Imperial Jadeite Facts

[kjadeus]

Hi All.
I wanted to bring in some quick facts on Imperial Jadeite. First off I am a 3rd gen Jadeite seller. My grandmother started the business before WWII. She had mostly worked with people out of Burma and Thailand. I can only get Jadeite out of Thailand at this time. Our government has put a ban on most exports(not jades) from Myanmar. The government of Myanmar is upset at the USA involvement in their countries politics. So they make it hard for USA buyers to get any good Jadeite rough. At this time I have to get it through my Thai supplier. Any Imperial Jadeite being sold is mostly going to the large cutting houses in Hong Kong. You do not see much of it here because it is really expencive. Most Americans wont buy Jadeite that costs so much when they have seen so much dyed B grade sold as A grade.
Here is the main thing to always remember when looking for real Imperial Jadeite.
If it does not look like a clear carved emerald(or green glass) of the best Kelly green color, it is not Imperial Jadeite.
If you can''t see through the whole piece, all the way through just like the very best emeralds, it is not Imperial Jadeite.
If the piece has the right kelly green color and you can''t see through it, it is called "Imperial Jadeite Color" not "Imperial Jadeite". This Imperial Jadeite Color is half the cost of Imperial Jadeite.
The base price that the Myanmar government gets for Imperial Jadeite rough is $1200. per carat. All Imperial Jadeite is sold through the government at this time. There is some trickling out of the country but if the miners are cought they are shot, period.
Once a piece of Jadeite rough is graded to be Imperial Jadeite it is sold by the carat. So keep in mind you will not find any real Imperial Jadeite rough being sold for less than $1200. per carat from the source.
As soon as the Jadeite is carved and set it will most likely triple or more from that base price.
You can expect to pay about $40.000 to 1 mill. for a real Imperial Jadeite bangle, Mostly sold through Christie''s of Hong Kong`s Auction House.

No one is going to sell you a $3000. diamond for $500. Keep this in mind when buying jadeite as well.
Jade and jadeite sales have plunged because so many woman have been ripped off. Once they find they were sold dyed jadeite instead of natural they never buy it again. So many jade sellers just lie, to get that sale.
Please be cautious and cairful. If it is such a great deal beware! Only go to the bigger jewelry stores. They are the only ones that can afford to buy the real deal, to sell to you.
Another thing to remember is that any honest Jadeite dealer is going to let you get the piece checked out by a gem lab if it had not been already certified. I have yet to see any real untreaded Imperial Jadeite being sold without certification from a top gem lab.
I hope this has been helpfull. K.

 

[smitcompton]

Hi Ariella,
I have always wondered about jadite. I purchased a jadite necklace of beads that were a dull green for my niece.
No-one tried to tell me it was the expensive kind. I think I pd about $165.00 for it. They said it was not nephrite jade but was jadite. I have always wondered what imperial jadite would look like. Truthfully the necklace was not what I would term beautiful but she like it. Thank you for giving me an understanding of the good stuff.

Thanks,
Annette
oh, I went to a museum to look at jade carvings. They seemed to be nephrite jade, quite stunning in their carvings.

 

[kroshka]

Hi kjadeus,

Very interesting post. Do you have any other information to share on jadeite jade that is valuable but may not be of the imperial jade color - i.e. natural green apple jadeite and also other colors of jadeite jade such as black, red, lavender, etc.?

Also, what are your thoughts about all the dyed and impregnated jade on the market? Any thoughts on the grading of jadeite jade by labs like GIA, etc.?

I''m a fan of jadeite jade, but of course, there is so much material out there, and unless it has a report from a lab like GIA, it makes it hard to part with the money for fine pieces.

kroshka

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

I inherited several pieces of jade (not sure which type) jewelry from my grandmother and I know nothing about it, other than she picked them up during her travels in Asia, and the settings are 18kt gold. Where should I take these pieces to be appraised? I really don''t know much about the stones, they''re an opaque apple green, not emerald like you speak of above. The stones are cabachons.

Thanks,
HH

 

[kroshka]

Here is a piece of jadeite jade that I have that has a GIA report - would you say it qualifies as "imperial" jadeite?

The GIA description on the report describes it as "translucent mottled green"

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Doesn''t translucent mean see-though? To me that looks opaque.

 

[kroshka]

Transparent means see-through and translucent means allows light to pass through but is not transparent.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Ah, gotcha. Then my stones are translucent, not opaque.

