The JADE thread!

[jadeitebear]

Thanks so much my dear friend I wore my white hetian bangle and a lavender hetian bangle given to me by another dear friend. I wore vintage diamond earrings and pendant, I had to bling a little

We did do the dance and I picked “A simple man” the acoustic version by shinedown. It’s one of my favorite songs, so when I found it on a list of mother/ son dance songs, I had to pick it. I didn’t realize it was so long, but it was one of the best 5 minute and 30 seconds ever! My kid is so grown up...OMG!!!

Then my birthday was the following week and I treated myself to more hetian. I need to take pictures of the necklace, but here is the bracelet and pendant. I ❤️ them

I know I’m pretty late, but I wanted to say thank you for the kinds words about my son getting married. It really was a beautiful ceremony

Been wearing this for the last couple days. I hope all the Jadies are doing well

Happy late Birthday, CR! The white Hetian jade suits you so well and you have complimented it beautifully with the gold and silver bracelets in your stack. Thoughtful present too I meant to ask you what is the separator between your bangle and beads? Great pop of mahogany color next to the jade and looks functional.

 

[jadedonuts]

Hi everyone! I've been lurking for while enjoying all the beautiful pictures and learning. I like simple corded pendants and knotted bracelets. Here's a few of my pieces I'd like to share.

My monkey gourd I recently bought from preciousjadeite on eBay. I love how the belly of the gourd is so much darker and it has the floral swirls in it. I have an icy white donut on the way from her, too.

The bangle bracelet is an old family piece. It's very precious to me and I'm a bit paranoid about damaging it, so I don't wear it often. The other bracelet is 18kt. It also doesn't see much wear, but I love it.

I only recently bought a 365nm UV light to test my pieces. I have done some of the other tests as well, and I'll show some more of that.

 

[jadedonuts]

Here's my whole collection. I brought everything out as soon as I bought the UV light. See the slight u-shape green necklace at the top left? That was a beautiful bangle I dropped on concrete. I made a couple necklaces from them and gave one to my son.

The mini-donuts on the string bracelet is my daily wear (jewellery2018_5 on ebay) , and then I wear one of the pendants. My favorite donut is the oily green one in my avatar (AAAjadeshop on Etsy). The pic isn't very good, but it's a nice gradient from dark to lighter end to end.

Most everything checked out fine with the UV light, with a few exceptions.

A couple nephrite pendants in the bottom right (the celadon donut and white bar), which have a weird faint orange glow coming that seems to come from the inside. I bought those from speedwayvintage on Etsy. I haven't had the time to run the specific gravity test yet. They pass the pin scratch test. I've been researching what minerals glow that color.

There's a dragon turtle next to the tawny crab in the bottom left, it's face glowed blue. I scrubbed with a toothbrush in warm water and the glow is gone with the exception of one of the horns, which still glows. So it appears the glow is maybe polishing wax, but that doesn't explain the horn.

Then there's the horse (jewellery2018_5 on ebay) at the bottom. It's fei cui omphacite, so jade or not jade depending on who you're talking to. I just wanted one pendant from this stone because I was curious. It's mostly black with some dark green streaks, and it lights dark green. But see how it lights under UV - the shallowest parts light blue. So I don't know if it's been treated or because the composition is slightly different than jadeite.

And then the lavender "jade" earrings. I was just a teenager when I bought these for my mom through a department store catalog. They were advertised as jade. But they turned pink under UV, and my minimal research tells me they're calcite. I'm not going to bother to research them further.

 

[Cyanide Rose]

Happy late Birthday, CR! The white Hetian jade suits you so well and you have complimented it beautifully with the gold and silver bracelets in your stack. Thoughtful present too I meant to ask you what is the separator between your bangle and beads? Great pop of mahogany color next to the jade and looks functional.

Thanks so much JB, that’s so sweet of you to say. My hubby is definitely a keeper

The mahogany colored bangle is made out of wood I found it at my friends consignment boutique last week. It’s too big so it works really well as a bumper. I have been on a major stacking kick lately, so I have been wearing a stack on one wrist daily. The left wrist is mainly bracelets, every now and then I add a jade bangle. The alligator bracelet to match my ring, is the gift my husband forgot about. Again, I’m not complaining

 

[Cyanide Rose]

Hi everyone! I've been lurking for while enjoying all the beautiful pictures and learning. I like simple corded pendants and knotted bracelets. Here's a few of my pieces I'd like to share.

My monkey gourd I recently bought from preciousjadeite on eBay. I love how the belly of the gourd is so much darker and it has the floral swirls in it. I have an icy white donut on the way from her, too.

The bangle bracelet is an old family piece. It's very precious to me and I'm a bit paranoid about damaging it, so I don't wear it often. The other bracelet is 18kt. It also doesn't see much wear, but I love it.

