2026

Age dating of burmese jadeite

By Dr. Michael S. Krzemnicki, first published in Facette 30 (March 2026)
Recently, the SSEF received a strand of Burmese jadeite jade beads for testing. The beads were slightly graduated with a diameter ranging from 8 to 11 mm and exhibited a beautifully saturated and homogeneous green colour. Interestingly, one of the beads contained a small zircon inclusion at the surface, on which we were able to carry out radiometric U-Pb dating.
Burmese jadeite jade necklace. Photo: L. Phan, SSEF.

The analysed dating of the zircon inclusion within the jadeite-jade bead revealed an approximate age of 170 million years (168 ± 8 million years). This radiometric age is very well in agreement with reported zircon ages from jadeite in Myanmar (Burma) in literature (e.g. Shi et al. 2009).

SSEF is applying radiometric dating successfully since several years using our sensitive GemTOF mass spectrometer (see www.ssef.ch/ gemtof). This highly sophisticated analytical method not only offers a fascinating ‘window’ into the geological past of a gemstone, but may, as in this case support very much origin determination related to the fact that geological processes resulting in gem formation occurred at different times in Earth’s history.

To learn more about this fascinating topic about the geological past of gems and how we at SSEF apply this method in gem testing, check out the presentation ‘The Age of Gems’ (presented at the AGA Conference 2025 in Tucson) on our website: https://www.ssef.ch/the-age-of-gems-2025/