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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;spirit-of-shiloh, post: 14248, member: 32&quot;]I grabbed this off ebay, I don&#039;t know how accurate it is re: </p><p>{&quot;Many of the priceless ancient &quot;Jade&quot; artifacts unearthed in China are actually Serpentine Jade!&quot;} </p><p>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; ~~~~~~~~~~</p><p><br /></p><p>What is New Jade? </p><p>Sometimes called Korean Jade, SuoChow Jade, Serpentine Jade, Xiu Jade, Street Jade and probably several other names I haven&#039;t heard yet, this beautiful workable stone is really from the serpentine family of minerals.&nbsp; The serpentine group consists of four species with the same composition but different properties:&nbsp; antigorite, chrysotile, clinochrysotile and lizardite. Each of the species has multiple varieties. Bowenite is a variety of antigorite and is one of the more popular for carving and is usually called New Jade.&nbsp; Bowenite has a hardness between 4 and 6, compared to 5.5 to 7 for Nephrite and Jadeite or &quot;real jade&quot;.&nbsp; Being somewhat softer and less expensive in its natural state, Bowenite or Serpentine (Let&#039;s call it New Jade) is a perfect choice for the sculpture.&nbsp; Serpentine, like Nephrite and Jadeite, comes in a variety of colors, from white to black, with the beautiful greens in between. </p><p><br /></p><p>Isn&#039;t &quot;Real&quot; Jade more valuable than &quot;New Jade&quot; </p><p>This is next to impossible to answer. </p><p>Nephrite and Jadeite in their natural state are less abundant than Serpentine.&nbsp; Therefore at the most basic level, one can say that yes, Real Jade is more expensive.&nbsp; However, what makes one more valuable than the other?&nbsp; Clearly, value is in the eye of the beholder and comes from the hands of the artisan.&nbsp; The value of a piece is derived by the quality of the carving and the color and composition of the material.&nbsp; Many of the priceless ancient &quot;Jade&quot; artifacts unearthed in China are actually Serpentine Jade!&nbsp; So in fact, no, a &quot;Real&quot; Jade piece is not necessarily worth more than a &quot;New&quot; Jade piece.&nbsp; A collector must consider the beauty and workmanship when appraising a work of art.&nbsp; As an example, I have $10 Nephrite carvings and Serpentine carvings worth hundreds of dollars.&nbsp; On the other hand, I also have a Jadeite piece that drawfs them both in value.&nbsp; So like I said...............[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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