Which of the following has the greatest impact on the value of jade: lines, cracks, dirt, or cotton?

Jade has rich colors and unique water quality, making it one of the most popular jade varieties today. However, some delicate, old and exquisite jade will have relatively fewer flaws when observed with the naked eye! But if you zoom in, you will see flaws! Therefore, there is no perfect jade! There are very few jades that look perfect. Most jades have some flaws to a greater or lesser extent, such as lines, cracks, dirt, cotton, etc. As the saying goes, there is no cotton in jade and no clouds in the sky. This is almost an impossible task! It’s nothing more than that some are melted cotton, some are granular cotton, and some are as unpredictable in shape as white clouds! How to identify these annoying flaws is an essential skill for every jade lover.

Next, Hai Xin will take you to a comprehensive understanding of the patterns, cracks, dirt, and cotton of jade from three aspects: the causes of formation, the degree of influence, and how to identify them.

1. Cotton

Cotton is one of the unique characteristics of jade. It is a white impurity in jade. Most of them are colorless and are also called white cotton. The cotton in jade was originally a kind of defect that affected the appearance and its value has always been low. Ever since a carving master used snowflake cotton material to make a pendant with the image of "A Man Returning Home on a Snowy Night", the unique artistic conception caused a sensation, making the snowflake cotton material quickly popular and a market darling, and the price has skyrocketed since then.

Generally speaking, the less cotton there is in jade, the higher the price will be. However, except for some Mu Na snowflake cotton which is a plus, other cotton is almost a minus.

Cotton-shaped jade

Cotton can be large or small. Large pieces of cotton will cause the internal structure of jade to become loose, thus affecting the texture of jade.

Cotton Ball

When the cotton is concentrated, it will form clumps of cotton.

Cotton

There is a kind of cotton that is very large and has no water head. It is dead cotton. The correct name is stiff. It is probably like being painted white but not smoothed. This kind of cotton is ugly and greatly affects the value, but it is still better looking than a piece of dirty black color.

Cotton thread

Cotton reinforcement and cotton thread are easily confused with stone patterns, and there is even controversy about them. My understanding is that cotton thread is the structure of cotton, and stone patterns are like multi-legged caterpillars with long rough edges. But this depends on the direction of the cotton. If it grows out abruptly, it is basically stone pattern!

cotton

Cotton wool usually appears on white ice, which is small, thread-like cotton. In fact, it is rare to see cotton wool on the white ice that has been grown now! It is not obvious and not easy to see, so sometimes it does not look icy, but the older, cleaner ones without cotton or lint are relatively more expensive, and there is a reason for their high price.

Snowflake Cotton Enlightenment Buddha

There are many Burmese jade mines that produce snowflake cotton, such as Huika, Moshisha, Mowangki, etc., but the most famous snowflake cotton comes from the Muna mine, and it even became synonymous with snowflake cotton. Snowflake cotton jade also has different quality. High-quality snowflake cotton, in addition to very good water quality, has uniform size of snowflake cotton spots, and the distance between the cotton spots should also be uniform. The areas without cotton spots should be clear and clean.

2. Dirty

It is normal for natural things to have some black spots and colors inside. Although it does not affect the structure, some dirty things are actually harder to sell than those with cracks. When buying jadeite, appearance is still the first priority.

Emerald with black spots

Three, pattern

As a product of nature, jadeite inevitably has various patterns. "Nine out of ten jades have patterns." This is a common evaluation of the patterns on jade products since ancient times. It is said that "jade without patterns is like the sky without clouds, jade with cracks, and jade with silver on its body." This shows that "patterns" are a common phenomenon for jade. Patterns are one of the most common flaws in jadeite. They refer to the healed cracks inside jadeite or the patterns that appear during the growth process of jadeite. They are in the form of fine lines and are mostly located inside the jadeite. Sometimes they appear on the surface.

4. Crack

The cracks in jadeite are deep and penetrating, which is considered a serious flaw and greatly affects the price. Generally, the cracks are sharp, but even if they are not sharp, there are internal cracks! It's just that many people sell internal cracks as patterns. Patterns have rough edges, but cracks don't. Cracks refer to cracks formed during the mining and processing process due to internal and external vibrations and impacts. They are generally deep, long, straight, and the color is different from the surrounding jade.

Crack through the buckle

Through cracks, the cracks are long and deep through the surface, and can be felt with fingernails.

Deep cracks in the epidermis

The epidermal crack is located on the surface of the jade and is very shallow. It affects the beauty of the jade but does not affect its use. In fact, many friends do not accept epidermal crack. I think epidermal crack is a milder flaw than lines! It usually appears on bracelets, and can be removed if you grind it a little finer! It is made into a perfect product, but customers are not sure about the price of thick and thin strips. Generally, the processing is to take the big one and keep the strip thick!

Cracks

Cracks are one of the biggest flaws in jade. Since jade raw stones have been hidden underground for a long time, they are inevitably affected by various natural factors such as thermal expansion and contraction of the earth's surface and crustal movement, causing cracks. I think it is cracks with impurities, which are usually congenital. Most of the cracks are internal vertical lines, visible to the naked eye, with colored (impurities) fillings in the middle, some are serious and some are minor.