Help figuring out authentic jade?

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Yesterday, my uncle took me to a jewelry store in Vietnam as a gift. I’ve always wanted to own a jade bangle, so he bought me one. When he asked the shopkeeper if it was real jade, the shopkeeper honestly replied that he wasn’t sure but believed it was most likely fake, stating that it is nearly impossible to find authentic jade in Vietnam. Despite this, we decided to purchase it because I still liked it. The jade bangle was priced at about $30, but since my uncle knows the shopkeeper, we were able to buy it for $12.
I felt a bit disappointed when the shopkeeper suggested it could be fake, so when we got home, I conducted a few tests. I tried the fingernail test, and the surface felt smooth against my nail. The bangle is quite heavy, and when I scratched it with a knife, there were no marks left. My grandma mentioned that if you tie a strand of hair to the bangle and burn it with a lighter, it might help determine whether it’s real or fake. We tried that, but the hair didn’t burn away; it remained intact. Additionally, I noticed that the bangle takes a while to cool down after being held.
I haven’t tried the sound test yet, but I’ve heard it works well with a jade stick. Unfortunately, I can’t take pictures of the bangle right now because I forgot to pack my adapter, but I can provide a reference picture of what it looks like: http://www.mychinaskymall.com/Jades/JBG%%E2%80%A6 (it resembles that). I understand it’s challenging to determine if my bangle is real or not based on this brief description and a reference picture. However, I’m curious if it could be a really good copy or possibly a type B jade, especially since the jade is semi-translucent.

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

Note: the link for the picture doesn&rsquo;t work&hellip;It sounds like your object is definitely real stone of some sort, or possibly glass.  If the material was really soft, really light, and/or burned or melted in a flame, this would indicate a plastic fake.  The hair test measures thermal conductivity; plastic is not as good at conducting heat away from the hair as stones are, so the hair would burn with plastic.There are a lot of green stones that may resemble jade.  Firstly, there are two types of jade: jadeite and nephrite.  Both are minerals formed in metamorphic environments.  Nephrite is more common, but both are usually considered real jade.  Both are very hard (Mohs hardness 6-7) and will resist scratching by a knife.Other green stones sometimes sold as jade include serpentine group minerals like antigorite, and green varieties of quartz (chrysoprase or aventurine), and occasionally green glass.However, serpentine minerals tend to be softer than steel, so these can be ruled out for your piece.  Bubbles in the piece would strongly suggest glass.  Glass is about the same hardness as steel.  A broken surface would have a smooth, shiny, circular fracture, whereas most other minerals (like jade and quartz) would be somewhat more grainy when broken (this is because glass is amorphous whereas minerals are crystalline).  Without a broken/chipped surface, it&rsquo;s hard to rule out glass, but I wouldn&rsquo;t damage the piece just to make this test.Quartz is also difficult to rule out without more complicated tests.  It is hardness 7, so it also resists scratching by a knife.In conclusion, I think that you have either real jade, or natural quartz, or glass.  A jeweler might be able to help you further.

Anonymous

Help figuring out authentic jade?

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