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Finding Burmese jadeite substitutes

By Mary L. Johnson, Ph.D.
January 11, 2009

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Mary Johnson has a doctorate in mineralogy and crystallography and is a former research and development manager at the Gemological Institute of America. Got gemological questions? E-mail them to national jeweler100@yahoo.com

Question: Given the U.S. ban on stones from Myanmar, what are good substitutes for Burmese jadeite?

Answer: There are no perfect substitutes for the finest transparent green jadeite, but some materials share similar properties.

The finest jadeite is vibrant green and nearly transparent; it is tough and takes an excellent polish. As a polycrystalline material, it is used for carvings; hololithic bangle bracelets, saddle rings and archer's rings; beads; carved pendants; and mounted cabochons. Popular colors include green, lavender and white (or colorless).

First, consider jadeite from sources such as Russia and Kazakhstan, which offer white-to-green jadeite, including small cabochons, or material from Turkey, which offers purple, gray and "mahogany brown" jadeite, a fill-in for lavender. Mesoamerican jadeite from Guatemala tends to be grayish or bluish-green. All are tough and take a good polish.

Next, consider nephrite, the felted variety of actinolite or tremolite amphibole; it is usually green (but comes in many colors), carves well and takes a good polish. Some of the brightest green nephrite comes from Cassiar in British Columbia, Canada, and is widely available. Other localities for nephrite include China (think historic carvings), New Zealand, Taiwan, California and Wyoming.

If carving matters, consider the chalcedony varieties chrysoprase (apple-green to yellowish-green in color) and prase (a green-onion-like color), which take a good polish. Another jade-like material is South African hydrogrossular/vesuvianite, often improperly called "Transvaal jade." Although too brittle for carving, charoite can substitute for lavender jade.

For chrome-green cabochons, many fine-grained rocks will do, including anyolite (massive green zoisite, often with ruby in it), fuchsite mica, green aventurine quartz and ugrandite garnet-feldspar rock. Also, translucent dark-green chrome chalcedony (also called mtorolite) has been seen at the Tucson gem shows.

Treated materials include dyed jadeite, dyed quartzite, etc.; these may also be polymer-impregnated. (Remember to disclose any treatments.) For those seeking high-end, vibrant-green, nearly transparent cabochons, consider trapiche or massive emerald. Chrome tourmaline is another possibility as a cabochon. In these cases, do not get material that is too bluish or too transparent, it won't look enough like jadeite.

Editor's note: Mary Johnson's "Gemological Answers" column first appeared in the October 2008 print edition of National Jeweler, in the Your Store section.
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