Mason-Kay Jade brings International Jade Summit back to Monterey for 2026

Jade can look calm and luminous in a case, yet still be one of the trade’s most misread gems. Mason-Kay Jade is bringing its International Jade Summit back to Monterey on June 13, with three seminars designed for gemologists, appraisers, retail jewelry staff, customers and enthusiasts who want to understand what really drives jade value.

The one-day program will run from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. inside Stanton Center, part of the Monterey History and Art Museum at 5 Custom House Plaza. It is being positioned as the only jade-centric conference in the United States, and it arrives during the Monterey Bay Jade Festival’s seventh year, when the plaza fills with 45-plus vendors, the Georg Schmerholz Jade Carving Exhibition and a dense mix of buyers, sellers and collectors moving between cases and conversations.

For the jade market, the timing is telling. GIA introduced enhanced jade reports in 2024, and origin determination has become a sharper question for the trade, especially when jadeite is being weighed as Burmese versus Guatemalan material. That distinction can change how a stone is understood, priced and ultimately trusted. In a category where color alone is never the full story, identification is the first filter of value.

This year’s speakers reflect that reality. Dr. Aaron Palke of GIA will address jadeite jade origin determination. William Ralston-Saul of Jade Resources, Ltd. will speak on the largest deposit of jadeite jade in the world in Kazakhstan, a reminder that supply stories matter as much as finished jewelry stories. Georg Schmerholz, both a speaker and one of the festival’s co-founders, will turn the focus to jade as a sculptural medium, where carving, scale and surface finish can matter as much as translucency.

The summit will also include lunch and networking, and Eventbrite lists it as a 5-hour, 30-minute in-person program. That structure makes sense for a market still catching up to the stone it sells. Mason-Kay Jade launched the inaugural summit in 2025 with speakers including Kirk Makepeace of Jade West Mining, Mary Lou Ridinger of Jade Maya, Jeff Mason of Mason-Kay Jade and Lou Blanck of Earth Design, Inc. Jordan Wentz, of Mason-Kay Jade, has said jade education is far more accessible in China, while Western sellers often work without that advantage and need better preparation as demand grows.

The Monterey Bay Jade Festival, organized by Jade Events Unlimited, also supports local community beneficiaries and the adjacent state historic park. That gives the weekend a broader purpose than commerce alone, but the summit’s sharper mission is practical: teach the market to look past the green glow and ask the questions that determine whether a jade piece deserves its price.