I remember visiting once an office of a gas station of a far relative in a mission to pay in advance the rental of their hotel's function hall. In the corners of that little three-square-meter office stood three big jade statues of Buddha in decreasing sizes, the biggest being a half and a quarter of human high. In her table are other miniature Buddhas.
The picture above shows Mom's own display of Buddha along with other statutes, definitely from a Chinese store, that also magnetize fortune and wealth. There we can say a lot about Chinese belief-oriented family; though, with only Mom in the family. Others say Jade Buddha symbolizes universal peace.
Let us talk about jade, too. Fine jade bracelets are often sold worth thousand pesos here in my country. If you encounter those worth only a dollar, those are definitely imitation jade. Before I became a high school student, Mom once gave me a necklace with a ice-color jade pendant. I didn't like wearing necklace but that one, I excitedly received. Though I cannot remember the image carved out of that pendant, its texture is something I will not forget. Chinese people have regarded jadeite as the most precious among earthly gems. It was in the 18th century, as told by Mason Kay, when jadeite was widely available. Jade is a stone made up chemically combined jadeite and nephrits. Green became the most coveted color since then until now. They oftenly call it the "imperial jade". Regardless of which color represents value, lavender, ice, black, red, yellow, white, and gray (in decreasing order according to value after the green jade) colors holds beauty that cannot be denied. High-grade jewelries made of jade available in the markets of China are worth millions of pesos. One source says 75% of the world's jade are sourced from British Columbia. The most expensive and desirable jadeite (Burmese Jadeite, Burma Jade, Imperial Jade, or Chinese Jade) usually comes from Myanmar, formerly called Burma.
The reason why I loved the necklace Mom gave is because of the coolness of the gem. Mom remarkably told me that when a jade feels cool to touch it's probably real. And I believed it until now. I don't even care whether the pendant is swarmed with germs, I still love pressing the pendant of my necklace against my cheeks.
And now, I've looked up at Google on how to determine the genuine jade when you're shopping jade or buying an old piece of jade. Hold the jade up to a bright light. If possible, examine the internal structure with a 10X loupe. Can you see little fibrous or granular, felt-like, asbestos-like intertwinings? If so, it's probably genuine nephrite or jadeite. Chrysoprase, on the other hand, is microcrystalline, so it'll look homogeneous. This takes a trained and experienced eye. If you see anything resembling layers with the 10X loupe, you're probably looking at jadeite that's been "doubled" or even "tripled" (thin layer of gem-quality jadeite sometimes glued over a different base).
Learn to recognize deceptive practices. This refers to jadeite jewelry, not to nephrite carvings. Even if you have real jade in your hands, it can still be treated by dyeing, bleaching, use of stabilizing polymers, or creating jade doublets and triplets. Jade is divided into three categories Types A(natural and untreated) B (chemically bleached to remove impurities)and C (chrmically bleached and dyed to enhance color).
So that's the it to the it!