Everyone says jade is good, so let's talk about the "bad" of jade today

Jade has always been loved by everyone, and owning a piece of jade jewelry is a happy thing. However, as a product of nature, jade is bound to have some flaws, like jade's cotton, cracks, stone patterns, stone flowers, and variegated colors. Although some of them have little impact on jade, and some can even add icing on the cake, some of them can greatly reduce the value of jade. Let's talk about a few of these reduction points.

cotton

Cotton is a common defect in jade, usually distributed in blocks, strips, filaments or waves. Most of them are slightly translucent. We can divide it into three types according to the reasons of its formation: cotton formed by slight crystal breakage, cotton formed by impurities between crystals, and cotton formed by debris wrapped in crystals. The cotton formed by slight crystal breakage has nothing to do with impurities. It is a visual feeling given to us by the tiny cracks, broken mineral particles and mineral cleavage planes caused by the breakage. The last two types of cotton are formed by impurities. Although cotton is a defect, it has both advantages and disadvantages for jade. If the distribution is better and very artistic, it will greatly enhance the value of jade, just like the famous Mu Na snowflake cotton.

Cracks are also a very common defect. There are probably two reasons for their formation. One is caused by geological movement, which is a natural crack. The second is cracks caused by human factors, such as the explosives and machinery used in the mining process and the bumps during transportation can all cause cracks in jade. Large cracks are easy to deal with and are relatively easy to observe. They generally only affect the size of the jade. Small cracks are more serious. Not only will they affect the quality of the jade, some jade with dense and small cracks will even completely lose its value. That’s why there is a saying in the industry that people are not afraid of big cracks but small cracks, and would rather bet on color than cracks. We also need to note that if there are obvious through cracks on the finished product, then there is no need to buy it, because it will seriously affect the durability of the jade product and its value will be greatly reduced.

Stone Pattern

The mixed colors are formed when other coloring substances are mixed into the jade when it is formed. The presence of impurities indicates that the base of the jade material is not pure enough. If the variegated color is green, then it will make the jade look more distinctive and have the effect of icing on the cake. If the impurities are black spots, black spots, khaki, gray-black, etc., it will greatly reduce the grade of the jade and affect the price of the jade, but this will not affect the quality of the jade. Many jade jewelry will have mixed colors. Everyone needs to treat it correctly and buy it according to their own situation and needs, and don’t get hung up on one thing.

Stone Flower

Stone flower is a kind of clumpy white floc in jade, which is slightly opaque or slightly transparent. According to its shape and characteristics, it can be divided into types such as stone brain, cotton and reed flower. The reasons for the formation of stone flowers are rather complicated. They may be formed due to other minerals in jade, or they may be formed after the healing of larger cracks in jade. When there are relatively few stone flowers in jade, it generally will not have much impact on the value of jade, but if there are relatively many, the value will be greatly reduced.

When we choose jade, we should not be too picky about the impurities in jade. We should not reject good jade just because of a few small impurities. Some flaws can be used well by jade carvers to turn decay into something magical, and become a valuable work.

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