Qn on jade bangle

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#391
clairejune said:
Junkempo, This bangle was quite expensive for me. I had to save for it and it was a 40th birthday early gift. It was $2660.00. I wanted something of high enough quality that I would be truly happy with it and not wish it were a little better. When it comes to shopping for jewelry, I have found that when I buy less expensive items that are not quite as good as what I hoped for, then I'm not really satisfied about it. I keep looking and thinking, "well, maybe I should have waited and gotten this or that." Then I buy more less expensive items and end up with lots of little things rather than just one nice thing. I am so pleased with it because now I enjoy looking around at other bangles and don't have that feeling. I bought another much less expensive one from JOJOjade and love it too knowing that I have got one that I love and one that is a good compliment to it, but is not as serious.

I agree about not asking SA whether jades have been treated. They just don't usually know enough. I watched a video about shopping for jadeite boulders in Burma at the annual government sale. The jewel trader who did the video showed groups of buyers eyeing the boulders by wetting them and shining a flashlight into the tiny sliced window that is cut from the boulders in order to get a rough idea as to what is inside. He said that understanding jade is takes years and years of experience and that it is an extremely complex. Understanding of what makes certain jades higher quality than others is not an easy thing to get. It is not like ruby or diamond with the 4 c's. He also says that there is great risk in buying these boulders. There is no way to be sure of what is inside. Buyers are essentially gambling. I think this really explains the reason why B jade and C as well are made. To make the best out of poorly chosen rough.

I also think that this complexity about jade is why it is not so popular in the west. Jade is not bling bling in your face and show off-y, but rather an increadibly subtle gem, and this does not mesh as easily into the general consciousness of the west, ie hollywood. I mean think about how to measure the RELATIONSHIP between all the qualities of jade and come up with a price; clarity, color, pattern, grain, flaws, old mine ect. This is why most SA will just fall short in knowledge. And the whole B jade thing is just insiduous and down right demoralizing. Especially discovering that you have been duped, or almost duped. It is so true that some B jades are amazingly well done. I had the owner of one of the sites I warned against tell me about a bangle that looked cloudy and grainy, (un enhanced looking) that it was A/B jade and that they do something like that in China but she wasn't sure. How could a jade merchant not know relevant treatments?!! I think it was B and she did not want to admit it. So frusterating.

Thankfully we have each other to learn from. Most of what I have learned about jade has come from other jade lovers online, and through looking at thousands of fotos.
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Your bracelet was TOTALLY worth it. It is so beautiful. Wow thank you for sharing all your knowledge with us. Grateful to know you.
 
#393
clairejune said:
I love jade bangles too, and it has become a total obsession. First one I bought in SF chinatown, a clear lavender one. I told the SA I only wanted A jade and she insisted it was. Turned out to be B jade, and I don't live nearby, so I can't return it. Since then I've done tons of research and found a few reputable online shops, as well as some almost criminal ones that claim their B jade is A. A GREAT online shop is JOJOjade from China. They are one of the biggest jade processing factories in China, and can actually find the rough material you are looking for and make you jewelry. they will refund 10 times the price if they have sold B/C jade, because they don't make that. They have a huge inventory! I bought 2 bangles from them and the quality is superb. Everything is certified by a reputable lab in China. Other good sites are Ultimate Jadeite and Jade Nature Shop (ebay). I have not purchased from the last two.

Some sites that I would not recommend are Jadeisus and Ying Yu jade. Jadeisus is a total scam. He advertises all grade A, and the expensive ones come with a certificate. But on the certificate, (which does not look like one from a reputable lab), The results of the tests clearly show the presence of polymer. The items are not dyed, but they HAVE gone through acid bath. The certificates say in conclusion that the bangles are not dyed. This man is English and he writes in broken English to seem like a non native speaker in order to seem more trustworthy about jade. Then he posts about his support for orphans. A reputable dealer does not need to manipulate heart strings to appear to be trustworthy.
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After a LOT of research (I started with Jadeisus and noticed the lab reports too, they wrote "chalky blue" under UV light-err, not good!) I bought my jade bangle from JOJOjade as well. They were so helpful, the one I bought first they accidentally let their wholesalers take it so chose me four similar bangles for me to pick from, all in the perfect size for me. I love my bangle and have so enjoyed wearing it. I would definitely use them again. One thing to note, their JOJOjade web domain had problems so they are now at jadefinejewelery.com. Must post some pics of my bangle soon!


clairejune said:
Here is a picture of one of my bangles:
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Love your bangle!! Do you have any on-wrist shots? :smile1:
 
#396
clairejune said:
fishfins, I'm so glad your a JOJO fan too! Would love to see your jade! I will take some wrist shots of my two bangles soon an post them.
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Yes pls post pics!

Buying jade is so special cos unlike other kinds of jewellery, it isnt easy to find one that speaks to u, if u kwim. And each piece is one of it's kind; u wont find another piece that is exactly the same if u miss out on one :smile1:
 
#397
druzy said:
Petals, "treated" to some SAs means *coloured*. I have had some tell me theirs was "not treated", just had had their "impurities removed". I give them the benefit of the doubt that maybe they don't know better, not that they were dishonest. So I have stopped asking altogether.

These days, those who sell Grade A pieces tend to have the certification done already (by local recognised gem lab), or are willing to have it sent in for a charge before you make the purchase.

