Hi Titi, 

Becoming proficient in buying, appraisal/authentication of jade takes many years of trial and error. It requires hands on experience and cannot be learnt by books alone. It is nothing like porcelain or bronze collecting. 

Jade is split between two types of material. 

1. Jadeite jade. Texture of interlocking granular structure. Surface appearance that of a vitreous-greasy lustre. Grainy or dimpled surface, similar to the surface of the moon under view with loupe. Very often dyed/treated. Mohs hardness 6.5-7. Comes in a variety of colours. The most valuable being imperial jade. 

2. Nephrite jade. Texture of interwoven fibrous structure. Surface appearance that of a greasy, oily vitreous lustre. Not same as jadeite surface. More smooth and oily. Splinter possible granular. Sometimes dyed and may have black inclusion. Mohs hardness 6-6.5. Comes in a variety of colours the most sought after being mutton fat. 

Although there are numerous different types of synthetic/fake/other types of jades simulates. One would normally come across two main offenders. That being serpentine and bowenit, both being from the same family of stones. 

Serpentine may have the appearance of being somewhat fibrous. Surface being greasy (like nephrite) pearly, resinous and or waxy. Surface appearance that of splintery to conchoidal. May have black inclusions. Often dyed/other. Mohs hardness 2-4.5. So a very soft stone! 

Bowenit similar to serpentine but often appears as very celedon in colour and highly translucent in areas. Often has black inclusions and very often has the presence of blotchy white inclusion or cloudy appearance not seen on genuine stones. Mohs hardness 5-6. Often sold as genuine celedon jade because of its hardness and translucency. Note this is a hard stone, similar to jade. 

As both nephrite jade and jadeite jade are both hard stones therefore they are difficult to scratch. However with experience one can with a steel pen knife (not a nail or hardened steel) be able to make a small scratch on the surfaces of said stones. If the mark is a white line then the material is defined as serpentine and 100% not jade. If the mark is a darker colour then in probability it is real and will require further attention. 

You will need to visit museums to view jades on show and also as a must visit high end auctions like sotheby's where you will be able to handle jades etc. Very important that you handle as many as you can. Looking at pictures in books will help you, but not in being able to pick up a stone and examine it in order to. determine what it is or isn't. 

You will need a 10x loupe, UV black light, Chelsea filter, Mohs hardness set and or pen knife and of course a strong pen light amongst other tools of the trade. These are essential tools if you are in say a market environment etc. I have these and, yes a needle and lighter (for cinnabar detection) in my doctor's bag. 

A good starting book is 'Jade by Roger Keverne'. For more advanced material is a book by Jessica Rawson titled jades from Neolithic to Qing Dynasty. This book is used by museums, major auction houses, scholars, dealers and others. I have both. The later dedicated by the author to me. There are of course numerous books that you may wish to view via a library etc. 

I am not sure but since you reside in France there maybe some type of jade lovers club or similar that you can join. You really need a friend who knows and understands the material and market so that he can show you the ropes etc. 

Having or doing a course run by a gemologist club or other would be beneficial to you in order to understand the make up of the material. I think there may be some that deal exclusively with said stones rather than doing a full course involving diamonds, rubies and other precious stones etc. 

Buying and collecting nephrite and jadeite jade can be very exciting journey. However without the basics in understanding the materials, carving styles through the dynasties and tooling both archaic and modern you will be doomed to failures and expensive losses. Even seasoned collectors make serious mistakes! 

It is my estimate that at least 90% of all jades on offer whether jadeite jade or nephrite jade are either outright fakes or have been treated in some way. Like dyes, acid, heating and other.

A good website to visit is run by Sam Bernstein an acknowledged expert in the field who knowledge is, in my opinion second to none. On top of that he is really nice approachable person. He has a retail outlet in San Francisco. He is also an author of numerous books and related articles etc. 

If one is say in a market place or other and sees a seller with what looks like a lot of jades/other for sale then I can tell you 100% fake or treated. If the price is too cheap. Then it's probably fake or treated etc. 

There are of course a lot of you-tube videos that you can visit/see. Sadly most are vague and non-commital either way that offer very little in advice. 

You don't need to have a lighter or needle. Resin is plastic and the heft weight is very different. Once you grasp the basics you will understand what I am writing about. 

Hope this short introduction helps you a little bit. It is inconceivable to be able to explain the whole process to you in a short blog. It will take many such blogs just to get your foot in the door, so to speak. Like I mentioned at the start. Collecting jade is nothing like collecting porcelain, bronzes or other. It's a world all in its own. 

Mark 

Hi Titi - 

Not my area at all, but Mark has provided you with some really detailed and excellent advice!!🙂...

