Evaluating jadeite (feicui)

[Autumn in New England]

Hello jade lovers, could you please help me choose between the two? Both bangles are around $11k USD. Green has tiny chip on the surface but no stone lines. Lavender has stone lines within. I love the water content in the green but the purple just draws me in. The green is about 8mm thick and lavender is 9.6mm.

Lavender, lavender, lavender!

 

[Autumn in New England]

I love that this has become a place where old and new members can come to ask for opinions.

 

[Bookwyrm]

Hello jade lovers, could you please help me choose between the two? Both bangles are around $11k USD. Green has tiny chip on the surface but no stone lines. Lavender has stone lines within. I love the water content in the green but the purple just draws me in. The green is about 8mm thick and lavender is 9.6mm.

Ahh I'm no help as I'm definitely no expert on jadeite, but I just wanted to say I think both the green and purple bangles are very pretty! The green appears very slighly bluish on my screen and is just beautiful! Ahhhh I think I might be leaning slightly more towards the green - it seems more glowy and the colour is

 

[Seastheday]

If I win the lottery, or decide to skip my mortgage payments lol, I would buy this little jade fox in a heartbeat. 1920s art deco piece with seed pearls.

Sadly it’s $12,500 USD. Ugh.

 

[Seastheday]

I did reach out to the vendor re the fox piece above and they were very quick to respond. But, no certificate for the jade sadly.

 

[LC2016]

Guys.. I just saw this on IG and think I should share

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

 

[pomo_juice]

Hello jade lovers, could you please help me choose between the two? Both bangles are around $11k USD. Green has tiny chip on the surface but no stone lines. Lavender has stone lines within. I love the water content in the green but the purple just draws me in. The green is about 8mm thick and lavender is 9.6mm.

Have you seen them in person? If not, I'd go with green (with return policy if possible), a much safer choice than lavender. From ur second set of pics, the lavender's texture looks rough (like marble... which is expected of lavender lol). Also, I'm sure you know, but lavender under natural light can look ded (greyish... and the blues as well). Also, for rougher/"newer" texture, I'm not sure about this one in particular, but the jadeite can "turn" color as they "lose the water" so to speak. There's also a bit of yellow/brownish tinge (barely... idk if it's just a picture inaccuracy) on the green, as long as the vendor can promise the color won't "turn", it's up to your aethestics.

 

[dster1]

Have you seen them in person? If not, I'd go with green (with return policy if possible), a much safer choice than lavender. From ur second set of pics, the lavender's texture looks rough (like marble... which is expected of lavender lol). Also, I'm sure you know, but lavender under natural light can look ded (greyish... and the blues as well). Also, for rougher/"newer" texture, I'm not sure about this one in particular, but the jadeite can "turn" color as they "lose the water" so to speak. There's also a bit of yellow/brownish tinge (barely... idk if it's just a picture inaccuracy) on the green, as long as the vendor can promise the color won't "turn", it's up to your aethestics.

Thanks for your input. Agree the texture of the lavender is pretty rough but I’m surprised the green is priced slightly lower. Maybe it’s because of the little nick on the surface? I can’t see these in person and although I can return, I may just hold off until there’s a piece I feel like I MUST have. I’ve been going back and forth between these two for about a month now. Given the price point, I should truly love it.

 

[Sydneyphoenix]

Eternal Sunshine Imperial Green Burmese A-Jade Stud Earrings with Diam

Our Eternal Sunshine Imperial Green Burmese A-Jade Stud Earrings with Diamond Halo and 18K White Gold are made from handpicking the best Imperial Green Burmese A-Jadeite Cabochons

www.fyoro.com

This one is sold out, and probably overpriced (maybe more reasonable if around USD $8000). Good emerald green (but perhaps not imperial green as per description), looks clean but maybe a bit down on translucency and glassiness. But wouldn’t mind one of those stones for one of my projects (have no use for gold setting and diamonds), or both!

Project in mind, this in jade and platinum…

ELESSAR™ The Elfstone - Silver

Elessar, AKA the Stone of Eärendil, is a silver eagle brooch set with a green stone from The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Available as a brooch or necklace pendant. Handcrafted by our jewelers from solid sterling silver and set with a green stone, cubic zirconia optional. Officially licensed to...

badalijewelry.com

 

[Bookwyrm]

Eternal Sunshine Imperial Green Burmese A-Jade Stud Earrings with Diam

Our Eternal Sunshine Imperial Green Burmese A-Jade Stud Earrings with Diamond Halo and 18K White Gold are made from handpicking the best Imperial Green Burmese A-Jadeite Cabochons

www.fyoro.com

This one is sold out, and probably overpriced (maybe more reasonable if around USD $8000). Good emerald green (but perhaps not imperial green as per description), looks clean but maybe a bit down on translucency and glassiness. But wouldn’t mind one of those stones for one of my projects (have no use for gold setting and diamonds), or both!