I only recently bought a 365nm UV light to test my pieces. I have done some of the other tests as well, and I'll show some more of that. View attachment 4551016 View attachment 4551017 View attachment 4551018

Hi jadedonuts! You have a beautiful variety in your collection. Your heirloom pieces are TDF! I ❤️ the bangle in the second picture

 

[Cyanide Rose]

Here's my whole collection. I brought everything out as soon as I bought the UV light. See the slight u-shape green necklace at the top left? That was a beautiful bangle I dropped on concrete. I made a couple necklaces from them and gave one to my son.

The mini-donuts on the string bracelet is my daily wear (jewellery2018_5 on ebay) , and then I wear one of the pendants. My favorite donut is the oily green one in my avatar (AAAjadeshop on Etsy). The pic isn't very good, but it's a nice gradient from dark to lighter end to end.

Most everything checked out fine with the UV light, with a few exceptions.

A couple nephrite pendants in the bottom right (the celadon donut and white bar), which have a weird faint orange glow coming that seems to come from the inside. I bought those from speedwayvintage on Etsy. I haven't had the time to run the specific gravity test yet. They pass the pin scratch test. I've been researching what minerals glow that color.

There's a dragon turtle next to the tawny crab in the bottom left, it's face glowed blue. I scrubbed with a toothbrush in warm water and the glow is gone with the exception of one of the horns, which still glows. So it appears the glow is maybe polishing wax, but that doesn't explain the horn.

Then there's the horse (jewellery2018_5 on ebay) at the bottom. It's fei cui omphacite, so jade or not jade depending on who you're talking to. I just wanted one pendant from this stone because I was curious. It's mostly black with some dark green streaks, and it lights dark green. But see how it lights under UV - the shallowest parts light blue. So I don't know if it's been treated or because the composition is slightly different than jadeite.

And then the lavender "jade" earrings. I was just a teenager when I bought these for my mom through a department store catalog. They were advertised as jade. But they turned pink under UV, and my minimal research tells me they're calcite. I'm not going to bother to research them further.

View attachment 4551020 View attachment 4551021 View attachment 4551022

My gosh, I know how you feel! I dropped a carved hetian bangle on my tile floor. It shattered into four pieces. It was so thick and wide, I’m not sure I could have made anything out of it and I threw it out about a month or two ago. I was so sad when I looked at it.

As far as the uv light test go, my hetian doesn’t have a color under uv light. Maybe it’s the polish? There is a uv jade chart I found online a couple years ago. I’ll have to see if I can find it for you. I know how you feel about the earrings, most of us have had our share of treated pieces or non jade substitutes. Your earrings do have a history and sentimental values I think and for that reason alone, I would definitely hold on to them too.

I’m not sure about that the omphacite, I don’t have any to test, maybe another Jadie has an opinion on it. I can certainly understand why you would like to have a piece from this material, as I am looking at a piece in this material as well

 

[jadeitebear]

Here's my whole collection. I brought everything out as soon as I bought the UV light. See the slight u-shape green necklace at the top left? That was a beautiful bangle I dropped on concrete. I made a couple necklaces from them and gave one to my son.

The mini-donuts on the string bracelet is my daily wear (jewellery2018_5 on ebay) , and then I wear one of the pendants. My favorite donut is the oily green one in my avatar (AAAjadeshop on Etsy). The pic isn't very good, but it's a nice gradient from dark to lighter end to end.

Most everything checked out fine with the UV light, with a few exceptions.

A couple nephrite pendants in the bottom right (the celadon donut and white bar), which have a weird faint orange glow coming that seems to come from the inside. I bought those from speedwayvintage on Etsy. I haven't had the time to run the specific gravity test yet. They pass the pin scratch test. I've been researching what minerals glow that color.

There's a dragon turtle next to the tawny crab in the bottom left, it's face glowed blue. I scrubbed with a toothbrush in warm water and the glow is gone with the exception of one of the horns, which still glows. So it appears the glow is maybe polishing wax, but that doesn't explain the horn.

Then there's the horse (jewellery2018_5 on ebay) at the bottom. It's fei cui omphacite, so jade or not jade depending on who you're talking to. I just wanted one pendant from this stone because I was curious. It's mostly black with some dark green streaks, and it lights dark green. But see how it lights under UV - the shallowest parts light blue. So I don't know if it's been treated or because the composition is slightly different than jadeite.

And then the lavender "jade" earrings. I was just a teenager when I bought these for my mom through a department store catalog. They were advertised as jade. But they turned pink under UV, and my minimal research tells me they're calcite. I'm not going to bother to research them further.

View attachment 4551020 View attachment 4551021 View attachment 4551022

Hello jadedonuts. Thank you for sharing your lovely collection.

The crescent shaped earrings and flower pendant look very icy. Are they jadeite or another jade? I love the bangle in the middle, such a feminine, delicate design (as it looks from the side). Great job on the broken bangle necklaces. Did you do anything to the shattered edges to smooth them over?