Stuart

Hi Mark,

sorry to chime in like this but it is a great opportunity to ask you about this souvenir ball with seven layers that I bought 20 years ago in Beijing. Everything green is sold as jade but of course it isn’t. Any idea what stone this is made of?

Hi Birgit 

Your devils balls are made from serpentine (common stone used to simulate jade) in my opinion. Because of the intricate detail required to produce these, a softer stone like serpentine would have been used. I can just visually see remanents of white underneath indicating said stone from your picture.  To make this from jade would in my opinion have been close to impossible given the hardness of the stone, jade. 

I have seen these before in ivory with 7-15 revolving inner balls. The more inner balls the better. Normally, I have seen these with elaborate stands, especially the older ones. 

Mark 

Thanks for the amazing information, Mark.  Thanks too, to Titi for asking!

Thanks a lot for your help, Mark! If I remember correctly it also had a small stand but I left it at the seller because I thought the ball looked better without. 

Thank you Mark for your advices. On your minds, do auction houses sell a lot of fake as real JADE ?? 

Titi

Hi Titi, 

I am only referring to treated jadeite jade aand nephrite jade (to a lesser degree) that has been enhanced by various means to disguise/enhance natural flaws, cracks, colour enhanced/other along with various other techniques to trick buyers into believing a stone is a genuine example. 

I will if I get a chance in the near future provide an introduction article on the various dyes, enhance techniques along with ways to combat this.

Mark 

@Titi

In short the answer is yes they do. In particular the lower end auction houses who claim ignorance flood their auctions with no only jades but porcelain and other. 

When you post 'fake jade' could mean two different things.

1. Fake jade such as known simulates bowenite/serpentine etc. Decorative value only. 

2. Genuine jade, probably treated to enhance colour. Made to imitate older jades. Value minimal.

Genuine untreated jade objects made by today's masters/schools whose works are a tribute to known works. Value depends on said master known works, size, shape, colour and marketability. Prices achieved can be high. 

There are a number of known auction houses whose dubious behavior are outright deplorable. 

They hold numerous auctions throughout the year displaying high-end wares at ridiculously low prices. All fakes!

In recent times such deplorables are even attaching fake receipts and or provenance. Two such houses are Eden auctions and Lauren auctions. Both located in the same state (southern USA from memory). I believe the former has an upcoming auction early next month with reference to some Chinese General. Please note said auction house not to be confused or associated with another by a similar name in NY (from memory) who do not deal in knock-offs. 

If one was to view auctions as either a source to buy or for educational purposes then I would suggest that you only concentrate on well-known established houses. You can from time to time pick up really good buys from them. 

I would also add that some of these modern jade knock-offs are really getting very good. I see them all the time. 

Another area of interest to me is in the Republic period porcelain. In particular members of the 'eight friends of zushan'. These master produced some outstanding pieces during the first half of the 20th century. Today copies are being produced that are of or even better than these masters and hence flooding the auction market. Due to the high quality of these attributes at a relatively low price are in my opinion effecting the market price of these known masters works etc. However the fakers often make errors with either the style of calligraphy and or the finer detail associated with each of the masters etc. 

These include:

° Xu Zhongnan (1872-1953)

° Deng Bishan (1874-1930)

° Wang Qi (1884-1937)

° Wang Dafan (1888-1961)

° He Xuren (1882-1940)

Mark 

Hello, Titi

Mark has given some good tips here but when at flea markets or antique stores if you 

want to know if resin or plastic pick it up plastic or resin will warm up to your body temperature 

fast stone will take awhile this will not tell you if it Jade but it get you past resin and plastic 

pieces then look for scratches or chips this will help to show if’s it a softer stone as Mark

pointed out to Birgit you will run across more soapstone pieces than jade pieces. Good luck 

to you John

Hello, Mark

Maybes our can help me with this piece it has a hardness over 6 it leaves a gray mark 

that wipes off from pin knife if found one on a bronze pedestal it is not glass. Your thoughts 

are always a nice to have,John

Hi John, 

Difficult to determine by way of your pictures. 

I do not believe it is jade. In the first picture at 2 o'clock there appears to be a pit hole/other. Is this correct?

If what you state is correct in your post then based on what I can observe and information therein I would suggest bowenite. The hardness and colour (olive green) suggest this. 

Mark 

Thanks Mark 

it way to hard for brownite I was thinking some kind of man made meteral but not for sure 

thank you for looking John

Hi John if I could take a book I would take away all the punctuation and then I would give it to you to read so in the end I would ask you what you understand it would be an interesting test don't you think is it so tiring to use punctuation marks I think you should realize that in addition to the fact that it is not correct to do it for readers who are native English speakers it is not even more so for non-native users Giovanni😊