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Eight Types of Jade That Easily “Pass Off” as Jadeite
Written by/Compiled by Micro Jade – Editorial Team

By entering the keywords “travel” and “fake products” into the search bar, we can find approximately 1.07 million relevant results. Most of these results pertain to tourists who’ve purchased counterfeit jade, fake jewelry, fake jadeite, and the like. As technology continues to advance, so too do the methods used for counterfeiting—constantly evolving and becoming more sophisticated. With the increasingly refined techniques employed by counterfeiters, many people have fallen into one trap after another.

The following provides a detailed introduction to the eight common characteristics of jade imitations that are often mistaken for jadeite:

1. Water foam

On the China-Myanmar border, you often see white jade known as "ice-grade" jade, which is either transparent or semi-transparent. It frequently features blue or bluish-green patterns. In Yunnan, this type of jade is called "shuimozi stone."

▲ Water droplets

Difference from jade:

Jade exhibits “jadeite characteristics,” including color roots and distinct color transitions, whereas “shuimozi” lacks these jadeite characteristics, shows no color transitions, and often contains abundant white “stone brains” or “stone flowers.”
The refractive index of water jade is lower than that of jadeite, so its luster is relatively weaker than jadeite's.
The “shuimozi” produces a dull, muffled sound when tapped, unlike the crisp and pleasing tone of ordinary jadeite when tapped.
The hardness of watermelon jade is 5.5 to 6, and its specific gravity ranges from 2.57 to 2.64, making it lighter than jadeite.

II. Green Onyx

Green agate, whose English name is green agate, is an agate with a pale green to emerald-green color. Naturally occurring green agates are often impure, exhibiting shades of green, dark green, or brownish-green.

▲ Green Agate

Difference from jade:

? Green agate has a “thin” color, while jade has a “rich” and “deep” color;
? Green agate has a non-jade-like texture and is brittle; jade has a jade-like texture and is highly resilient.
? The fracture of green agate is semi-shiny and conchoidal.
? Green agate has a specific gravity of 2.65, making it lighter than jade.

III. Dushan Jade

Dushan jade is one of China's four famous types of jade. It is a material used for jade carving, with a hardness roughly equivalent to that of翡翠 (emerald). Its color, texture, and specific gravity are very similar to those of emerald, making it极易混淆 (easily confused) with emerald.

▲ Dushan Jade

Difference from jade:

? The black spots in green Dushan jade remain black even under intense illumination. In contrast, black spots in green jadeite are generally less common and appear emerald green under strong light.
Although Dushan jade has a fine grain size, due to significant differences in hardness among its various mineral constituents and their uneven distribution, the polished surface often appears irregular, resulting in poor polishing quality and a distinct oily luster.
Under a Charles filter, reddening is a distinct characteristic used to differentiate green Dushan jade from翡翠.
? Dushan jade has a specific gravity of 2.9, making it lighter than jadeite.

4. Green Garnet

Green garnet is最容易 confused with jade.

▲ Green Garnet

Difference from jade:

The garnet exhibits a granular synthetic structure internally, lacking the “cotton” texture found in jade.
Garnet is far less transparent than jade.
Under a color filter, green garnet emits a distinct red glow, while green jade remains green.
Garnet has a specific gravity of 3.5–4.3, making it heavier than jade.

V. Rough Stone

These types of stones—such as green glass, fired materials, or porcelain—are also common imitations of jade.

▲ Building stone

Difference from jade:

The color is stiff and lifeless; though transparent, it lacks brilliance, and its hue and shape appear unnatural.
? Material stone has a glassy texture with a bright, shell-like fracture; jade has a waxy texture with a dull, uneven fracture.
? The aggregate stones often contain distinct bubbles, which are markedly different from the inclusions found in jadeite.
The hardness of the material stone is 5.5–6, which is lower than that of jade, and its specific gravity is also lighter.

6. Dongling Jade

It is produced in Yunnan, Guangxi, Guizhou, Beijing, and Xinjiang in China. India has the largest mineral output, which is why it is also known as “Indian Jade.”

▲ Dongling Jade

Difference from jade:

? The green Dongling stone has an uneven, olive-green base color with tiny, glossy spots on top; its density is lower than that of jade.
The average refractive index of Dongling jade is 1.55, which is lower than that of jadeite.
? Dongling jade contains green chromite mica flakes arranged in parallel. When observed under a Charles filter, the green chromite mica appears red.
The specific gravity of Dongling jade is 2.65, making it lighter than jadeite.

7. Australian Jade

Australian jade is a variety of chrysoprase, also known as South Sea jade. It derives its name from the fact that it is mined in Australia. In China, it is also referred to as "Yingka" stone.

▲ Australian jade

Difference from jade:

Australian jade has a color similar to that of jadeite, but its color lacks the variations in hue, intensity, and tone found in jadeite.
? The fracture surface of Australian jade is uneven to flat, with no evidence of “emerald-like luster”; the fracture surface of jadeite is also uneven, but it does exhibit emerald-like luster.
? Australian jade has a specific gravity of around 2.6, making it lighter than jadeite.

8. Jade Green

Jadeite (referring to the jade variety known as "biyu") is generally easier to distinguish from翡翠. However, high-quality biyu has characteristics—such as color, hardness, and specific gravity—that are not significantly different from those of翡翠, making it easy to confuse the two.

▲ Jadeite

Difference from jade:

The color of jade often exhibits distinct shape characteristics, with a clear color source and visible color roots; in contrast, the color of nephrite is more uniform and lacks a discernible color source.
? It is the unique “emerald-like quality” inherent in jadeite, a characteristic that nephrite does not possess.
? Visually, jadeite has a stronger and brighter luster, while nephrite has a softer, more oily luster.
? Jadeite has a specific gravity of 2.97–3, making it lighter than jade.

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Article compiled by Weiguan Feicui. Please indicate the source when reprinting.