Is waxed jade fake? What is optimized jade?

The concept of A-grade jade refers to natural, untreated jade, so here comes the question. Can optimized jade be considered A-grade jade?

The answer is yes, optimized jade is also A-grade jade.

Jewelry optimization refers to various methods that are widely accepted by people to bring out the potential beauty of jewelry and jade. It is also recognized in gemology. The main methods for optimizing jadeite include waxing, heat treatment, etc.

Optimize Jade

A classification of the state of jade after processing. It refers to wax dipping and heat treatment without any filling, in order to improve the luster of jade and show the potential beauty of jade.

Waxing jadeite

Waxing treatment is quite common, firstly to protect jade, and secondly to cover up cracks and increase transparency.

Jadeite that has been waxed generally has very obvious external characteristics, with a distinct waxy luster, and wax traces may also be found.

It can be identified through some special methods: soaking in hydrochloric acid, the wax will be dissolved and cracks will appear; heating on an alcohol lamp can dissolve the wax; infrared spectroscopy can show obvious organic absorption peaks; those immersed in oil will show yellow fluorescence, and those immersed in wax will show blue-white fluorescence.

Heat treated jadeite

Heating and applying heat promotes oxidation, causing yellow, brown, and tan jade to lose water and turn into bright red, revealing the potential beauty of jade. The heat treatment process is: material selection (yellow, brown, brown) → cleaning → heating → cooling.

Why can these red jadeites magically change color through burning? This is because the heat treatment method can cause the substances in the jade to undergo an oxidation reaction under high temperature, generating iron oxide which results in a red color. Therefore, it appears much brighter than the previous brownish color, and is commonly known as burnt red jade.

From a professional perspective, most domestic professional appraisal agencies believe that this is just a form of jade optimization treatment and is no different from A-grade jade.

The most significant difference of this kind of jade is that natural red jade is more transparent, while the heat-treated red jade is drier.

Optimization is like makeup, it is the icing on the cake and the finishing touch, but the essence remains unchanged.

In other words, jadeite that has been optimized by the above two methods can still be identified as natural A-grade jade and can be issued an A-grade certificate.

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