How to tell if jade is real

Quick checks for real jade

• Weight: jade feels heavier than it looks, more so than glass, serpentine or plastic of the same size.
• Temperature: it feels cool at first and stays cool in your hand.
• Texture: a dense, fine grain without bubbles, glitter or a plastic shine.
• Light: color seems to glow from inside, and thin edges let light through.
• Hardness: a steel blade does not scratch it.
• Price: a large, vivid green piece that costs a few dollars is almost never jade.

What counts as jade: jadeite and nephrite

GIA treats "jade" as a general term for nephrite, jadeite and, in some cases, green omphacite. Gemologists describe them as tough metamorphic rocks made of tiny interlocking crystals. That structure is why jade resists chipping and why old tools and carvings survive.

Jadeite is the rarer and usually more expensive of the two. It runs from white and lavender to vivid green. Nephrite is more muted, from cream and gray to dark green, and it is the material behind much of the jade in carvings, beads and New Zealand greenstone. Telling the two apart by eye is hard, and for most buying decisions you only need to know that both are real jade.

1. Feel the weight and temperature

Pick the piece up before you do anything else. Jade is dense, so a bangle or pendant feels heavier than you expect from its size. Glass is lighter, serpentine is lighter, and resin and plastic feel almost weightless by comparison. If you have a similar-sized piece of known glass, hold one in each hand.

Jade also feels cool when it touches your skin and warms slowly. Plastic feels warm almost at once. Glass and many stones feel cool as well, so this check only rules out plastic and resin. Weight does more of the work.

2. Look at the color and the texture

Real jade is rarely one flat, perfect shade. Jadeite often has patches, veins or cloudy zones where the green fades into white or gray, and nephrite is usually even but muted. GIA notes that jadeite's coloration is often unevenly distributed, which carvers use on purpose.

Look closely at the surface. Fine jade has a smooth, dense, slightly oily look, with no visible crystals. Aventurine shows tiny glittering flecks. Glass has a hard, uniform shine and sometimes tiny round bubbles. A very bright, uniform green that looks like candy deserves a second look, since dye is common.

3. Hold it up to the light

Take the piece to a bright window or shine a phone flashlight through a thin edge. Good jadeite is translucent, so light enters below the surface and the stone seems to glow. GIA describes the best jadeite as semitransparent, and says the scattering of light inside it is one of its distinctive traits.

A cloudy, flat-looking piece does not mean fake, because plenty of genuine jade is opaque. What you want to rule out is a see-through, glassy look with round bubbles or swirl lines, which points to glass. A dull, chalky layer on the surface points to coated or painted stone.

4. Try a careful hardness check

Jade is hard and very tough. Jadeite rates 6.5 to 7 on the Mohs scale and nephrite 6 to 6.5, while a steel knife is around 5.5 and window glass about the same. A steel blade should not leave a lasting scratch on real jade, although it can leave a gray metal smear that wipes off. Serpentine, soapstone and green-dyed calcite are much softer and do scratch.

Do this only on a hidden spot, such as the inside edge of a bangle or the back of a bead, and never on a polished face or on a piece you plan to sell. Many people skip it entirely. If you want a non-destructive way, rely on weight, translucency and the sound check.

5. Listen to the sound

Hold a bangle by a thread or between two fingers and tap it gently with a coin or against another bangle. GIA notes that nephrite rings musically when struck, and the Chinese court once had jade wind chimes tuned to specific notes. Plastic gives a dull click, and a cracked or heavily filled piece sounds flat.

Treat the sound as supporting evidence. Some glass also rings, and tapping risks chipping a thin or carved piece, so be gentle.

6. Check the price and the seller's wording

Fine jadeite is expensive. GIA says its value rises with intense green color, semitransparency and fine texture, and that top imperial jadeite is among the most valuable gems in the market. A large, vivid, translucent bangle for a few dollars is not jade.

Read the label carefully. Names such as "Mexican jade", "Indian jade", "Korean jade" or "Honan jade" are misnomers for other materials, according to Geology.com. "Serpentine jade" is serpentine. The US FTC Jewelry Guides treat misleading varietal names as deceptive. If a seller can only say "jade stone" and cannot name jadeite or nephrite, that is worth noticing.

7. Know when you need a lab

Home checks sort obvious fakes from plausible jade. They cannot detect bleaching or polymer filling, and they cannot reliably separate jadeite from nephrite or from close look-alikes such as vesuvianite. Geology.com says Type B treatment is difficult to detect and often requires gemological testing.

For any piece where the price matters, ask for a report from a recognized gem lab. The cost is small compared with the price of fine jadeite, and the report tells you jadeite or nephrite and whether treatments were found.

Stones that look like jade

Several natural materials have a color and shine close to jade. Many are attractive stones in their own right and are sold honestly. The problem starts when they are sold as jade. Hardness values below are typical ranges.

Type A, Type B and Type C jade

Even real jadeite can be treated, and the trade uses a three-letter system to describe it. According to Geology.com, it applies to jadeite specifically.

• Type A: natural jadeite, at most waxed for a smoother finish. This is the traditional, accepted finish.
• Type B: bleached in acid to remove staining, then impregnated with wax or polymer resin. It looks good at first, but it can turn brittle or discolor over the years.
• Type C: all of the Type B steps plus dye to a stronger color. The dye can fade with heat and light.

Why a B or C label matters when you buy

Treated jadeite is not worthless, but it is priced far below an untreated piece of the same appearance, so the label drives the price. Geology.com says sellers often skip disclosure because Type B is hard to detect and Type C sells for a small fraction of a similar Type B piece. Type C pieces are best treated as something to enjoy for a few years.

Ask for the type in writing, and for a lab report on anything expensive. A seller who is confident in the stone will not mind.

Checking jade jewelry and carvings

You cannot scratch-test a set stone, so rely on what you can see and feel. Check the weight against a similar piece, look through the stone toward a light, and read the setting and hallmark. Bangles are a special case, because a genuine bangle is cut from a single piece, so it should have no seam or glue line. A bangle with a visible join is made from something else.

Carved pieces should look the same on the inside of the carving as on the outside. A carving that is dull in the recesses and shiny on top may have been coated. Beads on a necklace should all match in weight and feel, since one real bead is sometimes mixed with imitations.

How to care for jade

Jade is tough, but it can still chip from a hard knock or crack from a sudden temperature change.

• Clean it with lukewarm water, mild soap and a soft cloth, then dry it.
• Keep treated Type B or C pieces away from strong chemicals, steam, ultrasonic cleaners and long periods in hot sun.
• Store it apart from harder stones such as sapphire, ruby, quartz and topaz, which can scratch it, and from other bangles that could knock against it.
• Avoid hot oils and perfume on porous or waxed pieces, since they can dull the finish.

Check your stone with a photo

Upload a clear photo of your piece to the free crystal identifier to see what it most likely is and which look-alikes to rule out. For the checks that apply to every stone, read how to tell if a crystal is real, and see how to identify crystals for a comparison table of common stones. The amethyst guide applies the same scratch and light checks to another popular stone.

Frequently asked questions