Chinese Jade

Most jade that comes through an American saleroom sells for $200 to $900. The median across 642 jade lots sold at Revere Auctions is $400, and more than half go under $500. The exceptions are enormous: we have sold a single small archaic bead for $50,000, and in Hong Kong a jadeite bead necklace made HK$170 million, about US$22 million. Almost all of that gap comes down to two questions: which mineral it actually is, and how old it is. We offer free auction estimates: send photographs in daylight, including any stand and any inscription.

Jade at Revere Auctions

Revere has sold 642 jade lots since 2018. It arrives steadily rather than in one collection: eight separate sales have carried fifteen or more jade lots.

Revere Auctions results. All prices are hammer prices (before buyer’s premium). Revere figures are U.S. auction results January 2018 through June 2026.

21 of those 642 lots cleared $10,000. That is about three percent, and it is the honest shape of this market: a long tail of modest carvings with a small number of genuinely important pieces mixed into it. Telling them apart is the entire job, and it is why we do not charge for the opinion.

An 18th century reticulated white jade censer and cover, sold $34,000 by Revere Auctions. Deeply undercut openwork in translucent pale nephrite, with its original fitted hardwood stand.

“Jade” Is Two Different Minerals

This is the single most useful thing to understand, and most owners do not know it. The English word jade covers two unrelated stones, and a third group of things that are not jade at all.

Nephrite is the historic Chinese material. It has been worked in China for more than five thousand years. Every archaic jade is nephrite: the Neolithic discs and ritual forms, the Han burial pieces, the Qing imperial white carvings. The finest white nephrite is called mutton fat jade. It is slightly greasy in lustre rather than glassy.

Jadeite, or feicui, is a different mineral entirely and it only reached China in quantity from Burma in the eighteenth century. It is the gem material: harder, glassier, and capable of an intense translucent emerald green that nephrite cannot produce. Everything at the very top of the jade market by price is jadeite jewellery.

And a great deal of what is sold as jade is neither. Serpentine, bowenite, aventurine quartz, dyed quartzite and modern glass all pass as jade in the trade and in family lore. This is not usually anyone being dishonest; it is a hundred years of gift shops. If a large green carving is unusually light in the hand, or has bubbles, or the colour sits in cracks rather than through the stone, be cautious.

What Jade Is Worth

Revere ranges based on 642 sold lots. All prices are hammer prices (before buyer’s premium). Revere figures are U.S. auction results January 2018 through June 2026.

The distribution matters as much as the ranges. Of our 642 lots, 244 sold under $300 and 346 under $500. If you have inherited a green carved figure or a small bangle, the overwhelmingly likely answer is a few hundred dollars, and there is nothing disappointing about that. The point of getting it looked at is the three percent case.

This sold for $50,000. It is under two inches, pale, undecorated and stained brown. The value is entirely in the material and the age, not in how it looks on a shelf.

The Piece That Looks Like Nothing

The object above is our highest jade result. It is a small archaic bead with russet iron staining and surface calcification from long burial, and it is exactly the sort of thing that gets put in a drawer because it is not pretty.

Archaic jade is valued for what it is and when it was made, not for how much work went into the surface. In Hong Kong a Neolithic ritual cong of the Liangzhu culture, roughly five thousand years old, sold for HK$26 million, and an Eastern Han openwork disc for HK$20.5 million. Neither is decorative in the way an eighteenth century censer is.

The practical lesson: do not sort your jade by how attractive it is. Plain, small, stained and worn can be the most valuable thing in the box. Calcification, a dull chalky surface and iron staining are evidence of age, not damage.

Where the Ceiling Really Is

The very top of the jade market is not Chinese carving at all. It is jadeite jewellery, and it trades in Hong Kong rather than in the United States.

A jadeite bead and coloured diamond necklace made HK$170 million in May 2026, around US$22 million. Across the Hong Kong sales, jadeite bead necklaces and bangles run to a median of about HK$350,000, roughly US$45,000, and that is the middle of that market rather than the top of it.

What separates a HK$170 million necklace from a $300 bangle is colour, translucency and whether the stone has been treated. Untreated jadeite is graded Type A. Type B has been bleached and polymer-impregnated to improve colour and clarity, and Type C has been dyed. Type B and C jadeite is worth a small fraction of Type A and the treatment is not visible to the naked eye. Any jadeite being sold at a serious level needs a gemmological report.

For an American seller the useful conclusion is narrow but real: if you have genuinely fine green translucent jadeite jewellery, where it is sold matters more than almost anything else about it. That is a conversation worth having before consigning it anywhere.

What Changes the Price

Material, first and always. Nephrite, jadeite or neither. This alone can be a hundredfold difference and it is the first thing we check.

