Tonight Scott and I went out to dinner alone (hurray!) and afterwards stopped in a little shop on the street that was selling assorted classic Chinese collectibles... tea sets, chops, a variety of statues and carved pieces, and jade jewelry. We were browsing the jade bangle type bracelets, and the shop keeper did an unexpected thing to show us that it was real jade... at least I am guessing that's what he intended to show us. He pulled out a hair from his head, wrapped it around the bracelet, and then held the flame from his lighter up to the hair on the bracelet. Nothing happened, which I suppose proved his point. Does anyone know why he would do this? He repeated it on another piece of jade jewelry we looked at... we were laughing out loud by the second time!
Sometimes the language barrier makes things very interesting... keeps us guessing, anyway!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Umm never heard that before. I LOVE jade! I've always been told that if the jade is cool to the touch even while you wear it, it is real. If it is warm it is not authentic. My jade bangle that I wear 24/7 is always cool to the touch, even when it's HOT outside.
Here's my stab at an explanation after doing some digging. There are apparently 2 kinds of real jade, Jadeite and Nephrite. Jadeite is more rare than Nephrite and thus more valuable. (You know, the same principle as finding a beautiful woman that likes to watch football. Very rare, and very valuable.) A flame test is a common way to identify metals and gems in the field. Because the molecules of different materials hold on to their electrons with varying degrees of force, the materials will produce flames of different color depending on the identity of the gem/metal. The vendor may have been trying to show you that his bracelet was really nice because it was made out of Jadeite. -Shann
Post a Comment