Myanmar jadeite jade prices

Myanmar jadeite jade prices

All prices in Myanmar Burma had a steep climb in recent years not only jade. E.g most hotels even tripled their prices. But the Myanmar's have one advantage which cant be beaten and that is they are the only reasonable source of jadeite worldwide. 

There is only a minor production of jadeite in Guatemala so what they do is twofold first using their monopole situation pushing prices up and try to make up for the lost years they have been pushed into poverty by the old and new colonial master (UK and US) the military regime in the country was mainly a result of the attempts of the neocolonialists to destabilize Myanmar so they asked the Russians for help which is rather normal.

Myanmar Burma jade prices

But it needs to keep a few things with the stones in mind. All material which comes from Myanmar is jadeite and all other is nephrite which actually known as "Chinese Jade" and that mineral is imported mainly from Canada (BC) and Australia to China which is the largest market. Nephrite is the low price and jadeite is the high end.

This leads to the question where is jade mined which is answered further below because there is various stone material on the globe which is sold under the name of jade and has different properties and colors. 

Actually, the original jade mines "old China" usually refers to have been in Turkestan but are exhausted now even high prices wont get raw jade from there anymore. They currently substitute "China Jade" which is nephrite almost totally from Canadian (BC) and Australian stones.

They also have a beautiful green stone from Afghanistan and Malaysia and even in Switzerland, they had a "Jadeland" long time ago. Since all this is quite an opaque situation people can make a lot of money since all run under the name jade in the shop and unless someone is not a specialist they just don't know, more is further below.

Burmese jadeite jade for sale

Chinese people are constantly finding new ways to manipulate jade stones .and jewelry for sale by bleaching  "bathing" and heating them. With the right tricks, it is possible to make a jade bangle which is maybe bought in the Bogyoke Jade Market in Yangon Myanmar for about $ 10,-  a high-end jewelry which can be sold over $ 500,-.  Here is more about jade bangles and other jewelry.

Variants of jade available mean colors shapes, sizes, and carvings which are often a Buddha figurine dragon and other image relief. The items shown here are all made from jadeite no nephrite and they clearly indicated the variety of colors available. This is also stylish fashion decorations since they fit any color trend. When the style and color nicely fit the material it is placed into everything comes together fine and looks quite elegant

Myanmar (Burma) Jadeite Jade Stones are the top quality spectrum today and naturally get the highest prices in particular when they are translucent. It can be purchased as raw mineral, jewelry, ornaments, and sculptures. To start this chain the green stones are mined in Kachin state Myanmar, boulders extracted from dikes until now are up to around 10 to 20 meters length and around 8 meters to 5 meters thick. The rock indicated here was around 10 m to 20 m below the surface with an approximate weight of over 3000 tons.

 




The properties are a blend of green and white veins, but the everyday extractions are usually not as big. After taking them out from the underground the raw pieces will be sorted and evaluated. There are three categories, imperial jade grade A (pictured below), which is the top quality mineral, high price jewelry is made from.

The next quality is commercial, normally used for sculpturing and low priced novelties, the last is so called utility material which is used for cheaper products.

Some very beautiful jade and silver bangles are available, the idea is to let the silver reflect the light back into the stones to make it shinier.

All kind of related items and jewelry are also available.
Beautiful translucent bangles in all kind of colors,  deep green, and white rings, sculptures depicting mythological figures, and marvelous Buddha Statues.

Some elephant of different sizes plus plenty of information on the country products is available.

Products on display are overwhelming, besides of carved dragons it’s easy to find ideal gifts. This material is often called Chinese jade, but today most come from Myanmar (Burma) and Canada. For jewelry and wholesale items such as beads, bracelets, ornaments of carved sculptures this is the ideal place to go shopping.
Both minerals are used for jewelry, ornaments, (ancient) weapons and sculpturing since thousands of years. Over a long period of time people thought an oriental jade mine is only in China, which was wrong because actually most came from the Turkestan Region. Today the high-end material is Myanmar (Burmese) jadeite and the other come from different places of the globe among other Canada and Australia because the Chinese mines already go exhausted. Minor mines are also in Thailand, New Zealand, Australia and Russia.

Today, these superstitions are of course losing ground, and yet the mineral is still in increasing demand not only by them but also by people the world over.
A long time ago it was manufactured into daggers, axes, spearheads, arrowheads, and everyday items found at excavations in ancient tombs. Since those have been from the Shang, Chou and Han period it’s a good evidence for a historical long time-frame.

