FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

The use of jadeite has been around the world since the stone age era. Many great historical civilizations such as the Mayans and Aztecs, the Māori people of New Zealand, and various Asian empires have been mining and sculpting jade since 5000 BCE. Jadeite is a raw mineral that is regarded as one of the earliest type of rock to be considered a precious gemstone. 

In various ancient and modern day cultures, jadeite even in the raw form was considered a symbol of good luck, wealth, and purity. When a person wears a carved jade jewelry or possesses jade sculptures in their home, it reveres the person's status as a social elite. The jade buddha statue is a widely known symbol of divinity and luck.

There are many ways to identify the authenticity of your jade. The easiest way is to purchase jade jewelry from a jeweler that provides a certificate of authenticity. Real jades are always natural and never lab grown, unlike diamonds and other precious gemstones. The best quality of each category of gemstones are always certified and catalogued in the database of a gemological institution of their respective country of origin. Other more hands-on techniques, are bringing a ultraviolet light or black light to check for a bright florescent hue that the jade will radiate when shining the light on it, exactly like a natural mined versus lab grown diamond.

Finding the right size bracelet for your wrist can always be tricky for a first time buyer. For example, a solid piece jade bangle bracelet requires an accurate measurement of a person's palm, and may require the assistance of another person to put on and take off. Therefore, a tape measure is essential for checking the distance across the top of the hand, while the hand is shaped to allow the inner circumference of the bangle to pass through.

This YouTube video from Jade Heaven will guide you on selecting the right size jade bangle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0O_HjK9wJu0

The value of all precious gemstones are determined by these fundamental guidelines, even extending to jadeite. The golden standard for the most expensive and exquisite jadeite will always be Imperial Green Jade. Since jade comes in a variety of beautiful colors and mixture of colors, a chart was designed to determine the value it holds. The color and translucency of the jade is significant to the price tag it wears. The clearer and more transparent it is, the higher the value. The MOHs hardness scale provides a understanding of how durable a gemstone is, because the durability of a stone holds an inevitable relationship to the potential longevity of the jewelry, the more durable it is, the higher the price. Lastly, the craftsmanship is essential to what a buyer should pay for their jade jewelry.

The process of carving jadeite is very labor intensive and also requires specialized tools.  One master piece jade jewelry typically requires weeks to complete. Only skilled laborers who served many years as an apprentice, and mastered every aspect of jade carving is then given an opportunity to sculpt in the 31 billion U.S. dollar jadeite jewelry industry. The process begins with cutting the jadeite in it's raw form with a industrial grade circular saw and grinding it down to the approximate shape. A three dimensional Computer Assisted Designing software is used to illustrate all the details of the intended artwork. The primary characteristics are then hand drawn on to the jadeite to outline the areas for the initial sculpting. The jade is placed under a magnified lense to ensure every detail is intricately sculpted onto the stone. Finally, the semi-finished jade is put through multiple methods of wet-polishing to bring out the artwork and craftsmanship to life.