Identification Characteristic of Natural Nephrite Pebble from West Kunlun, Xinjiang, China

Due to historical and cultural background and high quality of nephrite pebbles from West Kunlun, Xinjiang, China, it is interested and attracted by jade collectors and traders. Although many investigations have been performed and many empirical descriptions on the possible identification features can be found in literatures, it is still a challenging task for accurate identification of the nephrite pebbles for gemmologists. In this paper, thousands of nephrite pebbles were collected from the secondary nephrite deposits in Xinjiang and they have been systematically investigated by using 3D microscope system with higher resolution and other advanced techniques. It was found that the nephrite pebbles' appearance, fractures, pits, micro-cracks, fillings and other characteristics are the key to identification.