JADEITE - Canadian Institute of Gemmology

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Evidence, therefore is anecdotal. There is no doubt that economic liberalization in Burma led to
increased production by jadeite miners in the latter part of the 1990s. At present, however, there are
rumors that supplies are diminishing. Granitsas (2000) quotes Rose Wong, director of the auction
house Christie's jadeite jewelry department in Hong Kong: "The demand for top-quality jade never
diminishes" and "the alluvial deposits of jade have been nearly depleted." The latter assertion is
difficult to verify and is disputed by others. One should remember the report by Hughes from
Maw-sisa at this point about the massive deposits he saw there. There still appears to be a lot of
jadeite yet to be mined in Burma and the claims of depletion of sources of jadeite in Burma are
more than likely highly exaggerated. There is a subsidiary claim that "the stock of the best-quality
jade is getting smaller" (C.M. Ouyang of the Hong Kong Institute of Gemmology, from Granitsas
2000). Perhaps, but again substantiating evidence is lacking and it is likely that in the face of
increasing demand for high quality jadeite there is the perception of a shrinking pool of "good-
quality" jadeite, whereas the actual situation is that the supply of good quality jadeite is proving
unable to keep pace with growing demand.
Official figures for anything in Burma are suspect and in the case of jadeite they do not reflect
black market production. During the mid-1990s, when the government still sought to maintain its
monopoly on the sale of jadeite, official production figures were: 1993-94 - 305 tonnes, 1994-95 -
347 tonnes, and 1995-96 - 335 tonnes. More recent figures are: 1998 - 1.26 tonnes and 1999 - 5.24
tonnes. It is clear that the two sets of figures are not comparable, but within each set it may be
possible to discern trends. Thus, the earlier figures may reflect a degree of stability in production,
while the latter figures may reflect more recent increases in production due to policy reforms. Such
figures do not account for the relative quality of jadeite either, making it hard objectively to dispute
claims that high quality jadeite is becoming increasingly scarce even if the overall quantity of jadeite
coming on the market has grown substantially.
What are current market prices like? At the top end prices can get very high indeed. Ward
(1996: 25) comments:
Each year at gem shows such as Tucson or at large auctions in Hong Kong, some individual
Burmese imperial Jade cabochons and pendants fetch more than $100,000. For a 10- to 15carat
piece much of the world views as a rock, that is a staggering price... With their
devotion to this gorgeous upstart, no price seems too great for buyers who both love jade
and want to emulate the last of China's emperors by wearing imperial green.
Highlighting the difference that size can make in regard to price, Newman (1998: 104) states that a
very fine green cabochon measuring 18 x 13 mm "can wholesale for over $20,000," while the same
quality of stone in a 8 x 6 mm size "might wholesale for over $2000." He also notes, in regard to
color, that a 8 x 6 mm cabochon that is grayish-green "can sell for as little as $25" and that a top
quality 13 x 10 mm lavender cabochon with intense color "may wholesale for over $2500."