If you’re finding this blog post on your way down the jade rabbit hole, you’ve probably already seen the above chart. Not to toot our own horn, but it’s pretty iconic in gemology circles, as it’s widely considered to be one of the best displays of the color range for natural (untreated) gem-quality jadeite jade (also called fei cui.)
But where is the blue jade?
This color chart is not new. In fact, Mason-Kay and our retail partners have been using this chart for many, many years. Recreating it at this point would be quite difficult, as each stone represented is a photo of an actual jade stone we once had in inventory. Regardless, you may notice that this chart is incomplete.
It does not include blue jade.
There are a few reasons for this. For one, gem-quality true-blue jade in high qualities is exceptionally rare and very difficult to source in the United States. In fact, we don’t have any loose jade stones in stock that actually meet that criteria. Our current blue jade stock is all Guatemalan in origin, so it’s actually a blue-green or green-blue hue.
Secondly, back when we made this chart, we did not have any blue jade in stock at all - not even the blue-green. That’s because gem-quality blue jade from Guatemala is actually quite new to the American market, and has only been commercially significant for the past few years.
In this blog post, we’re going to show you examples of blue jadeite jade that is commercially available in the United States. This does not include ultra-fine-quality Burmese blue jade which is exceptionally rare. Product appearing to be this is often enhanced in photos and misrepresented online. Ultra-fine-quality true-blue Burmese jadeite jade can easily cost hundreds of thousands of dollars for a single stone.
This blog post also does not feature blue nephrite jade, but you can learn more about that in this video from Jewels of the Trade which covers an array of blue jades and their simulants:
Is all blue jade from Guatemala?
No. There is a range of blue jade available from Myanmar/Burma. The term blue jade isn’t well-defined, so it can encompass true-blue jades, green-blue jades, and even blue-lavender jades. All of these colors can come from both Myanmar/Burma and Guatemala, but of course, finer qualities are exceptionally rare and valuable.
Left, lavender-blue jadeite jade from Guatemala
Right, blue-green jadeite jade from Guatemala
Medium-to-dark grey-blue jadeite jade from Guatemala
Medium-to-dark grey-blue jadeite jade from Guatemala
Ice-blue jadeite jade from Guatemala
How is blue jade valued?
When it comes to blue jadeite jade, it's valued like any other color. We expand on this a little more in our blog article Jade Value by Color, but the basic gist is this: Color is evaluated based on hue, saturation, and tone. For anyone who wants to understand gemological evaluation of color more deeply, I refer you to Lotus Gemology's Richard Hughes in his presentation Describing Color in Gems.
Hue is defined as the color itself. We use the term very specifically in gemology, instead of using more general terms like “green,” we may say “yellow-green” or “blue-green.”
Subtle nuances and differences in hue can make a major difference, not only in jade pricing, but in any colored gemstone. As a rule, in gemology, the truer the hue, the higher the value. This means that all other things being equal, a vivid, pure green stone will command a higher price than a bluish-green stone, and a pure yellow will be worth more than a greenish-yellow.
Saturation refers to the intensity of the color. Ideal saturation is kind of "in the middle," meaning it has enough saturation to be vivid - but not so much that the stone turns black. (Although, black jade with translucency can command very high prices - so it's a bit nuanced.)
Tone is how light or dark a gemstone appears, which affects the amount of gray present in the color.
These principles of how we evaluate color apply to all colors of jade. So when it comes to blue jade, the most important factors are:
- Is it a true blue? Or is it a grey-blue, a green-blue, or an ice-blue? True-blue will always win.
- Is it saturated? Highly saturated blue jade commands high prices, but is extremely rare.
- Is it grey? Most of the time, blue jade has a little bit of grey to it. To be valued more highly, it needs to have less grey - or as we say in gemology - better tone.
To demonstrate how rare true-blue is, I'm showing you the above photo of what is considered to be a high-quality blue jade pi disc on the US market. It's not terribly expensive, but it's translucent and attractive. Using Photoshop, I've pulled out the two main colors and combined them in a gradient to the right of the product photo. While the disc itself looks blue in person, you can see how grey it is when you isolate the colors on a screen.
The bottom line here is: This is good Guatemalan blue jade. And yet, it's still grey.
Is that a bad thing?
No, actually! It makes "blue jade" more affordable. And frankly, male customers tend to prefer the grey tone anyways because it's a little more neutral.
Veteran jade customers understand that this principle applies across the board, regardless of the color: Truly high quality jade is just expensive. It's highly desirable and extremely rare. So the pieces that are available for under $100k aren't perfect. Maybe the blues are a little too grey, maybe the inclusions are a little too prominent, maybe the translucency isn't quite glow-y enough.
The advantage of buying blue jade is that you will typically get a higher translucency for a lower price (because of the color), and it's a very modern look for jade. As we often say about Kristina Mason's designs here at Mason-Kay, this is "not your grandparents' jade."
Blue jade is quite new to the market, yet it's not a fad.
It's modern, it's desirable. It's gender-neutral, and in translucent qualities - it's extremely durable.
This brings me to my next point...
The Durability of (translucent!!!) Guatemalan Jade
The above photo features one continuous chain, hand-carved from Guatemalan blue-green jadeite jade. Jordan explains this piece in more depth in her Instagram video.
Measuring 34" in length and having no clasp, this type of work can not be done with a CNC machine - but rather, has to be done by hand.
This is a video of our chain being made by one of our carvers in China.
When this chain was manufactured for us, the factory told us something very interesting: They've actually stopped making this type of chain in Burmese jade, because the affordable qualities of Burmese jade were not quite durable enough to survive the carving the process. However, Guatemalan jade (when translucent) is exceptionally tough, even in more affordable qualities, which is why our factory only likes to carve these chains in Guatemalan jade.
If you'd like to learn more about blue jade from Guatemala, check out these videos:
