Fine-Quality Jadeite Jewelry
At this year’s Pueblo Gem and Mineral Show, the authors met Frank Lau from Frank Lau Jewelry. What caught the authors’ attention was the collection of fine-quality jadeite jewelry, which is predominantly found in the mainland China market but not in Tucson.
Mr. Lau’s booth offered a wide variety of jadeite including green, colorless, lavender, and red ranging in quality from medium to fine (figure 1). The jadeites are polished and carved in Guangzhou, China, while the jewelry is manufactured either in China or Seattle, where the store is located. Clients of the jadeite jewelry include both Chinese and Americans, with many repeat customers.
While all of the jadeites are natural, Mr. Lau informed the authors that the reddish brown pendant is heated (figure 1). Reddish brown jadeite is extremely rare. This color is produced from a very thin layer of jadeite boulder (figure 2) leaving little material to make pieces of reasonable sizes. A good amount of reddish jadeite on the market is heated in air to oxidize the Fe-containing minerals to make the stone look red. This treatment is extremely hard to identify.
The colorless jadeite pieces, also called “ice jade,” are of very fine quality. This variety is popular with younger consumers. The exceptionally fine texture and relatively high transparency make it an alternative to the top-quality imperial green stones. When inclusions are present in the colorless jadeite, sellers describe them as “snowflakes” to attract buyers of different tastes (figure 3).
Mr. Lau sources his rough materials from Myanmar, though the skyrocketing price of rough makes this business increasingly difficult. He looks forward to the availability of more consumer-oriented jadeite education so Western consumers can better appreciate this gem.