Project in mind, this in jade and platinum…

ELESSAR™ The Elfstone - Silver

Elessar, AKA the Stone of Eärendil, is a silver eagle brooch set with a green stone from The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Available as a brooch or necklace pendant. Handcrafted by our jewelers from solid sterling silver and set with a green stone, cubic zirconia optional. Officially licensed to...

badalijewelry.com

Wow you must really love LOTR! I think it's so cool you're looking to create rings inspired by elvish jewellery - I would love to hear more about why you chose those three rings in particular as inspiration!

I can't say I know much about the middle Earth universe myself (I maaaaay have fallen asleep the last time I tried to watch the movies ) but my partner loves those movies!

 

[Bookwyrm]

I just wanted to pop in to say hi to @Crimson and everything else here in my favourite PS thread!

I was scrolling through Kathy Jade for fun and came across these earrings that are considered "glassy" (according to Google Translate), but to me they seem a bit foggy. I thought glassy meant the jadeite had to be super transparent, so just curious, does anyone know why Kathy Jade would call these glassy? Would these also be considered imperial green? They do seem quite glowy!

老坑玻璃種艷翠綠翡翠耳環

全台首創一條龍式的翡翠製作流程，由翡翠礦主直接經營，從開採、加工、設計到成品鑲嵌。皆由專業團隊製作，省去中間商差價，回饋給顧客最實惠的價格。

www.kathyjade.com

 

[Sydneyphoenix]

Wow you must really love LOTR! I think it's so cool you're looking to create rings inspired by elvish jewellery - I would love to hear more about why you chose those three rings in particular as inspiration!

I can't say I know much about the middle Earth universe myself (I maaaaay have fallen asleep the last time I tried to watch the movies ) but my partner loves those movies!

Basically descriptions of elvish jewellery (especially the three rings of power and the Elessar) make them look so beautiful and potent that I would like to recreate them. And the Elessar with platinum setting might be cheaper to make than Narya or Vilya requiring yellow gold. Not that fine green jade cabochons are cheap to get.

As an aside does anyone know where to sell loose gemstones in Sydney, Australia or another city? Want to dispose of some of my meh-quality gemstones including a jade cabochon but most hold buyers or jewellery buyers seem to like pieces in gold or platinum settings only. Maybe I should just make a small pendant with platinum with minimal cost to facilitate the sale…

 

[Sydneyphoenix]

I just wanted to pop in to say hi to @Crimson and everything else here in my favourite PS thread!

I was scrolling through Kathy Jade for fun and came across these earrings that are considered "glassy" (according to Google Translate), but to me they seem a bit foggy. I thought glassy meant the jadeite had to be super transparent, so just curious, does anyone know why Kathy Jade would call these glassy? Would these also be considered imperial green? They do seem quite glowy!

老坑玻璃種艷翠綠翡翠耳環

全台首創一條龍式的翡翠製作流程，由翡翠礦主直接經營，從開採、加工、設計到成品鑲嵌。皆由專業團隊製作，省去中間商差價，回饋給顧客最實惠的價格。

www.kathyjade.com

My Chinese isn’t good but seems to describe as an old-pit rather than necessarily glassy. It is a high quality piece but a bit grainy texture, probably will call it icy and close to apple-green rather than imperial. Not sure if I’d ever pay $76500 USD (wouldn’t dream of spending that much on any project even if I was much richer) but definitely an appealing piece of jewellery.

 

[Bookwyrm]

My Chinese isn’t good but seems to describe as an old-pit rather than necessarily glassy. It is a high quality piece but a bit grainy texture, probably will call it icy and close to apple-green rather than imperial. Not sure if I’d ever pay $76500 USD (wouldn’t dream of spending that much on any project even if I was much richer) but definitely an appealing piece of jewellery.

Ohh thank you for helping with the proper translation! And yeah, I would never spend 76k USD on something like this either! I just asked out of curiousity...I haven't realy seen many flatter pieces of jadeite, and the heart shape seems quite unique! Maybe the jadeite piece wasn't thick enough so they cut it into flat hearts?

 

[Sydneyphoenix]

Speaking of colour, that piece from Fyoro is marketed as imperial green but looks more akin to emerald green or forest green if you ask me; HKJSL calls it intense green which can be anywhere in high-end green jadeite spectrum. The one on the left (9 o’clock orientation) seem more right like apple green/Yang green whereas the right one (3 o’clock) seem a bit more intense, emerald green like.

Eternal Sunshine Imperial Green Burmese A-Jade Stud Earrings with Diam

Our Eternal Sunshine Imperial Green Burmese A-Jade Stud Earrings with Diamond Halo and 18K White Gold are made from handpicking the best Imperial Green Burmese A-Jadeite Cabochons

www.fyoro.com

 

[Crimson]

Thank you for tagging me, @Bookwyrm. I have been travelling and missed so many posts here!
So glad to see this thread is active and vibrant.
@Bookwyrm The earrings from Kathy are described as old pit 老坑 and
glassy 玻璃種
I have seen this kind of Jadeite. Even though it’s listed as glossy, you can still see some fine veins and texture.
I would say just based on the photos that they are not as high quality whether in material or cut as the ones from On Cheong (below) which are about USD 140K.
The ones from Kathy are flat topped - such cuts usually cost less than cabochons.
@Sydneyphoenix those two jadeite ovals don’t seem very well matched but it could be how the light falls on them. Regardless, they do seem pricey for how they look.
@dster1 i agree with @pomo_juice’s comments about the bangles. Happy searching!