I would think twice about foreign certs though... Not sure if trustworthy.
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I won't totally trust those foreign certs as well....since they also might be fake :(
 
#398
BTW...I saw a jade bangle that the seller said it's called the winter melon color. The colors are like dark greenish with a bit of black to it...and then patches of yellowish brown. It looks very interesting, but the best part is that it's very translucent. It's the first time I see this color...I am so tempted and want to go back there again to bring it home with me :D
 
#400
clairejune said:
I love jade bangles too, and it has become a total obsession. First one I bought in SF chinatown, a clear lavender one. I told the SA I only wanted A jade and she insisted it was. Turned out to be B jade, and I don't live nearby, so I can't return it. Since then I've done tons of research and found a few reputable online shops, as well as some almost criminal ones that claim their B jade is A. A GREAT online shop is JOJOjade from China. They are one of the biggest jade processing factories in China, and can actually find the rough material you are looking for and make you jewelry. they will refund 10 times the price if they have sold B/C jade, because they don't make that. They have a huge inventory! I bought 2 bangles from them and the quality is superb. Everything is certified by a reputable lab in China. Other good sites are Ultimate Jadeite and Jade Nature Shop (ebay). I have not purchased from the last two.

Some sites that I would not recommend are Jadeisus and Ying Yu jade. Jadeisus is a total scam. He advertises all grade A, and the expensive ones come with a certificate. But on the certificate, (which does not look like one from a reputable lab), The results of the tests clearly show the presence of polymer. The items are not dyed, but they HAVE gone through acid bath. The certificates say in conclusion that the bangles are not dyed. This man is English and he writes in broken English to seem like a non native speaker in order to seem more trustworthy about jade. Then he posts about his support for orphans. A reputable dealer does not need to manipulate heart strings to appear to be trustworthy.

Ying Yu jade has some grade A bangles with B and C mixed in. She doesn't know what is what, and they are way over priced. The only ones which look like A are the lowest qualities, and is selling them for prices which are much too high for the quality. I considered once buying one from her and asked whether I could have a week longer than the return period in order to have it tested, and she would not answer my question. Kept avoiding the subject. I think she is a descent lady trying to make a living, but perhaps is not good at knowing what she sells. She purchased some and other people purchased other bangles for her inventory. She knows that she does not know what she has. All that said, I would trust her nephrite selection. Nephrite is usually not messed with the way that jadeite is.
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You've certainly done some research! :p

I'm pretty sure Yingyujade is fully aware that some of her bangles are treated - they're priced as such - and the ones that are natural, are absolutely ridiculously overpriced. I thought this site was dodgy as hell, with only one photo per bangle. When I'd emailed her to ask for more photographs (different angles etc), the response I received was basically that there's no point as jade is jade and will look the same regardless (clearly untrue).

With jadeisus, neither the photos/certificates are clear enough, which to me implies they're hiding something. Plus some of the bangles are clearly problematic.

clairejune said:
I love jade bangles too, and it has become a total obsession. First one I bought In general, I have found that after lots of looking at images that it has become quite easy to tell the difference between treated and non treated jade, especially B jade, which is the really nasty stuff. It has a different glow and is waxier in the light. It does look cloudy and without inner structure. In person, B jade is a lot lighter than A jade because of the removed silica. The polymer is not as dense. A shines like glass. Also, B jade can be cool to the touch and have a high chime when it is struck like A jade. With A jade though, the chime will have fine reverberations of sound that slowly disappear where as in B, the sound will disappear more quickly.
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Absolutely agree :D
 
#401
Silver Mom said:
Druzy, is there a way to tell if it is old mine jade?
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Not a hard and fast rule but you can usually tell whether a piece is "old mine" by how finely grained its mineral structure is. Old mine just refers to jade from earlier excavation sites and on average the jade has been left in its natural habitat for longer.

Although you can get finely grained "new mine" jades, they're not as common as ones found in the old mine.
 
#402
OMG, Ying Yu is totally dodgy! When I found out that the river jades are not nephrite, I asked if she sold any nephrite. She emailed me a snippy response that since she only sells bangles from China, of course she does't sell nephrite. She told me before that there is no more nephrite in China. I had to tell her that there IS nephrite in China which they are still mining, with new deposits found in rivers, (which is why her term 'river jade' is so misleading). Furthermore, that China imports lots of rough from British Columbia and other places for processing. Therefore, her excuse for selling non jade from China as the best she could get is exposed as a lie . This woman is either increadibly ignorant or a liar. She must think we are stupid or something. What is really annoying is her rude and snippy tone.
 
#403
Storm Spirit said:
Not a hard and fast rule but you can usually tell whether a piece is "old mine" by how finely grained its mineral structure is. Old mine just refers to jade from earlier excavation sites and on average the jade has been left in its natural habitat for longer.

Although you can get finely grained "new mine" jades, they're not as common as ones found in the old mine.
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So does it mean that u may not see the "flies' wings" structure as much in old mine jade? I once had a chance to purchase one of those from a reputable store but i didnt buy it in the end cos the colour wasnt exactly what i was looking for.
 
#404
And the serpentine bangles which she sells as Chinese jade for 180-200 dollars should cost around 10 dollars! Just look at 3jade shop on ebay. She is really ripping people off!
 
#405
The old mine thing is tricky and I'm not sure that there is any definitive way of testing/knowing. I once saw some rather plain, grey bangles with tough/coarse texture and no translucence sell for $1500 in a shop because they were suppose to be old mine. I think sellers may take advantage of this and get more money for plain bangles. I would imagine that the safest way to get old mine is to buy an antique or vintage burmese bangle.
 
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