How can you identify genuine jade?

You can figure out real jadeite or nephrite by looking at its relatively high specific gravity, noticing how it stays cold in your hand, and seeing an interlocking granular or fibrous crystal structure that you can actually spot when you magnify it.

Common fakes like serpentine, aventurine quartz, or dyed glass don’t show jade’s exceptional toughness, and the texture tends to look different in a very telltale way. A basic scratch check helps too, because genuine jade usually scratches glass without much trouble. Also, if you shine a spectroscope on it, you may be able to spot artificial colouring, so untreated “Type A” jade can be separated from chemically upgraded “Type C” material.