Qn on jade bangle

[BreadnGem]

Hi everyone! I'm new to this forum and also a jade lover myself.

Love the jade pics posted by Storm Spirit and Blingaholic!

One needs a keen eye and plenty of experience to differentiate good quality grade A jadeite from the Bs and Cs. Found this out through a lot of trial and error myself. And when buying jade, since the good ones are so expensive, it's still best if you can eye-ball it and feel it before purchasing.

I recently came across so-called "grade A jadeite" that looked blurry AND felt light for its size. Definitely been treated.

Anyway, like to share some pics from my own collection. I believe one of them is Grade A jadeite and the other is probably a B. The B was my first jade purchase it was an impulse buy... no research done prior to buying. After that I got more interested in jade and did some homework. Some years later I bought the other one and it came with authenticity cert.

But the honest truth is I love wearing both!

They are so pretty! How interesting that u are able to find 2 that are similar in colour. Usually each piece of jade is so individual i'd imagine it isnt easy to come across another piece that is alike

 

[BreadnGem]

Realised that i started this thread a little over a year ago. Didnt expect it to garner so much response : )

After buying my HG light lavender bangle last year, i'm still struggling over my original dilemma : p. It fits quite snug over my left hand, which means that i have difficulty taking it on n off. For a period of time, i tried wearing my watch on my right wrist and the bangle on my left wris cos i didnt want both to bang against each other. But i find that i dont like having my watch on my right wrist cos i'm right handed n i tend to bump it on things more. I toyed with not waring a watch altogether but i really NEED a watch everyday. So now i moved my watch back to my left wrist. I tried wearing the jade bangle on my right wrist n it was too uncomfortable n hard to remove (gave me bruises).

Now, i have my watch on my left wrist n my jade bangle is sitting in it's box. Such a shame but i dont know what to do.

All u ladies who wear jade bangles, which wrist do u wear the bangle on? Do u wear your watch on the other wrist or together? I'm more worried about the watch being scratched than the bangle and i want to protect the watch more than the bangle.

 

[druzy]

Oooh very pretty! I like light purple with green combinations

BTW, both of your bangles are untreated (grade A)

Thank you Storm Spirit! How do you tell that both are Grade A untreated jadeite?

I certainly hope so, although I kinda *feel* it's not, as I can't really see the dense crystalline structure or fly-wing crystals that are typical of Grade A.

 

[druzy]

They are so pretty! How interesting that u are able to find 2 that are similar in colour. Usually each piece of jade is so individual i'd imagine it isnt easy to come across another piece that is alike

Hi BreadnGem, thanks for your compliment! I love lavender-green jade, so I keep veering towards the same! One is round flat, the other one is oval flat. The oval flat fits more snugly.

Just came across the mother of all lavender-green jade bangles... it has colours that are many shades richer than mine, as well as many "core colour clusters" that the SA says will keep spreading its colours. Just amazing... fits me like a glove and I haven't seen anything this beautiful. I trust the dealers, this is top quality jadeite not often seen, but it's a whopping US$6500. This price is non-negotiable as it's already discounted (last of 3 pieces they have, plus it's the smallest size so not many people can fit).

Still thinking... STILL THINKING!!

Wish I had taken a picture to share it here.

 

[Storm Spirit]

Realised that i started this thread a little over a year ago. Didnt expect it to garner so much response : )

After buying my HG light lavender bangle last year, i'm still struggling over my original dilemma : p. It fits quite snug over my left hand, which means that i have difficulty taking it on n off. For a period of time, i tried wearing my watch on my right wrist and the bangle on my left wris cos i didnt want both to bang against each other. But i find that i dont like having my watch on my right wrist cos i'm right handed n i tend to bump it on things more. I toyed with not waring a watch altogether but i really NEED a watch everyday. So now i moved my watch back to my left wrist. I tried wearing the jade bangle on my right wrist n it was too uncomfortable n hard to remove (gave me bruises).

Now, i have my watch on my left wrist n my jade bangle is sitting in it's box. Such a shame but i dont know what to do.

All u ladies who wear jade bangles, which wrist do u wear the bangle on? Do u wear your watch on the other wrist or together? I'm more worried about the watch being scratched than the bangle and i want to protect the watch more than the bangle.

This is indeed a very informative thread

I wear my jade bangle on the left and watch on the right, even though I am right handed. Apparently jade bangles should be worn on the left wrist to filter out negative energy - unless you have two, in which case you can wear one on each wrist. The worst that can happen to your watch if you knock it around is a few scratches, whereas jade can break, so that's another reason to wear the bangle on your non dominant hand.

If you really don't like having a watch on your right wrist you can wear a few hair bands/scrunchies/ribbon bracelets/anything of clothy material between your bangle & watch so they don't bang against each other

 

[BreadnGem]

Hi BreadnGem, thanks for your compliment! I love lavender-green jade, so I keep veering towards the same! One is round flat, the other one is oval flat. The oval flat fits more snugly.

Just came across the mother of all lavender-green jade bangles... it has colours that are many shades richer than mine, as well as many "core colour clusters" that the SA says will keep spreading its colours. Just amazing... fits me like a glove and I haven't seen anything this beautiful. I trust the dealers, this is top quality jadeite not often seen, but it's a whopping US$6500. This price is non-negotiable as it's already discounted (last of 3 pieces they have, plus it's the smallest size so not many people can fit).

Still thinking... STILL THINKING!!

Wish I had taken a picture to share it here.

Yup. Top quality jade can be real expensive. A couple of weeks back i saw a green bangle at a Hong Kong jewellers' window selling for $20, 000! Jaw dropping.....

 

[Storm Spirit]

Thank you Storm Spirit! How do you tell that both are Grade A untreated jadeite?

I certainly hope so, although I kinda *feel* it's not, as I can't really see the dense crystalline structure or fly-wing crystals that are typical of Grade A.

Several reasons:
1) Once you've looked at many photos of both natural & treated jade, you start to get a good idea of whether a piece is natural or treated by the way it reflects light and how the colours blend into each other. Both of yours look natural.
2) Your bangle on the right doesn't have as obvious crystalline structure as the one on the left, but, it just means it had been left underground for longer than the left bangle. Generally the longer jade is left underground, the less you can see of its internal structure (looks as if it's "melted"); this is actually more desirable in a vacuum because it means the jade is older (generally better quality) but you do have to take into account its colour as well.
3) Treated jade is almost always imperial green, icy white with green or blue veins, or a richer shade of purple. This is because to a novice (people who don't know much about jade, want imperial green colours for like $500), these are the most desirable colours, so can be sold easily ensuring a healthy profit.

P.S. Jade has to be left for hundreds if not thousands of years, in its natural habitat, for it to have any obvious changes. So don't go burying your bangle in the back garden hoping to increase its translucency, that won't work

 

[Storm Spirit]

Yup. Top quality jade can be real expensive. A couple of weeks back i saw a green bangle at a Hong Kong jewellers' window selling for $20, 000! Jaw dropping.....

I'd bet one could haggle on that. The markup on jade is huuuuuuge!

 

[druzy]

Several reasons:
1) Once you've looked at many photos of both natural & treated jade, you start to get a good idea of whether a piece is natural or treated by the way it reflects light and how the colours blend into each other. Both of yours look natural.
2) Your bangle on the right doesn't have as obvious crystalline structure as the one on the left, but, it just means it had been left underground for longer than the left bangle. Generally the longer jade is left underground, the less you can see of its internal structure (looks as if it's "melted"); this is actually more desirable in a vacuum because it means the jade is older (generally better quality) but you do have to take into account its colour as well.
3) Treated jade is almost always imperial green, icy white with green or blue veins, or a richer shade of purple. This is because to a novice (people who don't know much about jade, want imperial green colours for like $500), these are the most desirable colours, so can be sold easily ensuring a healthy profit.

P.S. Jade has to be left for hundreds if not thousands of years, in its natural habitat, for it to have any obvious changes. So don't go burying your bangle in the back garden hoping to increase its translucency, that won't work

Thank you Storm Spirit! That's really nice to know!

I will examine my first-born piece again. I know that the more homogeneous the look, the better it is, and that was what attracted me to it in the first place. But then I still can't quite discern this from a grade b that has its impurities removed.

But whatever it is, I love them both!

 

[druzy]

While looking at my bangle again, I found 2 smaller pieces that I had forgotten about.

I purchased them while on a work trip to Myanmar many years ago. They were inexpensive, not of the finest cut and polish, and probably not of export quality that HK and China markets desire. But hey I guess these are real A jadeite!

 

[Storm Spirit]

Came across an article on the creation of B & C jade bangles. Thought I'd do a quick translation for you guys to get an idea of how this is done.

1) Natural jade bangles, cut into shape, ready to go. Typically the worst quality possible jade is selected for this process - they look coarse, extremely obvious crystalline structures, with stone lines and/or cracks.

2) Bangles undergoing acid treatments. They're immersed in a mixture consisting of hydrofluoric acid and nitric acid, and kept between 90°C - 100°C to remove impurities. After a while they're removed, placed in water and brought to a boil. This is repeated 3 - 4 times to remove some of the acid as well as remaining impurities.

This process causes a lot of damage to jade's crystalline structure.

3) The jade is then placed in strong alkaline solution, heated to around 90°C, to neutralise the acid. This further damages the jade's internal structure. These chemical treatments are typically repeated several times, often over a period of 10+ days, depending on the jade.

