Jade Identification Guide

What Jade Looks Like

"Jade" covers two distinct minerals: jadeite (a pyroxene) and nephrite (an amphibole). Both are exceptionally tough (resistant to breaking) because of their interlocking fibrous/granular microstructure. Color ranges from white through every shade of green to lavender, yellow, and black.

• Color: green most famous; also white, lavender, yellow, orange, grey, black
• Luster: waxy to greasy (nephrite); vitreous to greasy (jadeite, can take a high polish)
• Transparency: translucent to opaque; fine jadeite can be semi-transparent
• Form: massive, dense; no visible crystals; nephrite often has a slightly fibrous, felted look

Step-by-Step Field-ID Checklist

1. Test toughness, not hardness. Jade resists chipping remarkably; edges are smooth, not crumbly. (Do not deliberately hammer specimens.)
2. Feel the luster. A waxy-to-greasy surface sheen is typical of jade.
3. Check translucency by backlighting a thin edge — genuine jade glows softly and evenly.
4. Hardness test. Jadeite is Mohs 6.5–7; nephrite 6–6.5 — both scratch glass.
5. Heft it. Jade feels dense; jadeite (SG ~3.3) is heavier than nephrite (~2.95) and far heavier than serpentine.
6. Listen — knocked gently together, true jade pieces give a clear ringing tone (a traditional but imperfect test).

Key Diagnostic Tests

• Mohs hardness: jadeite 6.5–7; nephrite 6–6.5
• Streak: white
• Fracture: splintery to granular; no good cleavage in the massive aggregate
• Specific gravity: jadeite ~3.30–3.38; nephrite ~2.90–3.03
• No acid reaction; not magnetic
• Lab confirmation: Raman/FTIR distinguishes jadeite from nephrite and detects polymer impregnation ('B-jade')

Common Look-Alikes and How to Tell Them Apart

• Serpentine ('new jade'/'Korean jade'): softer (2.5–4), scratches with a knife, lower density; the easiest impostor to expose with a hardness test.
• Dyed quartz/chalcedony: harder (7) but lacks jade's waxy felted look; dye often concentrates in cracks.
• Aventurine quartz / green glass: glass shows bubbles and a colder feel; aventurine sparkles with mica flecks.
• Hydrogrossular garnet ('Transvaal jade'): denser and often with black spots; needs lab tools to fully separate.
• Maw-sit-sit and chrysoprase: distinct mineralogy; chrysoprase is pure chalcedony (hardness 7, no fibrous structure).
• 'B' and 'C' jade: acid-bleached, polymer-filled, or dyed jadeite — look for unnatural color and resinous luster; confirm by lab.

Where Jade Is Found

Gem jadeite comes overwhelmingly from Myanmar (Kachin State), with minor sources in Guatemala and Russia. Nephrite is far more widespread: British Columbia (Canada), Siberia, New Zealand (pounamu), Wyoming, Australia, and China (historic Hetian/Khotan). Both form in metamorphic, often serpentinite-associated, settings.