Jade Price Per Carat
Jade is currently worth $10 to $30,000+ per carat depending on quality.
Jade is priced unlike any other gem: by translucency, texture, and treatment grade as much as color, and often by the piece rather than the carat. Commercial nephrite trades for dollars per carat while untreated 'Type A' imperial jadeite — vivid emerald green with glass-like translucency — sells per carat alongside important rubies. The Type A/B/C treatment grade is the first question every price depends on.
JadeValue Chart by Carat & Quality (2026)
Retail price per carat for loose stones, by size bracket and quality tier.
| Carat | Nephrite & commercial jadeite | Fine jadeite (Type A) | Imperial jadeite (Type A) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 5 ct | $5–$30 | $100–$800 | $3,000–$10,000 |
| 5–10 ct | $5–$40 | $150–$1,200 | $5,000–$15,000 |
| 10–20 ct | $8–$50 | $200–$2,000 | $8,000–$20,000 |
| 20–50 ct | $10–$50 | $300–$3,000 | $10,000–$30,000 |
| Bangles (whole) | $50–$500 | $2,000–$50,000 | $100,000–$1M+ |
| Carvings (whole) | $20–$500 | $1,000–$20,000 | $50,000–$500,000+ |
Untreated (Type A) material. Type B (polymer) trades at 5–10% and Type C (dyed) below 5% of equivalent Type A looks. Bangle and carving rows are per piece, the jade market's real unit.
What Drives Jade Value
The factors dealers actually price on — and how each one moves the per-carat number.
Treatment type (A/B/C)
Type A (natural, wax only) holds full value. Type B's acid-bleach-and-polymer routine fakes quality and collapses value 90%+. Type C dye adds instability. No certificate, no Type A price — that's the market's rule.
Color: imperial green and beyond
Vivid, even emerald green ('imperial') is the summit. Fine lavender is the strong second market; apple green, honey, and white follow. Evenness matters as much as hue — mottled color trades far below uniform.
Translucency and texture
The jade-specific factors: semi-transparent 'glassy' or 'icy' material with a fine, tight grain multiplies price at every color level. An icy colorless bangle can outsell an opaque green one.
Jadeite vs nephrite
Jadeite (Myanmar, Guatemala) reaches the vivid colors and the historic prices. Nephrite (China, Canada, New Zealand, Siberia) is the ancient workhorse — culturally deep, but priced in dollars-to-hundreds per carat except for elite 'mutton fat' white material.
Craftsmanship and form
Jade trades as objects: bangles command the highest per-gram prices (flawless rough required), followed by cabochons, beads, and carvings where artistry adds value the scale can't measure.
What Is YOUR Jade Worth?
Charts show the market — your stone has its own carat, color, clarity, and treatment story. Get a personalized estimate in under a minute.
These prices only apply to genuine jade
Imitations and undisclosed synthetics trade at a tiny fraction of these figures. Run the jade real-vs-fake tests before valuing or selling your stone.
Jade Price Questions
Get answers to common questions about rock identification, rockhounding, and using our platform.
Commercial nephrite and ordinary jadeite: $5–$50 per carat. Fine Type A jadeite with good color and translucency: $100–$3,000. Imperial green glassy jadeite: $3,000–$30,000+ per carat, with top bangles auctioning above $1 million. Treatment grade and translucency drive the spread.
Type A is natural jadeite with nothing but a traditional wax surface polish — the only grade with full and stable value. Type B (acid-bleached, polymer-filled) looks similar on day one but is worth 5–10% as much and degrades. Reputable labs certify the type; serious jade never sells without that paper.
Culturally priceless, commercially modest — most nephrite trades at $5–$50 per carat or by the carving. The exceptions are elite materials: Siberian and Hotan 'mutton fat' white nephrite commands collector prices in China, and masterwork carvings sell on artistry well beyond material value.
Tourist-market jade is overwhelmingly Type B/C jadeite, dyed quartz, serpentine, or glass. Run the home checks in our real-vs-fake jade guide (heft, chime, dye inspection), then photograph it for our gemstone value calculator before deciding whether lab certification is worth the fee.
More JadeTools & Guides
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