 

[Sydneyphoenix]

Thank you for tagging me, @Bookwyrm. I have been travelling and missed so many posts here!
So glad to see this thread is active and vibrant.
@Bookwyrm The earrings from Kathy are described as old pit 老坑 and
glassy 玻璃種
I have seen this kind of Jadeite. Even though it’s listed as glossy, you can still see some fine veins and texture.
I would say just based on the photos that they are not as high quality whether in material or cut as the ones from On Cheong (below) which are about USD 140K.
The ones from Kathy are flat topped - such cuts usually cost less than cabochons.
@Sydneyphoenix those two jadeite ovals don’t seem very well matched but it could be how the light falls on them. Regardless, they do seem pricey for how they look.
@dster1 i agree with @pomo_juice’s comments about the bangles. Happy searching!

Oops, missed the 玻璃種 bit. But yeah not as clean or watery as some of the other old-pit materials. Visible veins and small grainy textures exaggerated by flat surface.

These two cabochons I posted come from the same rough apparently, but doesn’t mean they are perfectly matched pair. While it could be the lighting, I like the one at 3o’clock orientation better.

 

[Pomelo]

Christie’s are having a jewellery and jadeite sale in HK later this month, and they came to Beijing for viewing of some select pieces (ie the higher value ones!). Sadly I didn’t have much time to try on allll of the jadeite they brought with them, but here is a bangle and three rings.

The bangle is guided at HKD 6.8-8.8m (ISD 880-1.1m), the rings at HKD 3-5m (USD 400-650k), HKD 600-800k (USD80-100k) and HKD 500-800k (USD70-100k).

Tbh I found the bangle rather unremarkable at the price point but I don’t know anything about the pricing of bangles!

It was also too small for me to try on. The jewellery specialist said that they’ve had many instances in the past when someone has squeezed their hand into a bangle and had difficulty in taking it off, but they always manage to in the end with the help of soap or a plastic bag!




Very near imperial jadeite ring HKD 3-5m, but (maybe?) because it’s quite a flat cabochon, it didn’t feel like it glowed much


HKD 600-800k, my favourite of the pieces I tried on. The colour is slightly lighter than the imperial jade, but the higher dome was delicious!


The bottom cabochon was HKD 500-800k, the colour is less vibrant / more grey.



They have some more affordable pieces in the sale but sadly those weren’t part of the travelling show.

And, off topic, but wanted to share this photo of a 10ct D FL oval mounted by Cartier. It felt right at home on my finger

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

@Pomelo wow!!!! That diamond is delicious (and I’m not a diamond girl). And no bow tie!!!!

I agree with you on the bangle. Don’t get me wrong it’s beautiful but at that price I expected better. So even live in front of your eyes it was not all that?

 

[Pomelo]

@Pomelo wow!!!! That diamond is delicious (and I’m not a diamond girl). And no bow tie!!!!

I agree with you on the bangle. Don’t get me wrong it’s beautiful but at that price I expected better. So even live in front of your eyes it was not all that?

I actually think the bangle photographs better than what I saw live - my iPhone has made the greens brighter. IRL, there was a noticeable greyish tint and the water/translucency was average... but I guess I'm comparing (relatively speaking) small cabochons vs a huge hunk of a bangle!

 

[Crimson]

I actually think the bangle photographs better than what I saw live - my iPhone has made the greens brighter. IRL, there was a noticeable greyish tint and the water/translucency was average... but I guess I'm comparing (relatively speaking) small cabochons vs a huge hunk of a bangle!

Thanks for the lovely photos @Pomelo !
I am not crazy about the bangle either but maybe it is really hefty and the colour (for a bangle) is quite even? I don’t like or wear jadeite bangles though.
The three rings are huge, and not so expensive for their size. Rings that size and quality would easily cost more here in SG, definitely more than a million HKD. The one below is an example. It is very nice, watery, not imperial but full green. It is about HKD 1.2 m.

 

[Pomelo]

Thanks for the lovely photos @Pomelo !
I am not crazy about the bangle either but maybe it is really hefty and the colour (for a bangle) is quite even? I don’t like or wear jadeite bangles though.
The three rings are huge, and not so expensive for their size. Rings that size and quality would easily cost more here in SG, definitely more than a million HKD. The one below is an example. It is very nice, watery, not imperial but full green. It is about HKD 1.2 m.

Thanks @Crimson , I also don’t like wearing jade bangles as I had one when I was 16 and managed to cause a crack within a week or two - it didn’t break, but I was so scared that I took it off and never put it back on!

Re: the guide price on the rings, I agree they’re lower than retail but who knows how much they will eventually go for under the hammer? That’s the exciting thing about auctions though IMO - sometimes you can pick up a real bargain, but you’ve got to stay disciplined otherwise it’s easy to go over budget!