The country is very deeply connected to the green stones and brisk trading business was done with Burma for hundreds of years over the southern border behind Yunnan.



In 1857 when King Mindon of Burma moved the capital from Amarapura to Mandalay Chinese merchants also moved and started a cutting and carving cottage industry.

The Kuala Lumpur Jade Museum is a perfect place to see some beautiful Chinese jade without visiting the country, here is an old #JadeBattleAxe". They have marvelous jewelry, sculptures, furniture and other items on display and sale. That is a place which is worth to explore when on a trip to KL, read more.

In 1861 a merchant from Canton visited the city and bought all jadeite stones and items available in town to take them back with him. He sold them all after arrival and became instantly a very rich man. The news spread and people from Yunnan came down and applied for a royal permit to mine for the green stones.

About fascinating Myanmar (Burmese) Jade, when it started there was a rush in Mogaung, upper Burma, many of the would-be miners died of malaria, or were looted and killed by gangsters at the trade route. Nephrite jewelry and sculptures are widely available and often carry a moderate price tag. When buying higher priced items insist on a spectroscopy test in a lab since plenty of dirty business is going on.

Today nephrite is mostly imported to China from BC Canada similar to jadeite which comes from Burma and becomes usually "Chinese Jade" once it's over the border.

Between the two countries brisk business is done with the gemstones, also the top artists to handle it are across the border somewhere between Yunnan and the Beijing there are many factories because that's also the biggest market for the green stone. As a matter of fact, most people don't know about the two variants.

Common colors are green, white, red, purple, lavender and yellow, this is also most popular, emerald or imperial has the highest commercial value. It fetches top prices with rich color, good brightness and a high level of translucency. This is defined as translucent, opaque, emerald green and as indicated the most transparent, the higher the value. Here is "Chinese Jade" carving.

Texture refers to the structure since it is a composition of various minerals, it has a mostly fibrous and granular structure. If there are spots, cracks etc. the value tumbles. If the grain size is small and showing a good opaque structure prices are high, actually there is no limit at the top. According to the particle size of the mineral, it can be divided into the dense texture with fine grade and medium and coarse grain size. Considering all this parameter it is visible how difficult evaluation is. This parameter is for both type of the stone, the main difference is jadeite has better much better colors, textures and is harder.

A typical jadeite mining area in Myanmar is Hpakant in northwest Myitkyina District of Kachin State, that's about one thousand kilometers north of Yangon.

Want to do some shopping for jewelry and sculpture probably the best is to travel to Yangon and have a look in the shops at the Bogyoke Market, this is the biggest jadeite market on earth and they have real genuine stuff just see the pictures.
Available are stone and rocks fresh from the mines. If you like blue, Myanmar (Burma) is the wrong address, almost all blue jade comes from Latin America such as Honduras and the countries around.

On the other side, several bigger local companies are using the situation to have people who are living there since centuries evicted by the military pretending security reasons. This actions naturally sparks violent reaction since the locals won't give away their land although most have no papers for it which are natural. In this area, land papers were never issued but if someone lives on a plot of land for a long time it becomes his.

Myanmar (Burma) Jade Stones are the top quality spectrum today and naturally get the highest prices in particular when they are translucent. It can be purchased as raw mineral, jewelry, ornaments, and sculptures. To start this chain the green stones are mined in Kachin state Myanmar, boulders extracted from dikes until now are up to around 10 to 20 meters length and around 8 meters to 5 meters thick. The rock indicated here was around 10 m to 20 m below the surface with an approximate weight of over 3000 tons.

The properties are a blend of green and white veins, but the everyday extractions are usually not as big. After taking them out from the underground the raw pieces will be sorted and evaluated. There are three categories, imperial jade grade A (pictured below), which is the top quality mineral, high price jewelry is made from.

The next quality is commercial, normally used for sculpturing and low priced novelties, the last is so called utility material which is used for cheaper products.
Some very beautiful jade and silver bangles are available, the idea is to let the silver reflect the light back into the stones to make it shinier.
All kind of related items and jewelry is also available.
Beautiful translucent bangles in all kind of colors,  deep green, and white rings, sculptures depicting mythological figures, and marvelous Buddha Statues.