 

[surfgirl]

Ariella, while your post is interesting, I think you''re missing an important aspect of the difficulty in obtaining Imperial Jade. Yes, there are sanctions on jade coming out of Myanmar, and for good reason. I have personally worked in Northern Myanmar (close to their main Jade mines) within the last 5 years, and the conditions the workers are subjected to are horrendous. I personally would NEVER buy Imperial Jade right now, even if I could afford it, nor would I encourage anyone else to buy it. It is mined under inhuman conditions and the only people who benefit are the top level military junta, into whose pockets all proceeds go. So if you are buying Burmese jade via Thailand, that sounds a bit shady and illegal, as there are sanctions on that by many countries, not only the USA.

 

[kjadeus]

Hi all, The post from surf girl is correct for the most part. The miners and there children are starving. The conditions are so bad that most cant imagine it. My family has worked with a family from Burma(Myanmar) for 3 generations. My contact in Thailand is helping me keep this family alive. They share what they can with others that are in the same condition.
If you are so informed why do you not speak of the people that are forced into canabilisem? Are you aware that it is that bad? I was on the border just a month ago. Our government is no longer sending aid to the poorest people of Burma. It is just what the Myanmar government wants. They feed who they want alive and they starve to death those that oppose them. My contact in Thailand knows the family in Burma through me and my grandmother. They want to help the Burma family as well. Most peoples of Thailand feel badly for the Burma peoples and will do what they can to help.
I have a question for you. Now that you know people are being kept alive through the jade trade, or sneaking supplies in, should I stop? Should there be no help just because our pres. says he wants to shun this country till they come around? I wont!!! Learn about all the conditions and what our country is doing to help or hinder Burma before you judge.
Oh yea, there is now a new factor to add to all this mess. The Burmese children that are surviving this, see the suffering and they are joining Muslem factions that hate the USA. These muslem fanitics are pointing out how they are suffering because the US has put such heavy restrictions on their country. Never mind that it is really the junta that is causing the mess. We are going to be hated now by this new generation from Myanmar. If we do not continue to help in hi profile ways, that counter what these fanatic groups are saying about the USA. These fanitics will win.
I do not just visit a country, I check out every aspect of it, and it''s people.

I do not want to debate on my jade contacts in Burma or Thailand. I had dinner with these people. I saw their and their childrens laughing faces. They are my friends and I love them dearly. I WONT STOP, NOT FOR ANYONE.
We are their only hope. There is no one else, at least not in plain sight. Just the Thai people that are sneaking supplies in.
OK, Im off my soap box. Arriella.

 

[kjadeus]

Hi Again, Now I can talk about my favorite subject, Jadeite.
Imperial is transparent, period. Not translucent or opaque. Imperial Jadeite looks just like clear to clearish glass. You may see specks in it but it must be transparent. It sometimes looks so much like green glass that it looks fake to me, but I know better.

The Jadeite pendant shown is a deep apple green in color with small darker colored mottled green areas. Imperial is a bit deeper in color than apple green. The color should be the same as a good emerald, "Kelly Green". If your pendant was clear it would be close to imperial color but not quite.

I have two sites that I recomend for people to use for information on Jadeite.
One is... Palagems dot com.
Go to the Articles link then scrool down to the Jadeite Articles. Read all you can find on this site about Jadeite. Richard Hughes is/was one of the worlds top authority''s on Jadeite. There are some of the best and most informative articles on jadeite that I have ever seen, on this site.
The next is... jadeisus dot com.
He sells only untreated, natural jadeite(not imperial) Go to his "about Jade" and "Jade Grades" pages. He has so much good info.
Read everything in his site and become more informed about jades and grades of jades than you ever thought you could be. Pauls prices are also at what you can expect to pay for real untreated Jadeite. If a jadeite piece is over $100. is should always come with a cert.
I have and will continue to worked with Paul because I belive in the work he does with orphans and children with AIDS in Thailand. He is not my main supplier in Thailand though. I am not pushing any site to sell anybody anything. Im just recomending you read what they offer in info, to learn what you can about Jadeite. Im sorry that I do not have the time to do this here, but these good people on these two sites have done this so well already.

Now on dyed jades. Other than it not lasting as long as a natural, untreated jadeite, there is nothing wrong with it. It is more fragile because of the acid baths changing the structure of the stone itself. It becomes more brittle loosing some of its strength at the molecular level. I have seen some very well done dyed pieces of B grade jadeite made to look like really good A grade jadeite. Some so well done that it takes a spectrascope to tell if it is dyed or not.
So here is the real question. Do you buy a bangle for $2000. or one that looks like it for about $300.? That is about what you can pay for a good fake. There are pleanty of cheaper fake bangles out of glass, agates, quartz, aventurine and serpentine. I recomend choosing B grade Jadeite, dyed to look like A grade. It will last the longest in color retenshion and breaking.

