Grade and treatment
In jadeite, "grade" describes what has been done to the stone - not how beautiful it is. A pale, inexpensive stone can still be Grade A.
- Grade A jadeiteType A
- Natural, untreated jadeite. Its colour and translucency are exactly what formed in the ground. It may be cut, carved and polished, but nothing has been added or removed chemically. Only Grade A holds its value over time. Everything sold at Jadeite Pavilion is Grade A.
- Grade B jadeite
- Genuine jadeite that has been bleached with acid to strip out brown or grey tones, then impregnated with polymer resin to restore clarity. It looks clean and glassy at first, but the resin degrades over years and the stone is worth a fraction of Grade A.
- Grade C jadeite
- Jadeite that has been dyed to add or deepen colour. The colour is not natural and can fade. Pieces treated both ways - bleached, filled and dyed - are called B+C.
- Jadeite
- One of the two minerals called jade. Jadeite is the rarer and harder of the two (Mohs 6.5-7), and the only one that produces vivid imperial green, lavender and glassy translucency. Gem-quality jadeite comes from just two places: Myanmar (Burma) and Guatemala.
- Nephrite
- The other mineral called jade. Softer, far more common and usually more opaque than jadeite. Most stone sold simply as "jade" is nephrite.
Natural characteristics
Real jadeite grew over millions of years and carries the marks of it. These are not defects - they are how you tell an untreated stone from a treated one.
- Cotton棉, mian
- Soft, white, cloud-like inclusions suspended inside the stone. Cotton gives natural jadeite its depth and is especially visible in icy and translucent pieces. Heavy cotton reduces transparency; light, drifting cotton is simply the stone breathing.
- Stone line石纹, shiwen
- A fine, healed vein in the crystal structure, like the grain in marble. A stone line is structurally sound and is not a crack.
- Crack裂, lie
- An open fracture, unlike a healed stone line. Cracks affect durability and are disclosed separately and plainly on every listing that has one.
- Baorong包容
- The idea that a natural stone carries its inclusions rather than being free of them - literally "to contain, to embrace". Used in the trade to describe accepting a piece as nature made it.
- Colour variation
- Uneven distribution of colour across a piece. Normal in natural jadeite; perfectly even colour at a low price is a warning sign of dye.
Transparency and texture
How much light passes through a stone matters as much as its colour, and often more.
- Water种水, zhongshui
- The trade term for translucency - how much light passes through the stone. Higher water makes colour glow rather than sit flat, and is a major driver of value.
- Opaque
- Light does not pass through the stone. Opaque jadeite can still be genuine Grade A and is usually the most affordable.
- Semi-translucent
- Light passes at the edges or through thinner sections, without the stone being see-through.
- Translucent
- Light passes visibly through the body of the stone, lifting the colour.
- Highly translucentglass species, 玻璃种
- The most transparent grade, where light passes freely and the stone appears to glow from within. Rare and the most valuable.
- Floating colour飘花, piaohua
- Patches or wisps of colour drifting through a paler, more translucent body - green or lavender floating in icy white. A prized and much-collected effect.
Colours
Jadeite is far more than green. Each colour has its own name in the trade, and Burma and Guatemala produce distinctly different palettes.
- Imperial GreenDi Wang Lv, 帝王绿
- The most expensive and revered jadeite type. It features a perfectly saturated, vibrant, emerald-green colour with a glowing, semi-transparent to transparent texture.
- Apple GreenPing Guo Lv, 苹果绿
- A bright, lively green with a distinct yellowish undertone, resembling a fresh green apple. It is highly vibrant and usually semi-transparent.
- Guatemala Green
- Green jadeite from Guatemala, the second of the two sources of gem-quality jadeite. It tends toward deeper forest and blue-greens, and is often better value than Burmese material of comparable quality.
- Dry GreenGan Qing, 干青
- A deep, saturated green jadeite that lacks transparency and moisture. It looks opaque, matte and dry because it contains high amounts of chromium (often transitioning into chrome albite), which blocks light from passing through.
- Flower GreenHua Qing, 花青
- A variegated jadeite featuring an uneven, mottled distribution of green patches, spots or veins against a lighter background. The green blooms across the stone like random floral patterns, and the texture can range from semi-transparent to opaque.
- Oily GreenYou Qing, 油青
- A dark green mixed with grey or blue undertones, with a smooth, greasy lustre that looks as though the stone is coated in oil. Typically translucent to semi-transparent.
- LavenderZi Luo Lan, 紫罗兰
- Named after the violet flower, this jadeite ranges from pale lilac to deep purple. Highly saturated purple pieces with good transparency are incredibly rare.
- Icy冰种
- Near-colourless, highly translucent jadeite that reads like clear ice. Judged on water and clarity rather than colour.
- Blue WaterLan Shui, 蓝水 - also listed as Blue-Grey
- Translated literally as "Blue Water", this variety features a uniform, serene blue-grey or teal-blue hue. It is highly valued for its smooth texture, oily lustre and good transparency, which makes the stone look like deep ocean water.
- WhiteBai Di, 白底
- A pure, neutral variety ranging from opaque, milky white to transparent "glassy" jadeite. Pure white jadeite contains zero mineral impurities (such as chromium or iron), meaning its value relies entirely on its exceptional clarity and watery transparency.
- OliveGan Lan Lv, 橄榄绿
- A yellowish-green to brownish-green jadeite that closely resembles the colour of a ripe green olive. It has a warmer, more muted tone than apple green, caused by a specific blend of iron and trace chromium elements.
- Honey YellowMi Tang Huang, 蜜糖黄
- A warm, golden-yellow to orange-yellow jadeite that looks like poured honey. It is caused by iron oxidation on the outer layer of the jade boulder.
- RedHong Fei, 红翡
- A reddish-brown to bright orange-red jadeite, also formed by iron weathering. Bright, vivid reds with high transparency are the most valuable in this category.
- Black Ink WashWu Ji, 乌鸡
- Named after the black-skinned chicken, this jadeite features a patchy, smoky grey-to-black colour resembling traditional Chinese ink-wash paintings. It is semi-transparent to opaque.
- BlackMo Cui, 墨翠
- A jadeite that appears solid, glossy black in normal light but reveals a rich, hidden green colour when light is shone directly through it.