Myanmar · Stone Carving / Lapidary
Kyauk Sein Htu Chit — Mandalay Jade Carving
The carving and finishing of jadeite (kyauk sein) in Mandalay, the principal cutting and trading center for jade mined at Hpakant in Kachin State — the world's dominant source of gem-quality jadeite, sometimes described in trade literature as producing roughly 70 percent of the world's jadeite reserves. Myanmar jade carving is documented separately from the already-archived Mandalay marble Buddha carving (CRAFT-0424) because jadeite is mineralogically and technically a distinct material: harder than marble, worked by abrasive grinding rather than chisel-and-mallet, and evaluated through a translucency-based quality assessment entirely absent from the marble tradition. The Mandalay jade carver (kyauk sein htu chit) transforms rough boulders bought on the 86th Street morning jade market into bangles, cabochons, and figural carvings, reading the hidden interior quality of the stone through a transmitted-light windowing assessment before any cutting begins.
Risk level: Vulnerable · Not Listed
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