Specific gravity test is really easy to do with a kitchen scale on pieces that do not have any bails or metal attachments. Search for posts on specific gravity in this thread before. For the UV, the glow in your pictures looks like true fluorescence but sometimes a piece will reflect the UV light and look like there are areas of different color under UV but it is not actually glowing, just reflecting. If there is internal crystal structure that reflects sunlight, the same spot will reflect UV. The orange glow seems suspicious though. There is some Xiu jade (Serpentine) with a high tremolite content that will not scratch (your celadon donut does not look like from the pic to contain tremolite inclusions but I cannot tell from a pic ) so SG is your next best bet to differentiate from nephrite. I don't know what the UV properties of Serpentine would be off the top of my head. Good luck investigating!

 

[Cyanide Rose]

JD, I PM’d you the link to the UV chart i found still available online. This one includes all gemstones, I couldn’t find the one for just jade. It may not be up online anymore.

 

[SmokieDragon]

Thanks so much my dear friend I wore my white hetian bangle and a lavender hetian bangle given to me by another dear friend. I wore vintage diamond earrings and pendant, I had to bling a little

We did do the dance and I picked “A simple man” the acoustic version by shinedown. It’s one of my favorite songs, so when I found it on a list of mother/ son dance songs, I had to pick it. I didn’t realize it was so long, but it was one of the best 5 minute and 30 seconds ever! My kid is so grown up...OMG!!!

Then my birthday was the following week and I treated myself to more hetian. I need to take pictures of the necklace, but here is the bracelet and pendant. I ❤️ them

Welcome back, congratulations and Happy Belated Birthday! You are excellent at stacking!

 

[SmokieDragon]

View attachment 4551018

Oh, this is breathtakingly beautiful!

 

[Cyanide Rose]

Hi SmokieDragon! Thank you so much for you kind words and the warm welcome I really do get a kick out of stacking. When I went back to the mall jeweler, the SA told me I inspired her to get some bangles. They were really nice and I was surprised to hear that she purchased them at sams club. I didn’t know they still carried jewelry, makes me want to give them a peek and see what they have. Thanks again SD

 

[jadedonuts]

My gosh, I know how you feel! I dropped a carved hetian bangle on my tile floor.

Oh no! I know you felt terrible. Mine was from my husband, and it was like my heart dropped when that bracelet did. He and my mom plotted in secret to get that one for me.

As far as the uv light test go, my hetian doesn’t have a color under uv light. Maybe it’s the polish? There is a uv jade chart I found online a couple years ago. I’ll have to see if I can find it for you.

Thank you for the chart. I just soaked them in hot water and scrubbed them down with a toothbrush, and they still glow faint orange. I just did the SG test on them, and they both are 6. So...not nephrite. I'm not happy and I'm going to contact the seller, but I did buy those years ago so any chance of a refund is likely out the door. And I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, maybe he genuinely thought he bought jade to carve.

edited to add: Is there a point where a scale has difficulty reading smaller pendants and gives inaccurate results? Mine is very average kitchen gram scale.

 

[jadedonuts]

The crescent shaped earrings and flower pendant look very icy. Are they jadeite or another jade? I love the bangle in the middle, such a feminine, delicate design (as it looks from the side). Great job on the broken bangle necklaces. Did you do anything to the shattered edges to smooth them over?

The earrings and flower I bought for my mother many years ago when I was just a teenager; I bought them out of a dept. store catalog and the description said they were jade (probably the same store I got the non-jade lavender earrings from, though). Visually they appear to be legit icy jadeite; I can see the fibers swimming around inside. I don't know how accurate an SG test would be on something that includes gold and other stones with it? I haven't tried.

I didn't do anything to the edges of the broken bangle except paint them black to blend in with the cord.

 

[jadedonuts]

Oh, this is breathtakingly beautiful!

Thank you! My mother picked this up (along with all the other jade/18kt gold pieces in my collection pic) from Vietnam when she went back there to visit family. She brought back a lot of nice pieces and even had a solid bangle, a small pair of hoop earrings, and a custom chain all out of 18kt made for me. There's a shop there that made the stuff for her (American dollars go a long way, yay!). She said some 16 year-old kid was the one making them, and he did beautiful work.

I'm so happy it fits perfectly. It was nail biting setting everything up for the UV test, I was so afraid it would glow.

 

[jadedonuts]

What's everyone's opinion on this pale lavender bead from gojade? I read in the dealer's list that gojade is both good and questionable. I have a black donut that checks out ok, but this bead glows like this. It's not a bright blue glow, but faint with brighter flecks here and there. Is it from natural reflections from the crystals, or has it been bleached/dyed? It was a cheap, very pale bead, so it's not a very lavender color at all (so I'd be surprised if there was effort put into treating this, but who knows!). I just started UV testing my items and I don't have the experience to discern natural UV reflections from dye jobs.


I have two more donuts on the way from this dealer, so I hope her stuff is legit untreated.