Many newcomers encounter terms such as 'old texture', 'gel-like lustre' and 'colour that survives daylight' when shopping for jadeite. These expressions may not be immediately clear and can even cause misunderstanding. They are established terms formed through long use within the trade. Although they require some familiarity, they can describe jadeite characteristics vividly and with useful precision.
Here are some common jadeite trade terms for reference.
01
Water
Water refers to the transparency of jadeite. Within the trade, the degree of transparency is often described by whether a piece has sufficient 'water'.
Most jadeite ranges from opaque to translucent, while transparent material is extremely rare. The more transparent the jadeite, or the more sufficient its water, the higher its quality. A piece with excellent water looks as clear and luminous as a pool of water.
02
Old texture and new or tender texture
In jadeite, texture is often described through terms such as glassy, icy and glutinous. The same word may also identify a variety, such as blue-water or golden-thread jadeite. When it describes texture, 'old' and 'new' or 'tender' are used as qualifiers.
Jadeite with a fine texture, high transparency and small grains is usually described as having old texture.
Jadeite with obvious granularity and a structure that is not sufficiently compact is usually described as tender or new texture.
03
Perfect
In the jadeite trade, a finished jadeite piece without fissures is described as perfect.
04
Jadeite A, B and C
Type A jadeite refers to natural jadeite that has only undergone traditional cutting, carving and polishing. These processes change its form and appearance without altering its internal structure, colour or hardness.
When low-grade natural jadeite with coarse grains, dirty colour and many impurities is soaked and bleached in strong acid, its black spots and impurities are removed. This leaves many fissures in the jadeite, which are then filled with resin or other materials to improve transparency and make the water appear very good. This process is called impregnation and is a form of filling treatment. Such jadeite is known as Type B.
Dyed jadeite is known as Type C. In most cases, dyed jadeite has also been impregnated; this is known as Type B+C.
05
Fluorescent glow
Fluorescent glow, also called light glow, is an optical phenomenon in jadeite. When light strikes a curved jadeite surface, the complex mineral composition creates diffuse reflection in different directions. These diffusely reflected rays refract among the orderly jadeite mineral grains, producing a hazy, soft white light that divides the piece into brighter and darker areas. This optical phenomenon is called fluorescent glow.
Jadeite showing fluorescent glow is usually high-grade material that is colourless or nearly colourless, with sufficiently fine grains and excellent transparency, such as icy or glassy jadeite. The stronger the light-and-dark contrast, the better the glow. Among jadeite of equal quality, colourless material shows a stronger glow than coloured material. This is why the phenomenon is easier to observe in white icy jadeite, while it is less obvious in icy green or icy lavender jadeite.
06
Gel-like lustre
Many jadeite enthusiasts are confused when they see a seller describe a piece as having gel-like lustre, mistakenly assuming it means inexpensive jadeite or jadeite that has been impregnated. The opposite is true: gel-like lustre is usually used to describe an optical phenomenon in high-grade jadeite.
When light strikes jadeite with a fine texture and tiny internal crystal grains arranged in a random, disordered way, scattering and diffuse reflection within the jadeite create a viscous, glue-like appearance on the surface. This is called gel-like lustre or a gel effect. As the jadeite is turned and the surface light moves, this glue-like quality appears to flow.
Unlike fluorescent glow, colour has a negligible effect on the gel-like quality of jadeite.
07
Rigid lustre
Rigid lustre, also called steel-like or bar-like lustre, refers to the sharp, clearly defined light on the surface of a curved jadeite piece. It feels as cold and keen as ice, allowing the viewer to sense a steel-like 'hardness' created by the light.
This effect appears only when jadeite has old texture, a fine and compact structure, good water, extremely high clarity, few impurities and excellent polish, with every aspect reaching a high standard. Rigid lustre can be understood simply as an advanced form of fluorescent glow, and jadeite that displays it is always expensive.
08
Icy effect
Jadeite has a highly complex mineral structure and forms under complex environments and conditions. Sometimes a piece may not reach icy transparency, yet its texture is fine and its lustre strong, giving off an icy feeling and light close to that of icy jadeite. This may be described as showing an icy effect. It often appears in high-quality glutinous-icy jadeite described in the trade by the saying 'old glutinous surpasses new icy'.
09
Dirty
When the ground colour of jadeite appears grey, or when large areas of brown or black impurities are present, the trade describes it as dirty.
10
Bright
Bright is often used to describe the vivid brightness of green jadeite. It is mainly determined by the proportions of green and black or grey in the material. A higher proportion of green makes the colour brighter; more black or grey makes it duller. The brighter the jadeite, the higher its value naturally becomes.
Bright green, also called yellowish bright green, refers to a jadeite green with a slight yellow tone.
11
Spicy
When green jadeite is intensely vivid and bright without a yellow tone, its colour appears exceptionally rich and saturated, creating a faint visual sting like chilli irritating the eyes. The trade describes this as spicy.
12
Thick-set
The thickness of jadeite has a major influence on its colour, transparency and value. Under normal circumstances, thicker jadeite has lower transparency. Conversely, a piece with substantial thickness and excellent transparency is rare and correspondingly more valuable.
Thick-set, also written with a homophonous character in popular usage, means that a jadeite piece is noticeably thicker than average. It is considered an indication of high value but has no precise standard. Of course, jadeite is not simply better the thicker it becomes. The subject and quality of the piece still matter, because excessive thickness can make the overall form appear clumsy and strange.
13
Cotton
Jadeite enthusiasts who buy frequently have probably often heard the phrase 'there is no jadeite without cotton'. It means that cotton-like features are extremely common in jadeite and may appear in material ranging from glassy to bean texture. Some cotton appears in clusters, while some forms fine strands.
This cotton consists of inclusions that entered the jadeite during its early formation. Refraction creates light-and-dark contrast around them, making them resemble white cotton. A small amount of cotton does not affect the light transmission of jadeite and is entirely normal.
14
Colour root
The green colour of jadeite is caused by chromium in its minerals and gradually fades outward from the most concentrated area. A place where the direction of the colour veins can be seen is known in the trade as a colour root, which can be understood simply as the source of the jadeite's colour. Sometimes a colour root is so concentrated that it appears dark green or ink green, looking almost black to the naked eye. At other times, colour roots are not obvious in highly transparent jadeite such as icy or glassy material.
15
Colour dies in daylight
If the lavender colour of jadeite becomes very pale in sunlight, the trade describes it as colour that dies in daylight. The reason is that after jadeite absorbs certain colours from strong light, the white reflected to the eye becomes more prominent than the lavender, making the piece look correspondingly paler. Under softer light, the lavender returns to a richer state.
Many lavender jadeite pieces show this daylight fading, and it is normal. Some lavender jadeite with a sufficiently fine texture and sufficiently rich colour fades less noticeably in sunlight and remains comparatively saturated. The trade describes this as colour that survives daylight, and naturally such material is more expensive.
