Jade is a natural treasure that’s been admired for thousands of years, and it’s as captivating today as it was in ancient times. It comes in many shades, but white jade and green jade are like yin and yang. But do they differ a lot?

Both have been symbols of status, purity, and protection. Kings and queens have treasured them and even today, we adore them. But comparing white jade vs green jade reveals secrets that will capture your interest.

In this article, we’re going to dig deep into the world of these two gems. We’ll explore the differences between white jade and green jade that set them apart and the similarities that they share.

You’ll see that while they’re both jades, comparing green jade vs white jade makes sense because they are unique wonders in their own rights. And it’s about time to appreciate them for that!

White Jade vs Green Jade – The Major Differences

Knowing they’re of the same kind, you might have thought there might not be much difference between white jade and green jade. That can’t be more wrong! Let’s go through the major areas where these two draw the line.

Color – White jade is as pale and silky as milk

When you look at a piece of white jade, it’s like looking at a very thick cloud, solid and smooth. It’s as pale as milk and sometimes just as silky. It doesn’t have any other colors mixed in, which gives it a kind of pure, clean look.

This simplicity in color makes white jade popular for people who love things that are elegant in an understated way.

Green jade, though, is like the leaves in a dense forest, with so many shades of green all wrapped up into one. There’s a light green and there are pieces that are so deep and dark green they almost look black until the light hits them just right.

Then there are those that are a rich, radiant emerald color, which is super rare and super fancy. What makes green jade special is how these colors can swirl together or have neat patterns.

Sometimes, when the stone has a little bit of white and green, it looks like a miniature landscape of snow-capped mountains.

Crystal Structure – Green jade has a granular, interlocking crystal structure

“Crystal” is not only about shiny, clear crystals. When geologists talk about crystal structure, they mean how the teeny-tiny parts that make up a rock are arranged.

White jade and green jade might look similar to the naked eye, but under the surface, they’re like two different cities.

White jade has a bunch of strong “ropes” that crisscross and knot together. These are bundles of fibrous crystals. They’re all tangled up, which makes white jade so tough that it was even used to make tools and weapons back in the day.

Green jade, on the other hand, is sometimes made from a different type of mineral called jadeite. It’s built from tiny grains that lock together tightly.

If white jade’s structure is like a knot, green jade’s structure is like a puzzle where all the pieces fit just right, making it one of the hardest, most solid types of jade out there.

Composition – White jade is mostly made from nephrite

Just like cakes can have different ingredients, rocks have recipes too. White jade and green jade have their special recipes or chemical composition that make them unique.

White jade is mostly made from nephrite. It’s made from a mineral called actinolite and some calcium and magnesium. This mix gives white jade its creamy color and makes it super tough.

Meanwhile, green jade can have the same recipe as white jade, but often it’s made of jadeite, which is a bit more complicated.

It has aluminum and sodium in it, and sometimes it gets a dash of chromium or iron, which gives green jade its awesome green color.

Density – Green jade feels heavier on the hand

When we talk about density in rocks, we’re talking about how much stuff is packed into a rock.

White jade is a bit like a sponge cake. It’s got a lower density, which means it’s not packed with as much heavy stuff.

It’s made mostly of nephrite, which doesn’t have heavy elements crammed into it. So, if you picked up a piece of white jade, it would feel a bit lighter than you might expect for its size.

Now, green jade can sometimes be like a fruitcake. Some specimens are made of jadeite, which has more heavy elements like iron and chromium. These elements make it denser and heavier.

If you had a piece of green jadeite the same size as white jade, the green one would feel heavier in your hand.

Location – White jade is famously found in China

White jade and green jade can both be found in some pretty amazing places around the world.

White jade has been found in China, which is famous for its long history of jade carving. It’s also been spotted in the mountains of Canada and even in Russia.

It forms in places where the Earth has been squished and heated up a bit, but not too much. It’s often found in rocks that have been changed by heat and pressure— a process called metamorphism.

Green jade, on the other hand, is a bit pickier about where it calls home. Its most famous specimen is from Myanmar, which used to be known as Burma. Some green jade also comes from Guatemala, and it’s been found in Russia as well.

