Is jade investment a hype? What is the current outlook for the jade industry?

It has always been a topic that the commodity market and the capital market cannot avoid. Take the famous company LeTV for example. Not long ago, it was caught up in a storm because of Jia Yueting's "letting go of himself". It was therefore regarded as a typical case of over-hype. Although it had previously gained a lot of fame and money, the negative effects brought about by excessive hype also brought LeTV a huge crisis of trust, and it is still in turmoil.

Deep in doubt

Jade is also a commodity that is deeply mired in speculation doubts.

Since 2008, the value of jade has skyrocketed a hundredfold, especially after the country released the "Four Trillion" rescue plan. The market cash flow was very abundant, resulting in the extraordinary prosperity of the jade industry from 2008 to 2012. Even stones such as water foam have increased dozens of times.

  Even in 2013, an online loan platform appeared under the name of "China Cultural Property Exchange", which packaged jade as a concept for hype and made huge money through P2P online lending, resulting in a jade scam involving a total amount of 700 million yuan. It also caused huge harm to regular practitioners in the jade industry and regular art investment companies, and the aftermath is still there.

Some people who claim to be senior practitioners even said that "jade is just a stone" and "there is no scarcity". Everything is the result of "excessive speculation by hot money outside the industry."

Chinese Jade Culture

In fact, the reason why jadeite is so highly respected and even crowned the "uncrowned king" of jade is not accidental, but the result of thousands of years of accumulation of Chinese civilization.

The Chinese love of jade originated from Confucianism. There is even a saying in "Book of Rites" that "A gentleman will not take off his jade without a reason." Since the Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties, jade culture is no longer unique to the ruling class, but has become the favorite of the common people.

In the early Qing Dynasty, it is said that due to the limitation of jade production in the Central Plains, Wu Sangui established diplomatic relations between Yunnan and Myanmar for the Qing Dynasty through force and virtue. Jadeite finally entered China with the tribute over the years. During the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, the Chinese people's love for jade reached a new level. Because jade has a variety of colors and a hard texture, it has become an object with greater play value than traditional nephrite and has become popular throughout the country.

The first "hype"

Yes, historically, jadeite became famous precisely because of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty's admiration for it. At that time, Ji Xiaolan said in "Youwei Thatched Cottage Notes": "When I was young, jadeite from Yunnan was not considered jade. It was just like Lantian dry yellow, but was forced to be called jade. Now it is considered a treasure, and its price is far higher than that of real jade... The price difference is so great even after only fifty or sixty years, let alone hundreds of years." And we can see the clues.

You know, in history, Qianlong's artistic taste was no less than that of Song Huizong, and he was a collector with great vision. This was also another peak in jade since the Spring and Autumn Period, Han and Tang Dynasties.

It is true that "a tree grows from a willow tree when planted accidentally, but a flower does not bloom when planted intentionally". It was at this time that jadeite entered the stage of Chinese collection history and left a strong mark.

The inevitable upward trend

Let's go back to the present. Since 2013, a series of negative news about jade have been exposed, causing the value of jade to be hit hard. Market doubts have become increasingly huge. In addition, a large number of illegal businesses have previously counterfeited and made inferior products. For a time, collectors were afraid of jade. However, this did not affect the decline in the value of jade. As there are fewer and fewer high-end raw materials in jade public auctions, the price of finished jade products is also getting higher and higher.

Myanmar's jade mining has reached the bottom of quick success and instant benefits. According to professionals' estimates, in the next 10 to 20 years, there may be a short-term blowout of high-end jade raw stones entering the market. Then, due to the depletion of mines, the price of raw materials will continue to rise, which will in turn affect the price of the finished product market. As a result, there will be a bear market in the jade spot market, but a strange situation in which the prices of finished products and raw materials continue to rise.

Especially in recent years, the Myanmar government has jointly operated a large number of mining lands between the government and mine owners, adopting a cooperative method of equally sharing the output. It is not difficult to see that the Myanmar government is no longer concerned with the leasing of mineral lands, but instead ensuring that it has more raw stone reserves. This shows that the scarcity of minerals is increasing.

Emerald of the World

Not only is jade popular in China, it is also popular in the world fashion world. It can be found on major luxury brands, and even on celebrities and politicians from various countries. Although Westerners may not understand our Eastern feelings towards jade culture, it shows that the charm of jade is spreading all over the world.

Conclusion

As a scarce mineral and work of art, jade is disappearing at an accelerated rate due to the faster and more efficient mining techniques introduced by Myanmar in recent years. Future price increases are probably inevitable. In fact, historical experience over the years tells us that the art market and the gem market, due to its unique scarcity, will make jade increasingly unattainable in the future. Here, especially those high-quality finished products, will surely become more and more precious.

So, if you still think this is hype, and you still think it’s “just a stone”, then I can only say that different people have different opinions.

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