tianjin.  No cracks.  Just the addition of 22k gold to make it unique.

JBB2210 22k gold etching color treated lavender genuine Burmese jadeite bangle bracelet

This lavender Burmese jadeite bangle bracelet with gold etching is genuine jadeite, color treated to make it more beautiful.  The etching is all around, covers a what appears to be small crack, the gold adding durability and making it a unique and beautiful jade bangle bracelet.

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What Kind of Jade Bangle Bracelet Should I Wear? What You Love, and Feels Good on Your Wrist

We are "back home" after our Caribbean cruise.  The cruise is our annual vacation, as my husband's birthday is the end of January and he loves cruising, so we go as his "gift". 

And as I usually do, I explored the port shopping areas.  If I like a port and think I would enjoy living there for a few months, I get information about renting a shop to sell my jade.  Some ports have quite aggressive sellers, and I eliminate those immediately.  And some ports have a happy, good feeling with interesting shops.  I consider having a cruise port shop to take all my jade there and sell all that I can so I can "retire".  When I discuss this with husband, he reminds me if I sell all the jade, I will be missing it so much I will only buy more! 

When we arrived back at our home port and were preparing to get off the ship, we noticed that one of the wheels on our big and heavy suitcase was broken.  We had opted to carry our luggage off the ship because we had  parked in a lot and took a shuttle to the cruise ship.   To get to the shuttle to return to our car was a fairly long walk after we disembarked.  Husband was really struggling with the heavy suitcase, so I took the other large suitcase and carry on bag.  My hands and wrists were aching from the lugging them around, and we both knew we would be quite sore the next day.

And we were.

The surprise for me was that my regular jade bangle that I wear most of the time was hurting my wrist.  It felt heavy, hard on my wrist and bones, and I was so amazed because jade has good qi energy for health and healing. 

My wrist was swollen, but I used a plastic bag over my hand to remove it.  I have worn a jade bangle on my left wrist for 20+ years, and looked for one in my stash that would be more comfortable.

The more slender Burmese jadeite bangle bracelet is 9.5mm wide, so with about half the jade in it that my "regular" old mine carved jade bangle has.  It actually feels good!  No pain on my swollen and achy wrist.   And by the end of the day, my wrist felt much better.   I put the "regular" one back on, but it still hurt so I went back to the more slender one.

Since I often mention "retiring" in these blogs, you can guess that I'm getting older, and as we age, pain often becomes more of an issue.  Several years ago, a long time customer asked if I could find her a jade bangle similar to the one she loved the most but in a larger size.  I found one, she received it, it was easier to get on and off, but she said it still hurt her wrist.  I didn't understand why, but now that I have had the experience, I understand completely.  We found her a more slender bangle and she could wear it comfortably.

If you wear a large size jade bangle bracelet, you might love your jade bangle, but be distressed because it hurts your wrist.  A less wide jade bangle will be less heavy, so you can still wear a jade bangle bracelet. 

My jade associate in China purchased some larger jade bangles with certificates of gemology testing for me last year, and some of them are classic round style, slender, and not heavy.  And beautiful, too!

Classic round slender Burmese jadeite bangle bracelet with certificate JadeBangleBraclets web site

Classic round slender Burmese jadeite bangle bracelet with certificate Jade Heaven web site

There are some of these jade bangle bracelets on Jade Heaven and JadeBangleBracelets in the "China's Favorite Jade Bangle Bracelets with Certificates" collections. 

I hope we jade lovers will always be able to wear our cherished jade bangle bracelets.  But if you just can't, consider wearing the jade bead bracelets on elastic for comfort.

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