Like white jade, green jade forms in metamorphic rocks, but sometimes it forms in places that have seen even more action, with higher pressures that squish the rocks even more.

If you’re looking for a guide to finding jade, be it white or green, you can check out our article on that.

Price – Green jade can fetch higher prices

When you’re out shopping, you might notice that prices can be different for stuff that seems pretty similar. It’s the same with the price of jade. White jade and green jade can have a big gap in prices, and there are a bunch of reasons why.

White jade is pretty, but it’s like the regular sneakers of the jade world. It’s more common and that makes it less expensive.

So, if you’re looking for something that’s beautiful but won’t make your wallet cry, white jade is your go-to.

Green jade, especially the really deep, rich green kind, is like the fancy, limited-edition sneakers. It’s rarer, which means there’s not as much of it to go around. Plus, lots of people want it because that color is sought-after.

In some places, like China, green jade is a big deal and can mean more than just being a pretty stone; it can stand for good luck and health. So, because it’s rare and popular, it can get super pricey.

White Jade vs Green Jade – The Similarities

Despite their differences, white jade and green jade still share more similarities between them. Below are the major characteristics where these two gems are the same:

Luster – White jade and green jade both have a smooth, waxy luster

White jade and green jade might have different colors, but they both have a smooth and waxy kind of luster.

It’s like when you rub a candle with your finger and it leaves a shiny mark. This makes them popular for making things like jewelry and carvings.

When you polish both white jade and green jade, they kind of glow and can look almost like they’re lit up from inside. This glowy shine isn’t super flashy— it’s more of a gentle gleam that catches your eye and makes you want to pick up the stone.

It’s because of this luster that both white and green jade feel soft and smooth to the touch, which is nice when you’re wearing it as a necklace or a bracelet.

This waxy luster doesn’t just make them look good; it also tells you about the jade’s quality. High-quality jade stones will have an even luster all over, which means they’ll shine in a consistent way no matter how you turn them.

Formation – Green jade and white jade are both born from heat and pressure underground

White jade and green jade both start their journey deep underground, and they’re made in similar ways.

They’re formed under the surface, where it’s super hot and there’s a lot of pressure. Over a long time, the heat and pressure change the rocks and turn them into jade.

White jade and green jade are made from different types of rock that get squished and heated up in the Earth’s crust.

Although we’ve explained it in much simpler terms here, this process doesn’t happen overnight. It takes millions of years! This is why they’re both so tough and look so polished when they’re all done.

Hardness – White jade and green jade are both quite hard

Both of white jade and green jade are pretty tough cookies when it comes to hardness. They can resist scratches from metals like a steel knife, which is pretty impressive.

They score somewhere between 6 and 7 on the Mohs scale of hardness. To give you an idea, your fingernail is about a 2.5, and a diamond, the hardest natural material, is a 10.

The reason both are so hard is because of the way their tiny crystals are packed together. It’s like a tight game of Tetris happening on a super small level. All those crystals are so snugly fit together that they make the jade super sturdy.

Both jades can be carved into all sorts of shapes and designs without breaking. That’s why you’ll find all sorts of cool jade carvings and jewelry. It’s also why they’ve been used for tools and sculptures for thousands of years.

This also means that if you have a piece of white jade or green jade jewelry, it won’t get all scratched up from daily wear and tear.

Streak – Both green jade and white jade have white streaks

Streak is the color of the powder a rock leaves behind when you rub it on something rough, like a piece of unglazed porcelain. White jade and green jade’s streaks are both the same color.

Even though green jade is a bunch of different shades of green, its streaks don’t show off its colors. If you were to streak both white jade and green jade, they’d leave behind a white line.

This happens because the streak test doesn’t care about what color the rock is when you look at it. Instead, it shows you the color of the mineral when it’s crushed into a fine powder.

Since both white and green jade can be made of the same minerals with little variations, they both have that white streak.

Cleavage – White jade and green jade don’t have cleavage

In geology, cleavage is all about how a rock splits when you give it a good whack. White jade and green jade don’t have good cleavage, which means they don’t split easily into neat, flat pieces.

Instead of cleavage, both jades have what’s called a fracture. This is when you hit them, and they break apart all uneven and rugged.

