It is common to see different kinds of jade jewelry either in jewelry stores, jade shops, or even in some grocery stores, but there are significant price differences between those products. If you are not a jade connoisseur or collector, as a consumer, you usually do not know how to identify the quality and authenticity of a jade. The owner of ‘Huan Kee Jade Shop’, Mr. Pang Huan, who has worked in the jade industry for more than 30 years, picked up a piece of raw stone and told the story of how a jade jewelry was made.
Huan Kee specializes in selling jadeite, a kind of jade. Not only in green, but jadeite can also come in a wide range of attractive colors, such as white, black, yellow, purple, blue, pink, etc. The supply of jadeite in the world is mainly produced from Myanmar. Mr. Pang has been to Myanmar and Yunnan border to source for the jadeite stones in person in the past. He explained that buyers can only rely on their experience as well as luck in order to pick the best stones. A good piece of raw stone worth a lot of money, some are priced at 10,000 euros, or even 100,000 euros or more. Therefore, it is important to make use of every corner of the stone to create different sizes and styles of ornaments. With fine craftsmanship, it will become fascinating, exquisite and vivid jade jewelry.
To choose good jadeite jewelry, consumers may usually make a selection based on the color, but according to Mr. Pang, experienced sellers will look at the transparency (水頭) instead. The better the transparency of jadeite, the better the quality it is. The color of good jadeite is watery and looks crystal clear. However, there are always unscrupulous sellers who sell counterfeit by dying color onto the jadeite to deceive consumers. Same as doing business, Mr. Pang insists being conscientious and honest, and he thinks it is wrong to use fakes to confuse the truth. He believes a long-term business can only be maintained by building a good reputation.