“Fake” Jade

First and foremost, I do not sell “Fake” jade. I use and sell Nephrite and Jadeite and some other materials but never call any non-jade material “jade”.

“Fake” jade are all over the internet. There are so many fake jade (materials other than nephrite and jadeite being called jade), dyed jade and treated jade that it’s hard to find and figure out what is real and unprocessed jade. Under the Federal Trade Commission rules in USA a seller describing his/her product as Jade must either be jadeite jade or nephrite jade and no other material. That’s it, but there are a lot of fakes out there and the price usually shows it.

China is an interesting influence on this issue. China’s culture with jade goes so far back. The people could not tell the difference between serpentine and jade in the ancient days. Because of this, the Chinese culture uses a name “Yu” translating to jade in English but Yu refers to a lot of materials used interchangeably with jade. Most of the world has looked to China for their definition and culture about jade and there in lies a big problem with the loose definition of jade. Some people either still use this definition or translation or they use it to their advantage to deceive others into buying materials other than nephrite jade or jadeite jade.

If you are going to buy something stated as jade, it is a good idea to request as specific gravity test, especially if the cost is fairly high. I sell some fairly expensive items so if the buyer needs a certification of authenticity before purchase, I can send the item out for a spectrometer test and certification. This is the ultimate determination of a material but I am confident of my products. The test is usually around $100 US.

Thank you for listening and I encourage questions and participation.