Jade by any other name

I just hate when vendors make up stuff that isn’t true. I read this description on a beading website for their “Jade”.

"Jade is the industry name for this beautiful deep green stone. Ours is actually a Serpentine, but takes a trained eye and a microscope to discern the difference between this material and the Jade it is named after. It is extremely tough and resistant to fracture and has been used to make choppers and blades since Neolithic times. It has been said that it brings strength and longevity to the wearer. It protects against failure and misfortune. AKA- BC Jade, Serpentine, Canadian Jade, Green Jade. Mined in North America. Mohs hardness 7. "

I sent them an email noting that their description is inaccurate, that Canadian Jade, the real stuff, is Nephrite with 6 -6.5 hardness on the Mohs’ scale. Serpentine, often called “New Jade”, Peridot Jade" or “Olive Jade”, has a Mohs’ hardness of 2.5-5.5, much too soft to have ever been used for tools, and it is not accurate to use Canadian Jade or BC jade as a trade name for Serpentine.
They emailed back that their description was consistent with their vendor’s description. They also claim it is mined in Canada. I suggested they look at some reputable gemological sites such as IGS, AGTA and GIA.

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At least they disclose that it’s serpentine. And then they go on to romance the stone… :two_hearts:

Speaking of which, my Mum sent me this write-up about her new tourmaline ceramic hairdryer:

‘Tourmalines are precious gemstones with highly unique properties. Heating crushed tourmalines results in the powerful natural emissions of ions and far-infrared heat. The Pearl Shine hair dryer features Tourmaline Ceramic Technology with 4x more Tourmaline to provide a natural source of ions to reduce frizz and create a smooth shiny finish.’

LMAO! I need whoever writes that stuff to come and work for me!

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Unfortunately, there’s a sucker born every minute!

Yep, and this same company listed their Lapis Lazuli as “natural” with a disclaimer in small print “We don’t say these are dyed because they only dye the white parts and some of the beads don’t have any dye on them. Our supplier tells us they are very good quality.” Really? I almost fell off the chair laughing at that one!

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ROFLMBO!! I needed a good laugh today. I have read some doozies but those take the cake! The kicker about it all is, people are buying those hair dryers by the boat load, the fake jade believing that line of BS and the dyed lapis and having the dye come off on them the first time thy wear them. The real sad part is…they will buy the next stupid line of BS they hear time after time. Well it is after all a great deal!
All the very best.
Otter

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