Age. Archaic, Qing, Republic or twentieth century. Chinese carving styles were repeated faithfully for centuries, so a modern copy of an eighteenth century form can look almost identical to the original. Wear, tool marks, drilling and surface weathering are how the difference is read.

The stand. An original fitted hardwood stand, carved for that object, adds real money and is evidence the piece was valued historically. Do not separate them, and photograph them together.

Inscriptions and reign marks. Imperial inscriptions transform value. They are also the most frequently faked thing in the field, so photograph them clearly and let someone read them rather than reading them yourself from the internet.

Provenance. An old collection label, a bill of sale, or an exhibition sticker is worth photographing before anything is cleaned or removed. In a field with this much reproduction, documented history is worth a great deal.

Condition. Chips and old repairs matter on carvings. On archaic pieces, surface alteration from burial is expected and is not a fault.

How to Photograph Jade for an Estimate

Jade photographs badly, and most of the estimates we cannot give are because of the photograph rather than the object.

Use daylight, not flash. Flash flattens translucency, which is the single most important visual property. Near a window on an overcast day is ideal.

Backlight it. Hold the piece up against the light and take a second photograph. How light passes through it, and whether the colour is even or sits in veins, tells a specialist a great deal in one image.

Include something for scale, photograph the base and any stand, and photograph any characters or seal marks straight on rather than at an angle.

Chinese Jade Appraisals

An auction estimate and a formal appraisal answer different questions.

A free auction estimate tells you what a piece would likely sell for at auction. It costs nothing and it is usually enough to decide whether to sell. Send photographs including the base and we will respond with a range.

A formal written appraisal is a signed document stating a value for a stated purpose: insurance, estate settlement and probate, or charitable donation. It is a paid service written to a different standard of value, and insurance appraisals in particular are normally higher than the auction estimate for the same piece.

Revere Auctions provides both through our appraisal and valuation services team. If you are not sure which you need, ask for the free auction estimate first.

How to Sell Chinese Jade

The strongest results for Chinese jade come at auction, where national and international collectors bid against each other. Revere Auctions offers free, no-obligation auction estimates: send photos and dimensions and our specialists respond with a current market valuation and a recommendation on how to sell. Consigned works are professionally photographed, cataloged, and marketed through our fine art auctions to a worldwide bidder base, and we regularly arrange shipping for consignors across the country. If you need a formal written valuation for insurance or estate purposes, our appraisal and valuation services team can help; you can also read more about how selling at auction works.

Related guides: our Asian art department, decorative art at auction, appraisal and valuation services.

Reviewed by the fine art specialists at Revere Auctions, St. Paul, Minnesota.

Chinese Jade: Frequently Asked Questions

How much is my Chinese jade worth?

Most jade sold at American auction brings $200 to $900. The median across 642 jade lots at Revere Auctions is $400 and more than half sell under $500. Fine 18th and 19th century nephrite carvings reach $5,000 to $35,000, archaic jade goes higher, and fine jadeite jewellery reaches seven and eight figures internationally.

What is the difference between jadeite and nephrite?

They are two unrelated minerals both called jade. Nephrite is the historic Chinese material, worked for over five thousand years, and every archaic and imperial Chinese jade is nephrite. Jadeite, or feicui, arrived from Burma in the eighteenth century and is the gem material capable of intense translucent green. The most expensive jade in the world by price is jadeite jewellery.

How can I tell if my jade is real?

Genuine jade is dense and cool, and hard enough that a steel blade will not scratch it. Serpentine, bowenite and dyed quartzite are common substitutes and are lighter and softer. Colour that sits in cracks rather than running through the stone suggests dyeing. A gemmological test is the only certain answer, and it matters most for jadeite.

What is Type A jadeite?

Type A jadeite is untreated. Type B has been bleached and impregnated with polymer to improve colour and clarity, and Type C has been dyed. Type B and C are worth a small fraction of Type A, and the treatment is not visible to the naked eye, so serious jadeite is sold with a gemmological report.

Why is plain old jade sometimes worth more than a detailed carving?

Archaic jade is valued for material and age rather than decoration. Revere’s highest jade result is $50,000 for a small, plain, brown-stained archaic bead, which is more than we have achieved for any elaborate carving. Calcification and iron staining are evidence of long burial and are not damage.

Does the wooden stand add value to a jade carving?

Yes. An original fitted hardwood stand carved for that specific object adds real value and shows the piece was valued historically. Keep them together and photograph them together.

Where should I sell Chinese jade?

Revere Auctions has sold 642 jade lots since 2018, including an archaic bead at $50,000 and an 18th century reticulated censer at $34,000, and our Asian art specialists will tell you free of charge whether a piece belongs in a regional sale or needs an international one. Send photographs in daylight, including the base and any stand.

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