How to Identify Jade Rock: Jadeite, Nephrite and Lookalikes

A polished surface hides texture, so find any place where the material is broken, chipped or left rough: the drill hole of a bead, the back of a pendant, the underside of a carving, the sawn edge of a slab. Photograph that spot with a macro lens or a loupe held over the phone camera.

Nephrite shows a matted, fibrous or splintery surface at a break, sometimes with a faint silky sheen where bundles of fibers catch the light. Jadeite shows a granular surface like fine sugar or a broken piece of fine marble. Serpentine and soapstone look smooth or soapy at a break with no fibers and no grains; green glass shows a curved, shell-like fracture with a glassy skin.

Hold the piece in angled daylight. Nephrite has a waxy to greasy luster, as if lightly oiled, even when well polished; jadeite takes a brighter, almost glassy polish. Serpentine is waxy too, which is why it sells as new jade, but it usually looks softer and slightly cloudy. Prehnite and chrysoprase look glassy and wet; green aventurine quartz shows a glassy polish with glittering green mica flakes just under the surface.

Put a phone flashlight behind the stone and photograph the lit side. Nephrite glows with a soft, even, cloudy light and often shows dark specks or a faint fibrous grain inside. Jadeite ranges from opaque to clearly translucent, with a cellular or mottled interior. Glass lights up cleanly and shows round bubbles, swirls or flow lines; no jade contains bubbles.

A photo of the backlit stone, together with a macro of the edge, is the most useful pair you can upload.

Color alone sorts nothing; every material below comes in jade green.

These are reference photos of the materials, not finds from any location.

Natural jade color is uneven in a way that follows the stone's structure. Jadeite shows clouds, patches and veins of green that fade into white or gray; nephrite shows gentle banding, dark specks and lighter zones. Dyed material shows the opposite pattern: color concentrated in a web of cracks and grain boundaries with paler grains between. On a macro of dyed quartzite or dyed pale jadeite, the green looks like ink soaked into a network of lines.

Uniform, flawless color with no structure at all is a glass or chrysoprase warning, not a jade quality sign. Fine jadeite can be very even, but it still shows a cellular texture when backlit.

Two things experienced buyers rely on cannot be photographed. Jade feels cool and stays cool in the hand, and it feels heavier than it looks because both jades are denser than quartz, serpentine or glass. Mention them in your follow-up question, but treat them as a feel, not as evidence.

A photo screening sorts a green stone into likely jade, likely lookalike or undecided. It cannot grade jade, cannot tell natural untreated jadeite from bleached and polymer-filled jadeite, and cannot tell a well-dyed stone from a natural one. Do not scratch jewelry, use acids or apply heat; each can damage a piece and still leaves the question open.

The tests that settle it are physical. A specific gravity measurement separates nephrite, at about 2.9 to 3.1, and jadeite, at about 3.3, from serpentine, quartz and most glass, which are lighter; prehnite overlaps the low end of nephrite, which is one reason a refractometer is used as well. A refractometer reading separates jadeite from nephrite and from hydrogrossular garnet. Spectroscopy, including infrared, is how a gem lab detects polymer impregnation and dye. For any piece bought as jade at a serious price, ask for a report from a recognized gem laboratory.

Use the photo result to decide whether lab testing is worth paying for.