What is the function of “water adjustment” of jade?

Water adjustment, an industry term, means adjusting the water head as the name suggests. In order to increase the moisture and transparency of jade, the jade is made to look more transparent and lustrous through processing, and the light and transparency are adjusted.

The water adjustment process does not belong to the optimization treatment of jade, but to the category of craftsmanship. It is a process that makes jade more visually transparent through jade carving or backing inlay, and uses the physical principles of light and shadow to highlight the quality.

Process method:

Grind and adjust the water: Grind the jade with poor transparency into a thin layer. After professional grinding and polishing, the surface becomes smooth, allowing more light to enter inside, making it easier for the jade to produce water.

Sacrificing thickness can significantly improve the light transmittance of jade, making the jade look more watery, but the thickness of the jade will also become thinner. Therefore, when purchasing jade that is very transparent, you should also pay attention to its thickness. Jade that is too thin will easily break. The collection value is also limited. There are certain requirements for the thickness of jade, so you cannot simply thin the jade when adjusting the water.

Carved curved surface water adjustment: the uncarved negative surface is processed into a concave shape with a certain curvature. When making common jade Guanyin or Buddha statues, the uncarved back side will be processed into a concave shape with a certain curvature to increase the light-receiving area, thereby visually enhancing the transparency of the jade.

Inlaid backing and water adjustment: Metal backing is often helpful in gathering light and reflecting it onto jadeite, thereby enhancing the gloss of the jadeite surface and making the jadeite look more lustrous and transparent. This method is simple, but more superficial and deceptive. Once the jade backing is removed, the water adjustment effect of the inlaid backing will be ineffective, but the water adjustment effect of the carved arc surface is permanent. There is a big difference between the two.

Not all jadeite of ordinary quality can be enhanced in appearance by adjusting water. If high-quality jade is made into a square shape, such as the Wu Shi Pai, it is difficult to see the luster because the right angles cannot reflect or scatter the light. The luster of jadeite can be seen through the arc created by carving water. If the jade itself does not meet the conditions for water adjustment, it will be waterless no matter how you adjust it. You will not be satisfied after wasting time and effort . Therefore, only by cleverly modifying it according to the material conditions can the water adjustment of jadeite achieve the best effect and realize the perfect combination of "natural" and "artificial".

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