Jadeite’s transparency ranges from completely opaque to semitransparent. The best jadeite is semitransparent, meaning the text you can read through it would be slightly blurred. Because light penetrates below the surface, semitransparent jadeite has an alluring brilliance. It almost appears to glow, increasing the charm of a lush green or rich lavender hue. The least desirable jadeites are completely opaque or have opaque or cloudy patches that break up their transparency.
To judge transparency, some buyers place a thin jadeite slice on a printed page and try to read the print through the gem. If the transparency is excellent, the viewer can see the print easily, even if the jadeite is dark green. Good transparency can sometimes compensate for lack of uniform color or low color saturation.
Texture
Jadeite has a smooth, even texture that makes people want to touch and hold it. Jadeite’s texture can be fine, medium, or coarse, depending on variations in crystal size and hardness. These texture categories are sometimes called, respectively, old mine, relatively old mine, and new mine.
Cut
China is the world’s main polishing center for jadeite. Some jadeite from Myanmar is fashioned near its source, in cutting workshops near the open jade markets of Hpakan, Lonkin, Mogaung, and Mandalay. Many cutters there still polish jadeite the ancient way, using a hollow bamboo lathe treated with sand and water.
Manufacturers fashion jadeite into a handful of distinctive, traditional jewelry forms. Some are hololiths, carved entirely from a single piece of rough. Hololiths include bangles, rings, and pendants.
The finest-quality jadeite is usually cut into cabochons for use in rings and other jewelry. When buyers judge cabochons, they consider symmetry, proportion, and thickness. Calibration is not as important for top-quality material as it is for more commercial qualities. The finest jadeite cabochons are rarely cut to calibrated sizes because the cutter’s goal is to save rough weight.
Fine-quality jadeite might also be cut into round beads, which are carefully selected and strung into strands. Color and texture are the most important factors for matching jadeite beads. Manufacturers also match transparency, size, and symmetry of cut. Because matching is difficult, especially for color, longer strands or larger beads can sell for extremely high prices.
The jade bangle, first carved in China from nephrite, is a style thought to date back at least four thousand years. A smooth circle of bright jadeite wrapping the wrist is thought, even today, to bring peace and protection to its wearer. Jadeite bangles can be highly important pieces of jewelry.
Some bangles are hololiths. When a cutter fashions a bangle from a single piece of rough, a great deal of weight loss results. For this reason, hololith bangles cost more than bangles that consist of several pieces joined together by precious-metal hinges.
The Chinese eternity symbol, or bi, bears great spiritual significance for many jadeite connoisseurs. The shape is simple: a convex or plump disk with a round hole in its center. Ideally, the jadeite should be more than twice as wide as the hole.
Jadeite rings are often simple all-jadeite bands. The finest bands show uniform color all the way around. A variation on this is the saddle ring, a solid band with a carved rectangular-shaped top.
Size and Weight
Jadeite size is commonly expressed in millimeters. The value of cabochons, beads, and bangle bracelets rises with an increase in size, all other quality factors being equal. With top-quality imperial jadeite, slight differences in size can make large differences in value. With nephrite, larger sizes do not raise the value dramatically in most cases.
Source from GIA.edu