And you get something like this:

4) As the chemical treatments above have loosened the jade's internal structure, it can be filled with resin to increase transparency.

5) Dyes can also be used to change the colour of the jade, or add colour to it. The jade is then treated with silicon to help seal the dye, making the colour last longer.

The jade is then polished and sold as either treated jade, or "natural grade A" jade for a lot of money.

Finished product:

Still want to wear a treated jade bangle after all of that?

 

[brae]

Still want to wear a treated jade bangle after all of that?

Yowza!! It's so gross. =(

 

[mspillow]

hi all! I actually joined this forum after chancing upon this thread (everyone lurrvess google!).

Am from Singapore and i absolutey love looking at jade! I do have a bangle I'm currently wearing. It's the 3rd bangle in my life.

My 1st bangle was actually an agate (bought at a great price cos the shop was closing down). It broke into 3 pieces cos I was too lazy to remove the belt from my jeans... so when I did that 'flicking' action to my jeans, the belt's buckle flew up and hit the bangle directly. That was almost 6-7 yrs ago and I kinda still recall that horrid 'ding' sound when it broke into 3.

Thankfully though, the bangle bore the brunt of it all and my wrist was spared - not a scratch or mark from the buckle, though I was very upset that day that it broke - prob wouldn't even have mind if it hit me instead of the bangle, because I went back hoping they were still there so I can buy another, but the shop was already closed for gd. Few years later, I moved on to a jade one instead.

i'm just curious - cos I noticed most of you prefer the lighter colours (and the internationally-loved lavender ones as well). Is it purely a personal preference? Can dark-coloured (like black jade.. or even the almost maroon kind of reds) also be considered 'good'?

There are quite a no. of shops selling jade in Singapore. The shops are usually not owned by locals (am guessing they are foreigners who have contacts back at their home country like Myanmar and China so they continuously have 'fresh' stock). I tend to also take what the SAs say with a pinch of salt because I never was able to confidently differentiate A and B grades, especially since I am confused by how sometimes an inferior-looking A grade may look very bad as compared to a good-looking B grade

btw noticed someone asking where is a good place to shop for jade in Singapore? Hope I'm in time to recommend the Bencoolen street area that has many shops that only sells jades and crystals, other than the ones at Chinatown, where the jades are usually sold by goldsmiths. Bencoolen is where the popular tourist attraction, the Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho (Goddess of Mercy) Temple is. Do walk around though.. to compare prices and quality.

 

[BreadnGem]

hi all! I actually joined this forum after chancing upon this thread (everyone lurrvess google!).

Am from Singapore and i absolutey love looking at jade! I do have a bangle I'm currently wearing. It's the 3rd bangle in my life.

My 1st bangle was actually an agate (bought at a great price cos the shop was closing down). It broke into 3 pieces cos I was too lazy to remove the belt from my jeans... so when I did that 'flicking' action to my jeans, the belt's buckle flew up and hit the bangle directly. That was almost 6-7 yrs ago and I kinda still recall that horrid 'ding' sound when it broke into 3.

Thankfully though, the bangle bore the brunt of it all and my wrist was spared - not a scratch or mark from the buckle, though I was very upset that day that it broke - prob wouldn't even have mind if it hit me instead of the bangle, because I went back hoping they were still there so I can buy another, but the shop was already closed for gd. Few years later, I moved on to a jade one instead.

i'm just curious - cos I noticed most of you prefer the lighter colours (and the internationally-loved lavender ones as well). Is it purely a personal preference? Can dark-coloured (like black jade.. or even the almost maroon kind of reds) also be considered 'good'?

There are quite a no. of shops selling jade in Singapore. The shops are usually not owned by locals (am guessing they are foreigners who have contacts back at their home country like Myanmar and China so they continuously have 'fresh' stock). I tend to also take what the SAs say with a pinch of salt because I never was able to confidently differentiate A and B grades, especially since I am confused by how sometimes an inferior-looking A grade may look very bad as compared to a good-looking B grade

btw noticed someone asking where is a good place to shop for jade in Singapore? Hope I'm in time to recommend the Bencoolen street area that has many shops that only sells jades and crystals, other than the ones at Chinatown, where the jades are usually sold by goldsmiths. Bencoolen is where the popular tourist attraction, the Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho (Goddess of Mercy) Temple is. Do walk around though.. to compare prices and quality.

I think colour is a personal preference.

Sometimes Grade B looks better than grade A bcos the impurities have been removed.

 

[BittyMonkey]

Can I get some help? I'm a noob and this is my first jade purchase. I bought this in SF Chinatown. It's supposedly Grade A.

I can try and take an daylight picture later. I'm lousy at telling what the structure should look like. There are a couple of rough spots, I took a picture of one. The dark spot is spinach color, not black.