Nobody likes to pay for reality only to be told they’ve bought polished glass, dyed Quartz or even engineered plastic. Growing up in a jade jewelry family business, I got a head start building my skill to accurately classify jade. So, your most important question when handling a piece of jade for the first time: is this real or fake?
Obviously this takes years of practice as imitation jade is gradually looking more and more real, and our #1 recommendation when buying jade is therefore to buy from experts like us at Jade Artisan. But for the curious amongst you...
Three simple intuitive tests to know real jade:
The short of it: Real jade has natural variation in color and transparency.
Because fake jade is dyed the color is usually evenly distributed like plastic or like tiny balls that resemble fish eggs. In contrast real authentic jade has a fiber-like structure to its color variation, like a wisp of hair or cotton.
The short of it: Real jade is surprisingly dense.
If you know a different stone really well. Then throw the piece of jade in the air catching it in your palm. Real jade will feel surprisingly heavy for its size compared to other stones the same size.
Also one top tip when you’re throwing a piece of jade up in the air. Real jade will feel slightly chilled. If it’s fake, you won’t feel any temperature difference as if you’re touching plastic.
The short of it: Real jade refracts light strongly, much more than glass.
Real jade has a natural gloss or sheen to it. Almost as if there's a thin layer of water reflecting the light as it bounces off and through the piece. In contrast fake jade won’t be radiant and will appear plasticy.
Of course. To set your mind and heart at ease my strongest advice...
Buy from experts like us as Jade Artisan.
27 May, 2021
chris doyle
i have a jade carving of a dragon lion snake horse that has wings and antlers 6 lbs