Imagine breaking a stick of chalk; you know how it snaps and leaves a rough edge? That’s what we mean by fracture. And both of these jades fracture in a very similar way.

The cool thing about this is that it tells you how tough the jade is. Since neither white nor green jade likes to split neatly, they’re both pretty durable.

This makes them great for all sorts of things, like jewelry, because they can take a bump or two without breaking.

Magnetism – Green jade and white jade are non-magnetic

Magnetism is the force you feel when you try to push two magnets together and they either stick or repel each other. White jade and green jade don’t get into the whole magnet game. They’re both not magnetic.

Both types of jade have this in common because of what they’re made from. Their composition doesn’t contain iron, and iron is one of the big ingredients that makes rocks magnetic.

That’s why if you held a magnet up to a piece of white jade or green jade, nothing would happen. This non-magnetic thing is true for most jades, no matter what color they are.

It’s pretty neat because it means if you’re wearing a jade necklace and you walk through a metal detector, like at the airport, you won’t beep. The metal detector won’t see your jade.

Fluorescence – White jade and green jade both don’t fluoresce

Some minerals can “fluoresce” or glow under ultraviolet light. But when it comes to white jade and green jade, they usually keep their cool and don’t glow.

The reason they don’t glow much is because of what’s inside them. For a rock to light up under UV light, it needs to have certain elements.

White jade and green jade don’t usually have a lot of these glowy elements. So, if you’re in a cave with a UV light, they’re probably not going to stand out.

But here’s where it gets a bit tricky: sometimes, green jade might have a little bit of something that can make it glow just a tiny bit. It’s not a sure thing, though, and it’s not like a bright light. It’s more like a faint shimmer if it shows up at all.

But most of the time, both white jade and green jade will just look the same under UV light as they do in regular light.

This non-fluorescent thing they’ve got going on means they’re pretty stable in different kinds of light.

Conductivity – Both green jade and white jade are insulators

Conductivity is all about how well something can pass along electricity. With white jade and green jade, they’re both pretty bad at conducting electricity.

This happens because the stuff that jade is made from doesn’t let electricity move through it easily. It’s like when you try to push a soccer ball through a tiny pipe— it just won’t go.

White jade and green jade are made up of tightly packed mineral crystals that don’t have free electrons to carry electrical current.

Because of this, if you tried to use a piece of jade to complete an electric circuit, you wouldn’t get very far. The electricity would hit the gem and stop.

As insulators or non-conductive gems, jades are safe choices for jewelry, even if you’re around a lot of electronics or electricity.

The Easiest Ways To Tell White Jade and Green Jade Apart

If you need more help being able to tell between white jade and green jade, below are some very simple tests that you can perform on a specimen:

Look at the color

Color is one of the simplest clues you can use to tell white jade from green jade, and it’s all about what your eyes see.

If you pick up a piece of jade and it looks like a scoop of creamy vanilla ice cream, then you’re probably holding white jade. It has this soft, pure look that’s pretty consistent all over.

But, if you find a piece of jade that’s got more color variety, like different shades of green that could range from light, almost yellowish-green, to a deep, dark forest green, then you’re likely looking at green jade.

The green might be bright and vivid or so dark it’s almost black in some spots, which is a dead giveaway that it’s not white jade.

Feel the weight

When you’re trying to figure out if you’ve got white jade or green jade, another test you can do is to feel how heavy they are in your hand.

Imagine you’re holding two pieces of jade, similar in size, one white and one green. The white jade might feel a little lighter, kind of like holding a plastic toy.

On the other hand, the green jade, especially the high-quality kind called jadeite, often feels heavier. So, when you compare them, even without looking, the green jade feels like it has more heft to it, making it seem more solid and substantial.

Zoom in for tiny imperfections or textures

Try looking at your specimen through a magnifying lens. With white jade, you’ll often find that it’s pretty consistent. The texture is usually smooth and even, without a lot of marks or spots. It’s like looking at a blank canvas or a clear sky.

Now, green jade is a bit like a painting with lots of details. When you zoom in, you might see a mix of colors or some interesting patterns. These textures or imperfections are like tiny landscapes of color.

You could see swirls, speckles, or variations that make each piece unique. This happens because green jade can mingle with different minerals, which can change its look, giving it those cool imperfections and textures.