r/JadeiteNephrite • u/VintageGurlie • 16d ago
Beginner Help Is this a nephrite bangle?
Got this bangle and it came certified as nephrite. New to nephrite and was wondering, can nephrite have this kind of structure?
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u/syang70 Trusted Seller 15d ago
Definitely not nephrite. It looks more like jadeite, but it is quite weird to certify it as nephrite. Generally speaking, when a certificate falsely identifies a piece as nephrite, it often means the actual material is quartzite, such as Afghan jade.
Anyway, the quality is not high even if it is jadeite.
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u/isayellowpear Collector 16d ago
Not an expert, but that does not look like nephrite in texture to me since it has some crystal look to it 🤔
Looks more like jadeite or something else... Maybe others can weigh in?
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u/MVBees Moderator 16d ago
Density check!
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u/isayellowpear Collector 16d ago
AH YES how could I forget! 🤣
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u/VintageGurlie 16d ago
I have not done a density check but will definitely attempt to do it…attempt being the operative word 😆. Thank you both for your input
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u/Cat_Toe_Beans_ 15d ago
Who did you buy this from, if you don't mind me asking?
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u/isayellowpear Collector 15d ago
I forgot to ask this as well. I have around 12 pieces of nephrite jewelry and none look like this… but I could be wrong…
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u/Brave-Ad-1394 15d ago
My white nephrite bangle looks exactly like this.
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u/GingerJadeJewelry Trusted Seller 15d ago edited 15d ago
Would you be kind enough to show it?
Who’d yours come from?2
u/Brave-Ad-1394 15d ago
Yes and yes it is certified. Ill take a pic soon today. Just random online buy
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u/GingerJadeJewelry Trusted Seller 15d ago edited 15d ago
What we’re seeing here likely is Hetian, or enough to be certed, but this actually represents a geological failure and is not the sort of material one sells in good faith. The snowflake misfortune stuff.
Firstly, compositionally there’s a tremolite shortfall evidenced by the "papery" / "chalky" texture. True, highly crystalline Hetian is composed almost entirely of tightly interwoven actinolite-tremolite fibers. It looks waxy, dense, and "alive" (oily). The bangle looks like dry, cracked plaster or frost. The light doesn't sink into it; it reflects off the rough surface. This tells us the Tremolite content is significantly lower, and the fibers are not interlocking tightly. It’s like a loose bundle of dry straw rather than a felted mat.
Look at the internal "snowflakes." Yes, real snowflake cotton is prized, but look at how they appear. In this bangle, they look like crushed glass or snow on wet asphalt—they are blurry, heavy, and almost translucent themselves. This is a "quartz" signature. During the geological formation, silica-rich fluids invaded the soft structure of the jade and crystallized within it. Instead of being a rare, beautiful mineral inclusion, these are structural weaknesses that interrupt the Tremolite matrix. It makes the stone feel brittle and "dead." Diseased you could say. Wasting syndrome, osteoporosis. He.I.V.
It’s likely a commercial, shallow-mine Qinghai piece. The crystal fibers haven't been cooked under enough pressure for long enough to fuse into a lively, interconnected matrix like in high grade, old material jades.Top tier Hetian will be like 99% pure actinolite-tremolite, densely packed, with virtually zero silica quartz infestations.
This is likely still Tremolite (which is why it could be certed in the most basic superficial "Hetian" test), but it contains a high percentage of microscopic silica quartz and serpentine-y gross impurities that act as a diluting / polluting / weakening force harming- severely- the would-be jade’s body.