I"ve been intrigued by some ads I've seen lately for Afghanistan jade and wondered about it. Some very interesting comments turned up on the Wild Roses and Blackberries blog, by someone who buys beads.
The writer mentions "afghan jade, which is serpentine," and notes that a source says it is "most likely a dyed calcite or limestone." Furthermore: "In fact, unlike Afghan jade, Afghanistan jade doesn't even come from
the country it's named after."
The comments inspire further research, meanwhile I would be wary of any merchandise sold as Afghanistan or Afghan jade. Know your seller and be sure you have a right of return.
Added: Here's an interesting discussion of fake or treated jades on Amazon, the thrust of it being that Amazon seriously monitors for listings that are not purely nephrite or jadeite. I am tempted to explore, I doubt seriously they catch all infractions, but not my job.
However, just out of curiosity I went to my selling venue, Etsy, to check out Afghanistan jade -- got 140 responses to the search...
Oh well, that's nothing. I then went to eBay and tried the same search, got over 1,300 responses...
Molly Kalafut's excellent collection of fake jades includes this warning: "Afghanistan jade" or "Afghan jade" is a variety of serpentine called bowenite.
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