Looking for a particular jade

[kjenter]

Hi,
I am Karen from SE Michigan and I just joined the forum.  I am fairly new to serious jewelry making.  A little background: I make and sell doll clothes for reborn dolls and about year ago began making simple bracelets for these dolls out of plastic alpha beads.  I happened to mention what I was doing to a scrap book friend, I also scrap book and she showed me the bracelets she had been making out of sterling silver beads, Swarovski Crystals, etc and I fell in love with them.  Armed with web sites she provided I began in ernest ordering beads, findings etc and set to work.  I love doing this now.  I have several of bead shops in my area and more opening all the time.  

At one shop I found some jade beads, at least that is what they were labeled and I was told by the clerk that are maybe a olive color, with different shades of pinks from light to medium, also shades of white and grays.  I bought some and have made several bracelets using them and silver beads, spacers, silver toggle clasps.  

I have since searched online including R & T and cannot locate these jade beads in with these colors.  Can someone help me in finding them.  I will continue to support my local bead stores, but also feel that on my limited retirement income I can find some good internet prices.

I thank you for any help, and for allowing me to be a part of this forum.

Karen J.
Michigan

[WriteBrainedWoman]

Hi Karen.
Welcome to the forum!  The beads you bought sound very pretty, but are most likely not jade. The only two forms of true jade are called jadeite and nephrite, and they do not contain these colors. However, many beautiful stones on the market right now are referred to as "jade" because they contain shades of green.

The stones you bought are likely serpentine or possibly a form of jasper. We too carry various stones with "jade" in their name, but we go out of our way to let customers know that they are a different gemstone. Feel free to check them out, and maybe one will look similar to what you are seeking. If you'd like actual jade, we do carry two stones that qualify:  B.C. jade (a form of nephrite) and nephrite.

You can learn more about 170+ types of gemstones in our Gemstone Beads Index. Just click the stone name or the picture to be whisked straight to beads of that material in the online store.

Thanks for bringing up an important issue about gemstone names!
Melissa

[kjenter]

Hi Melissa,
Thanks so much for posting.  I was pretty sure this what I have is not jade.  I am one up on you as far as the index, I acually printed every page of the gem index a few days ago and put it into the notebook binder I have started.  I have to say this probably the best site I have seen on jewelry, designs, helps etc.  I just placed an order a few days ago and can hardly wait for it to arrive.  Your prices and the range of beads, findings is great, which I appreciate on a retirees pension.  Again thanks for the welcome, I know I will be learning a lot here.

Thanks Again!!!

Karen J.
Michigan

[Russ Nobbs]

Karen: The pinks you mention in the "jade" suggest that your beads might be some of the dyed "candy jade." The other tones in your beads suggest that it is an undyed serpentine. Hard to tell without seeig and handling them. If you google "candy jade" beads you might see some of the pastel and candy color dyed stones sold under this name.  We think they are all a dyed white stone - no relation to any kind of jade except for the name.

I'm glad you like the gem index. I think Melissa and the rest of our staff have done a great job with it. I'm very proud of it.

[karen]

Hi,  my name is Karen and I need help.
I'm looking for jade tear drop beads to make earrings with.
Does anyone know where I can buy jae Tear drop beads?
Please help me if you can.
You can email me at
galadriel@surfglobal.net

[karen]

Hi,  my name is Karen and I live in vermont. I love to bead it's my favorite hobby. and I need help.
I'm looking for jade tear drop beads to make earrings with.
Does anyone know where I can buy jade Tear drop beads?
Please help me if you can.
I've looked in many beads stores and I was told there isn't any such jade tear drop bead is this true?
You can email me at
galadriel@surfglobal.net

[marym]

Hi and welcome to the forum- we currently sell only Yellow "Jade" briolettes (also called teardrop beads). Although this gemstone is called jade by the majority of suppliers, this type of gemstone is actually a serpentine. You might enjoy reading about jade and the many different gemstones that go by the same name in our  Gemstone Index. Once you're armed with the knowledge of what's being sold in the market place, you'll have much better luck finding what you're looking for.

Good luck- and let us know if you need anything else!

-Mary
Rings & Things staff

[Polly]

hm, I'm surprised that we don't have any green jade teardrop beads -- just a few yellow jade.  

Right now one of our gemstone buyers, and the company owners, are in China looking for new gemstone and other beads.  I've forwarded your request on to them -- so if they run across some jade teardrops or briolettes (basically, a faceted teardrop), that are for good prices, they will probably bring at least a few dozen strands back for our c&c BeadTour, even if they don't find enough to add to the catalog.
We have thousands of unique strands of (mostly gemstone) beads on our BeadTour -- try catch us when we get closest to you.

--Polly