As the saying goes, “There is no jade without cotton.” Cotton is ubiquitous in jade, usually in the form of strips, dots, and balls. Among them, the Mu Na snowflake cotton is the most popular. But do you know what the essence of Mu Na “snowflake cotton” is?

Meaning of Muna

Mu Na is the name of one of the mining areas in the Mogok area of ​​Myanmar. The raw stones produced by each mining area are named after the mining area. In this field, a large number of materials with uniform color and full color are produced, and the texture is basically above ice ground. Moreover, the jadeite raw stones produced basically have dot-shaped cotton, which has very distinctive characteristics.

What is “snowflake cotton”?

Snowflake Cotton is a visual reputation for the cotton contained in Mu Na material, used to describe its evenly distributed, staggered and snow-like texture . But from a geological point of view, snowflake cotton is mineral cotton, and its essence is the semi-raw mineral of jade, albite.

▲ Solitary distribution of albite "mineral wool"; the reflective surface has depressions at the cotton spots

Since the refractive index and hardness of albite are different from those of the main body of jade, it will appear as obvious dot-like cotton wool on a macro scale, and as depressions under a microscope, and the reflective luster will be weaker than the surrounding area.

The value of Muna's "snowflake cotton"

At first, Mu Na Snowflake Cotton Jade was not considered to be of very good quality, but as jade mineral resources continued to decrease, its distinctive characteristics became popular among people and its market value was greatly improved .

In particular, after exquisite artificial design, combined with the "snowflake" style theme, it shows a unique cultural atmosphere and gives the Mu Na snowflake cotton jade a different cultural value.

Nowadays, the raw materials and finished products of "snowflake cotton" jade on the market are very expensive, but after research, the main component of the "cotton wool" part is actually albite, which is the main component of water foam. This involves the problem of the "cotton wool" content. If the "cotton wool" content is greater than 40%, it may not be called jade.

Therefore, when purchasing Mu Na snowflake cotton jade, you should pay attention to the proportion of the cotton content in the entire piece of jade.

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