Is jadeite jade? How to tell whether your jade bracelet is grade A or grade B+C?

In our country, many women like to wear jade bracelets, but they often don’t know what material the bracelets are made of. Most of them call them jade bracelets. And I don’t know whether the jade I wear is natural or processed, and whether it is harmful to my body. When shopping, it is difficult for us to take every jadeite we like to a testing agency for testing. Therefore, we always have some methods of identification with the naked eye on hand in case we need it anytime and anywhere in our lives. At the same time, as our recognition level increases, the number of illegal businesses will decrease.

The word "jadeite" has a long history. This word appeared in "Shuowen Jiezi", the earliest Chinese dictionary compiled by Xu Shen in the Eastern Han Dynasty: "Jadeite is a red-feathered bird; Cui is a green-feathered bird", referring to a bird in the Lingnan region. Later, people used the word "jadeite" to describe this colorful jade. After Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, jade began to be used on a large scale.

Mineral composition of jadeite

Usually, when we see a bracelet, we will casually say it is a jade bracelet. Then is jadeite a jade bracelet? French mineralogist Demur conducted chemical analysis on Hetian jade and jadeite in 1846 and 1863 respectively, and for the first time pointed out the differences in chemical composition, mineral composition and physical properties between Hetian jade and jadeite from the perspective of modern mineralogy. Demur classified Hetian jade and jadeite based on their hardness. He called Hetian jade nephrite and pointed out that the mineral composition of Hetian jade belongs to the amphibole family, with tremolite and actinolite as the main mineral components; jadeite is jadeite, which belongs to the pyroxene family in mineralogy. Jadeite, which is mainly composed of jadeite, is the jadeite in the traditional sense. When "fei" is used alone, it refers to the various shades of red and yellow jadeite; when "cui" is used alone, it refers to the various shades of green jadeite. High-quality green jadeite is generally called "gaocui".

The structure of jadeite

Common structures of jade include fiber interwoven structure and granular fiber structure. The structure of jade determines its texture, transparency and luster. Generally speaking, the coarser the mineral particles and the looser the bonds between the particles, the looser the texture of the jade will be, and its transparency and luster will be poor; conversely, the finer the mineral particles and the tighter the bonds between the particles, the finer and denser the jade will be, with better transparency and luster. Jadeite with a fibrous interwoven structure has higher hardness and greater toughness.

Optimization and treatment of jadeite

The main methods for jadeite optimization are: wax treatment and heat treatment. This kind of optimized jadeite can be regarded as "A-grade" jadeite, just like untreated natural jadeite.

The main methods for jade processing are: strong acid immersion bleaching, weak alkali neutralization, filling (resin or plastic), etc. The jade treated by this method is commonly known as "B-grade" jade, while the jade treated by dyeing is commonly known as "C-grade" jade. If jade has been bleached with strong acid, neutralized with weak alkali, filled, and dyed, it is commonly known as "B+C" jade.

How to identify jadeite with naked eyes

Natural jade: Most of them have no fluorescence. The star-shaped, flake-shaped, and needle-shaped flashes on the cleavage planes and twin planes are what people call "jade quality", commonly known as "fly wings". They are visible under reflected light and are an important sign for identifying jade. Except for old type glassy jadeite. The fiber interlaced structure or granular fiber interlaced structure can be seen under transmitted light. The luster of jade ranges from glassy to oily.

“B-grade jadeite”: 1. Luster. The normal luster of jadeite ranges from glassy luster to oily luster. After being soaked in strong acid and alkali, the structure becomes loose, and after being filled, jadeite often has resinous luster, waxy luster or a mixed luster. 2. Color. The color of "B-grade" jadeite has no sense of hierarchy because its structure is destroyed, so it looks very unnatural. 3. Structure: After being soaked and corroded by strong acids and alkalis, some substances are brought in and out, forming dissolution along the mineral crystals on the surface and inside, resulting in internal interconnected cracks. Under transmitted light, crisscrossing cracks can be seen inside; under reflected light conditions, surface dissolution pits or "spider-web" patterns or "ditch"-like cracks can be seen. Gelatinous substances or residual bubbles can be seen in larger ditches. 4. Tap response. The structure of jade is destroyed after bleaching and filling, and the mineral particles are filled with colloid, so it makes a dull sound when knocked, which is significantly different from the crisp sound of natural jade.

"C-grade" jadeite: When observed with a magnifying glass, the dye enters the jadeite along the particles or cracks, so the dyed color is seen distributed in a silk screen pattern. Precipitation or aggregation of the dye can be seen in larger cracks. This is also the most direct evidence for identifying dyed jadeite. Clear cracks can be seen in the salty jadeite. The process of sautéing the jade is to first heat the jade and then quickly put it into a colored dye or pigment solution. Dyed jade has poor durability and air oxidation will cause it to fade slowly.

"Coated" jade: There is a layer of organic film attached to the surface, also known as "dressed jade". When observed under magnification, it can be seen that the surface gloss is weak, mostly resin gloss; there is no granularity, bubbles can be seen in some parts; the film can be seen falling off at the edges; it feels astringent.

"Splicing" jade: artificially splicing two or more pieces of jade to give people a whole feeling is a common practice in counterfeiting jade raw stones. The skin of jadeite that has been pieced together is generally soft and sticky, and lacks the structure of the skin of natural jadeite raw stone.

“Synthetic” jade: a crystalline product artificially produced by synthesizing chemical components and heating. It looks similar to jade, but synthetic jade has poor transparency, is dry, has irregular color, is relatively dull, does not have a fiber interwoven structure, and has no “jade properties”.

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