Edwards Black Wyoming Nephrite Bangle - 60.45mm

Inner Diameter: 60.45
Outer Diameter: 84.29 mm
Width: 13.74 x 11.84 mm
Weight: 93.5 grams

Grading Total: 9+

Grading Specifics

• Integrity: 10
• Grain/Fiber: 10
• Translucency: N/A
• Color impact: 8
• Polish: 10
• Workmanship: 10

GRADING DEFINITIONS - JADE

• Integrity: Ability to withstand impact. (Fractures, micro-fractures and brittleness)
• Grain/Fiber: Fine crystalline (Jadeite) or fine fiber (nephrite)
• Translucency: Light penetration into material from a light source
• Color impact: Expected color from material (There are different expectations from different jades from around the world and the jade source locations.)
• Polish: Ability to take a polish. Not all items are high polish but the ability to take a high polish shows a certain aspect in quality.
• Workmanship: Consistency of smoothness, edges, thickness and polish.

Grading Scale:

• 7 to 10: High         
• 4 to 6: Medium
• 1 to 3: Low

Wyoming Nephrite Jade

"Wyoming apple green nephrite jade is known across the world as some of the finest nephrite jade ever created by mother nature". I have worked jade from all over the world and have to attest to this beginning statement made by Bob Scholl that most Wyoming jade is simply underrated as most of it has the finest and most consistent grain I have worked. It's not just the Wyoming "Apple" or "Edwards black" that is of this high quality but even the lesser known quality materials are superior. Wyoming jade does come in all qualities and some is low quality but even what jade experts call a "dirty" jade that has visibly seen impurities/inclusions can still be superb quality compared to other high quality jade from around the world with little or no inclusions. Wyoming jade is simply a unique micro-fiber jade that is a jade carvers dream.

I am adding additional information on the grading of each bangle. The purpose is to help educate all buyers and give people the appropriate information to better understand their purchase, and in the case of “high-end bangles,” their investment. This grading information is my personal attempt to inform others of the qualities of the material on a particular item. There are so many false jades, modified jade and simply inferior jade being passed off to uninformed buyers. I usually only work with high quality, untreated materials, but the materials do vary in quality even within the same stone so this will point out and identify everything about each bangle. When artists work on a piece of jade (in this case, a bangle), they get to personally know everything about the bangle. Many online sellers (including ETSY), are selling bangles made by production methods (CNC or many operators doing only one part of the process at a time), which also means a seller will have no personal knowledge of the item.

** Note: Many items stated to be "Jade" on Etsy and Ebay are not. In many cases, price does not indicate this either so buying an expensive item may be a jade replica like glass. There are many other stones including agate, grossular garnet, serpentine (many forms), aventurine... being sold as jade. To make it worse and more complicated, many jadeite stones are being reconditioned and died to be very attractive so they pass general tests to be real. If you see  very clear bangles, odds are they are agate, glass or something else. If you see very bright colors of red, yellow, purple... most likely not real. I say this as many buyers are being fooled on-line by these practices.