Shades of Green Jade & their Trade names

The beauty of Jade is that no two pieces will ever be the exact same. They may come from the same piece of stone but different parts of it can be totally different. That's what make Jade so unique, rare, beautiful & worth collecting. 

Imperial Green - 帝王绿 (Dì wáng lǜ)

This is the highest grade, cream of the crop & most prized colour of green jade. It is a rich vivid green with a slight blue hue under direct sunlight also known as "emerald green" (祖母绿). Prices of it can go up to millions of dollars in USD in auction houses. Prices has been rising yearly due to the extreme low supply & depletion of Jade mines. Strictly speaking, the jade not only has to be in this colour shade, but it also needs to have excellent water content giving it a jelly like consistency to be considered as Imperial Green standard. Poor water content jade with this shade of green does not qualify to be called Imperial green.

Apple Green - 苹果青 (Píng guǒ qīng)

This one of the more popular & also rare colours as directly translated is a green close to the colour of fresh green apples. It's a very crisp, soothing, easy on the eyes & grows on you kind of colour. Generally lower transparency with a fine-grained texture. 

Moss in snow - 白底青 (Bái dǐ qīng)

The character of this jade is like the white snow with a streak or spots of bright green. The bright green is formed due to the high chromium content. This is another very popular variety in Singapore. There is a very clear distinction of the colours & this variety is very easy to identify. Usually with lower transparency, opaque or slightly transparent with a fine grained texture. 

Spinach Green - 菠菜绿  (Bō cài lǜ)

This variety as the name suggested resembles Spinach. It is a medium dark green shade with a bluish gray tone. Usually semi-transparent to semi translucent more popular among the younger crowd.

Hua Qing - 花青 (Huā qīng)

Flower Green variety represent the irregular distribution of diverse patterns (dots, twists, lines, spots, flakes) on the uneven green colour giving Hua qing its unique & gorgeous character. Generally, the base colour is a lighter shade of green with mixed deep green colours on it. Texture is usually fine to coarse grained and translucency is generally poor because of its rough texture. 

Gan Qing - 干青 (Gàn qīng)

Dou Qing - 豆青 (Dòu qīng)

This is a more common variety of jade in a lighter shade of green and a grainy texture resembling green beans. They are very popular in the market due to the pastel like looking colour that most people like. The colour distribution is considered scattered, texture is slightly rough & translucency will be low. 

Oily Green - 油青 (Yóu qīng)

This is another common & popular Jade variety known as oily green. It is generally more affordable because of its dull colour. An oily green piece with good translucency can also be very mesmerising. It really depends on the preferences of the user.