It really isn't. People have just been led to believe that it is.
Only the finest quality Jadeite is rare. Again, just like Diamonds.
The comparison with diamonds is totally apposite. Like diamonds, it's 100% all about the hype.
Jadeite is not rare. It never has been. There are carvings in museums from 1,000-600 BC. Pieces from c18th are available on the kosher, fully certified market, some of which aren't as expensive as you might assume but, of course, as any auctioneer will tell you, age is not rarity.
Found in nearly all the colours of the spectrum, so-called Imperial Green translucent pieces are the most expensive because - for a lot of people - the colour is extremely attractive. A high-domed cabochon, with a translucency that makes the stone appear to glow, beautifully set can command silly prices and rival the finest Boucheron emeralds, for example. When that level of material is well carved, the prices sky rocket.
Like diamonds in Africa, Jadeite is big in China because that side of the geological planet has
plenty of it, the Chinese have always liked it, with their culture and ancient history and - frankly - astonishing carving skills. For the Chinese, the finest Jadeite apparently comes from that geological region we now call Myanmar. The volume of pieces available today is just a factor of the size of the Chinese population and the leaps forward with machine technology. A hand-carved piece of landscape Jadeite from c17th or older is always going to be more desirable than a modern piece offered by David Troth. A Georgian diamond ring is always going to be more desirable than a modern piece offered by Gemporia.
Personally, the stuff that David Troth sells - even the intricately carved discs - don't interest me. I don't really understand it. Those bangles that Ellis loves so much cannot be desirable - I think they're no better than polished mineral specimens. And at £300 a pop? The Western market really doesn't "get" Jadeite like the Chinese do and David & Harry Jewels probably won't be shifting the market with what they're offering.
I can't be seduced by the idea you're "getting in early" with what he's flogging. I could be seduced by a piece like this ring but I don't have $88,000 in a sock drawer!