The JADE thread!

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#2,806
clairejune said:
Dester1, you can wear a jade bangle with a watch or the love bracelet. Technically, jadeite is harder, so if anything were to scratch, it would be the metal, but in a minor way. One could buff that out after a few years on a jeweler's wheel in a minute.



Jadeite is most vulnerable to cracking or chipping with hard, sudden impact force, such as being dropped to a hard floor, or smashed against something with force. Though it is pretty hard, it can be brittle, and therefore is not as tough. The crystals are like interlocking tiles, and this explains some of the patchiness in all jadeite except for those with invisible, microcrystalline structure.



Nephrite is slightly less hard then jadeite, but much tougher, and will survive impact hits better. This is because the crystals are long and hair like. Think of the flexibility of a suspension bridge, and you get the idea. The long crystals can carry out a shock wave better then jadeite. The crystal structure in nephrite creates an even, creaminess and uniformity.







If you want to try stacking, I say just try it and see if you feel that it's something that you take to. Hope this helpful! A lot depends on how you treat your jewelry, as some are tougher on things then others.
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Thank you for such a detailed response! Are there reputable stores online or in NYC that you recommend? I have a fear of getting duped.
 
#2,807
here is a better pic of the two hetians. sunny is on the right. the other one is only speckled in one area, but the action pic made it look much worse than it is. i felt bad, so had to do her justice.
 

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#2,809
Dster1, I don't know of any places in New York, but there are many reputable sellers! Check out the Reputable Jade Sellers list, which has it's own separate thread. It's a list of sellers, and people's' experiences with buying. It's like a resource thread.The purpose of that is to help people not get ripped off because there is SO much deceit and false advertising in the jade trade, not to mention that something like 95 percent of jade is treated! Yuck!
 
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#2,810
crosso said:
Cat cafes!?! Do you eat there or is it a place to just go and hang out with cats and maybe drink some coffee? Sounds wonderful (except for possibly getting cat fur in your food, lol!)
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They serve pasta, coffee and desserts. Some of the cats, the more feisty ones, don't care when they knock over cupcakes or cups. Here's one of the chubby babies in the cat cafe:) I was wearing Purr that day, funny enough!
 

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#2,811
clairejune said:
it's my pleasure piosavsfan! You will find a great second bangle because of your reading. There is a lot to know. And, you got a great first bangle!

My first bangle was a b grade, which i paid 400$ for, and it wasn't worth 20$. I was so mad, but it lead me to reading up about jade, and i got a great second great bangle. There is a jade karma to buying the right bangle, but in order for karma to work, we have to open to knowing about the material . So, you are doing just the right thing. Good job!
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+1
 
#2,812
annetok said:
They serve pasta, coffee and desserts. Some of the cats, the more feisty ones, don't care when they knock over cupcakes or cups. Here's one of the chubby babies in the cat cafe:) I was wearing Purr that day, funny enough!
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How cute is that?!? One of the specialty pet food stores near me allows all the employees to bring in their cats - many of them are involved in rescue organizations and have foster cats and kittens and I love going in and seeing all of them. A cat cafe sounds like a fun place to go!
 
#2,813
Here is the description of the difference between the two jades which I find so fitting.... A unique way of thinking about the differences.

Jade Today
The term jade today is used for two different rocks, jadeite and nephrite. While each of these jade cousins shares certain characteristics, in other ways they could not be more different. Yin/Yang. These are two different bridges to heaven.
Although I have been involved with jade since 1977, it was only when I visited China's famous Guangzhou jade market in 2009 that I was exposed to Chinese nephrite. It was love at first sight; suddenly I understood the deeper attraction of "jade." While the author once wrote that only jadeite had value as a gem material, this opinion was born of ignorance. The white Chinese nephrite is a lovely gem material possessing a sublime beauty all its own and today fetches prices that compete with the finest imperial jadeite. To date, the only source of this white nephrite is near Khotan in western China's Xinjiang province.
Whereas jadeite is lipsticked gloss and neon-lit high-heels, the beauty of Chinese nephrite involves a far different experience, where depth and feeling rule. Having now experienced both worlds, I must say that, as I grow older, I tend to be drawn more and more to the world of nephrite. In summarizing the difference between the two materials, I'd say that jadeite is miniskirted eyes-wide-open candy. In contrast, nephrite involves discovering your lover in a dark room, where beauty is hidden by blindfold, and thus discovered via sweet caress and touch. Even the manner in which the gems are displayed is radically different. Jadeite struts her stuff under gaudy lights surrounded by the sparkle of diamonds; in contrast, nephrite is placed in front of the public like fine art, with dark backgrounds and generous space, befitting a stone that the Chinese consider to be more valuable than either silver or gold.
 
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#2,816
Piosavsfan, the best way that I have found to think about jade buying is this: jade has a number of specific qualities which affect pricing such as color, grain, translucence, pattern, evenness of color fade, overall poetry, and "flaws" such as inclusions, fissures, stone lines, and cracks. For each good quality a piece has, the price is going to go up exponentially. It's like a Vegas slot machine. It's not so hard to get one lemon, but getting 2 is exponentially harder, and 3 lemons is much much rarer, and 4 lemons... Well that jade is going to be in the millions. Since we all have a limit in what we can spend, it's best to think about what qualities you really want, and which you would be willing to forgo in order to get the ones which you want. So, for example, if I want strong color, translucence and fine grain, I might find that in my price range if I accept stone lines and a grey tone mixed in, and a black inclusion. Hope this is making sense!

Looking at that bangle in qualities, here is what I see. It fresh color range, with the light green, lavender and white. They are without brown or gray tones, which is why they are fresh looking. Grain is fine, and it has a good moisture, like a flower petal dewiness about it. It has a slender width, similar to Seafoam, which could be a positive or negative depending on what you are looking for. I find slender sizes easier to stack, and larger, cuff styles better for wearing alone, but that's because I'm tall and need it to show up! Anyway, my point is about what that being subjective.

The bangle has a few white-ish stone lines. They seem acceptable to me, because they are like folds in the crystal matrix, but sometimes they can be placed in a bad spot. Would they bother you? Also, it's good to ask the seller to check thoroughly for cracks, which are not good. Stone lines ideally should be healed, better either just on the surface, or deep inside, not reaching the surface. Hard to tell from the pics what's happening with them, but they look internal.

I think it's a very pretty bangle with an overall spirit of freshness, like spring flowers popping through the snow. However, in order for a jade to be worth it, I think it has to inspire a feeling in you. Does it do that? I definitely think it's worthy of a few hundred! BTW, if it's from the seller that Zip mentioned, I'm pretty sure it's A grade.
 
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#2,817
Piosavsfan I think it looks lovely. Colours are very soft and unlike how there is both lavender and green in the bangle. I'm not an expert when it comes to whether it looks A grade etc but I can definitely say it looks pretty :)
 
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#2,820
luckybunny said:
here is a better pic of the two hetians. sunny is on the right. the other one is only speckled in one area, but the action pic made it look much worse than it is. i felt bad, so had to do her justice.
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Sunny is so fresh and I would imagine looks great with summer dresses and warm winter sweaters. All these Hettian and Nephrite bangles makes me want one too... I currently have a few jadeite bngles and one which I suspect may be chalcedony (spelling?) actually perhaps I will post a pic tomorrow for your opinions 😉
 
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