Keep in mind...
the more deeper the green, the higher the cost. The more transulance/transparents, the higher the cost. The larger the carat size, the higher the cost. The more it is finely carved/cut, the higher the cost is.

The best place to have any Jadeite checked out is a "gem lab". I have found that most US jewelrs do not know enough about jadeite to be able to appraise it. At a gem lab they put it under a special light that shows all dyes, fillers, cracks and flaws. It can cost from $35.00 up to $150. depending on the lab and what equipment they have. Most big citys have at least one gem lab. Look it up in your local phone book or do an on line search. It is common for the Jadeite items in question to be shipped through the mail to the lab from the customer, and then sent back after the report has been compleated, registerd of course.

Read all you can from the sites I have recomended, become the scammers biggest fear, an informed consumer!
Sorry about any mispelled words. Im working to fast, so much to do, never enough time.

 

[surfgirl]

Khun Ariella, there are two sides to the situation and you didn't present the entire picture so I felt it important to fill in the blanks. When I've worked in Myanmar, I've asked people - like taxi drivers or tour guides I've met - if they think it's best for tourists to stay away from Myanmar or to come and spend their money there. They've pretty much said that foreign tourists bring money into the country and if you can spend kyat, which I can (and not FEC, which locals cannot use) then it does help them. And they also think it's good for outsiders to see what the situation is there. Unfortunately most outsiders only see what the junta wants them to see. As for me, I'm fortunate that I see the real situation there. And I have access to exchange my dollars into kyat so I can help people out with actual money, as opposed to the "pretend" FEC* money (*FEC = Foreign Exchange Currency, and it's the currency that foreigners have to use in Myanmar - locals are not allowed to use it and it's the way that the junta controls access to foreign money coming into the country. Unless you work for certain agencies who have access to moneychangers who can turn your forex into real local currency, called kyat, which locals can actually use).

As for buying Burmese jade, I'm not about to buy it when government officials are trying to get me to go to the mine and buy with them - so they can get a kickback. And I wont buy outside the country either, that's my choice. If you choose to buy directly from impoverished families, and your money helps them to buy the basics to stay alive, then I have no problem with that, theoretically. So long as YOU are paying them a VERY GOOD price for what you're getting from them. Because you know how expensive jade is being sold in places like China, I certainly hope that you are paying direct contacts a very high "top price" for their rough. That's my opinion, you're entitled to yours.

One last thing, I would caution you on what you write here and how you present it. Shilling - or trying to get customers for your product - is not allowed on this site, just an FYI.

 

[kjadeus]

Hi surfgirl, please be calmed in knowing that I always pay well. I also pay in the local currency or supplies that are needed. I agree with what you are saying. Except that I want to flood the oppressed with enough money that they have a chance. But I do not think that will happen.
I was in Hong Kong last Nov. I found out that the chinese do not have a minimum wage. When I found out that our maid only made $20. a day, I gave her a $100. tip in US currency. She started to cry and said hardly anyone ever tips her, and never so much. It made my day. That is the kind of person I am. The more I give out, the more I get back.

Now on the two sites I recomended. I have nothing to do with these sites personally. I do not sell from theses sites at all. I have not given anybody my website address. Nor will I. I only want people to go and read on Jadeite. Look at the pretty pictures and stydy them. Look at the jadeite and their prices and stydy. I am not recomending anybody to buy. Once you have the info, you can go where you want to go and purchase Jadeite.

 

[kjadeus]

Hi again,
I tried to find some good pictures of Imperial Jadeite. So many have Imperial Jadeite color and are calling it Imperial Jadeite. I have tried to upload three pictures for you to look at. I hope it shows for you. Im sorry if it is not clear. The first picture from left to right is "Imperial color". See that you can not see through it? But it is the right color. The second picture shows the lowest grade of Imperial Jadeite. It is semi transparent. As long as there is transparent areas of the piece it can be called Imperial Jadeite. The third picture of the bangle is "Imperial Jadeite". Note that you can see right through most of the bangle.This bangle sold at Christie`s for $2,576,600 in Nov. of 1999. I think I have answered most questions. Thanks for asking. I hope I have been helpfull.

 

[kjadeus]

Sorry, The picture did not post. I will try again.

 

[kjadeus]

Sorry, no matter what I do I cant seem to get pictures to post here. You are just going to have to go to Palagems dot com to see what real "Imperial Jadeite" looks like. I do not usally have any problems posting pictures. No matter how small or how I try to upload, it seems to not be working for me.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Very intersting topic. I am not sure that I have ever seen Imperial Jadeite, and I have been to China.

Pictures must have a unique name to be able to post them.