Jade is a stone that has been mined in China since the Stone Age and has been a large part of Chinese culture ever since.
Since jade has been such a desired stone for so long, it has been a symbol of wealth and nobility for ages. Despite other stones taking center stage in popularity, jade has remained popular albeit overlooked in the world of rare gems, until recently that is.
According to Forbes, the price of jade had remained steadfast for years, only taking a massive jump up in price in the last two years. In fact, jade has more than doubled in price in just the last two years alone, increasing the price of jadeite jade to $3,000 an ounce on average.
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Price of Jade in Comparison
To put this in perspective, gold currently is worth $1,800 per ounce, and platinum is worth $1,015 per ounce.
Those prices have remained relatively the same for the last 10 years as the highest price for gold and platinum was around $2,000.
This begs the question of why. Why has gold, one of the most popular and versatile metals in the world of jewelry only doubled in the last ten years when jade, a stone that maintains its carved shape permanently, has more than doubled in only the last two years?
Why jade is so expensive?
The reason behind this is China’s massive industrial boom in the last 20 years. This recent influx of industry has created a large amount of newly rich that have a burning desire to prove to the world just how rich they have become.
While some people rely on designer clothes or expensive cars to show their newly elevated status, the young Chinese have also added jade to that list of status items.
This increased popularity with the newly rich Chinese has also piqued the interest of the rest of the world.
After all, once a trend among the ultra-rich catches it spreads like wildfire. Several reasons why jade is so loved is that it is an incredibly hard stone, making it very durable and easy to carve.
In fact, jade carvings have been used as a symbol of status as early as the Neolithic-era, as either a blade or an adornment by highly ranked individuals. Jade carvings can also rise in price due to the intricacy of the carvings or the history behind the object itself.
Which type of jade is more valuable?
In the world of jade, there are two types; jadeite and nephrite.
Jadeite, which comes exclusively from Burma, is widely regarded as the most valuable type of jade due to its rich color.
Nephrite typically comes from western China, and has been used by the ancient Chinese long before jadeite became popular. Therefore, most historical jade pieces are likely made from nephrite.
If you like jewelry you can take a look at the Sapphire Cost
What is the most expensive piece of jade?
Despite nephrite having such historical significance, the most expensive jade jewelry sold at auction was The Hutton-Mdivani Jadeite Necklace. Sold in auction by Sotheby’s in 2014 for $27.4 million, the Hutton-Mdivani necklace was an incredibly valuable piece of jadeite, and also had some modern history behind it.
The necklace had been bought by one of the richest men in the world to give to his American socialite daughter upon her marriage to a Jordanian Prince.
The necklace was a statement of affection between father and daughter, as well as a symbol of their status.
This necklace was created by Cartier and is incredibly important as the beads are 15mm in diameter, which is significant because jade usually cannot be shaped into beads larger than 10mm. Presently, the necklace is back in The Cartier Collection, where it belongs.
Alternatively, jade bangles also fetch a high price as it is very difficult to shape the jade in a large continuous circle. The jade used for this also must also be very strong to maintain this shape. Take a look at the top ten most expensive jadeite bangles ever to be sold at auction.
Nephirite jade cost
Now that you know how much jadeite jade is worth, let’s take a look at Nephrite.
While jadeite is worth quite a lot of money, nephrite is not exactly in the same league. Fetching anywhere from $60-1000 per pound, which at the highest is $160 per ounce, is surprisingly lower when compared to the $3,000 per ounce that even the most average jadeite fetches.
Why Nephrite jade cost less?
The reason for this is mainly due to rarity. Nephrite jade is commonly found as compared to jadeite, and jadeite is also much more likely to be translucent and can only be the vibrant imperial green color that is so desirable in jade.
Despite jadeite being much more valuable due to rarity and overall appearance, there are some cases where some nephrite pieces are more valuable.
These rare cases are usually when pieces of nephrite jade are discovered that are ancient and of historical significance.
Take a look at this piece of nephrite that was auctioned off in 2016 by Christie’s for $209,000. The reason for this piece fetching such an impressive price tag is that it is from the Qin-Han dynasty, between the 3rd and 2nd centuries B.C.
Since nephrite is commonly found in Northern China and is more durable than jadeite it is understandable that ancient pieces of jade have historical significance. Even sharpened blades from the Neolithic period are commonly made of nephrite.
Conclusion
So now that you have all the facts, are you going to add a piece of jade to your own jewelry collection? If so, what piece will you pick – a necklace, bracelet, intricate carving, or maybe even a hairpiece? You really can’t go wrong with any of these options. Your wallet will ultimately dictate the type and color of the piece you end up with. And who knows, maybe one day your piece might be sold at an auction.
