Bone china is also called fine bone china, bone porcelain, so there is no difference between bone china and fine bone china because it is the same thing. People add the word “fine” in front of the term to indicate the quality.

But for new bone china, it is totally a different concept! New bone china is not bone china, it’s a term to confuse clients and in fact, it is still porcelain, some business merchant uses the conception to confuse new buyers.

So here we mainly talk about the difference between bone china and fine china, and the difference between bone china and new bone china.

1.difference between bone china and fine china

Porcelain, also called “fine china”, featuring its delicate texture, pleasing color, and refined sculpture, has been one of the earliest artworks introduced to the western world through the Silk Road.

While bone china is a type of porcelain but is of the high-end range.

At a glance, if you know what you’re looking for, it’s easy to tell the difference between bone china and fine china.

• Color

The addition of bone ash gives bone china a warm milky white color, while fine china will be a brighter white.

• Translucency

If you hold the bone china cup up to the light, you’ll see that bone china has a translucent quality compared to fine china. This feature is most widely used to test whether it’s bone china.

• Hardness

Porcelain is a durable material and is of moderate weight and hardness.  Bone china products usually are lighter and have a higher degree of hardness.

For example, an 8-inch flat plate, the bone china plate weight is around 500-600g, while the fine porcelain plate is much heavier.

2. Difference between bone china and new bone china

First and foremost, new bone china is not bone china.

It is a concept created to gain more attention and a marketing strategy to sell porcelain at a higher price. In fact, it is just a kind of porcelain, but have some similar features like bone china.

1) What is new bone china

New bone china is in fact a kind of white porcelain, by adding mineralizer and calcium oxide(which has similar elements as bone ash) to the raw material, producing something that has some difference from the traditional porcelain in the aspects of firing temperature and  deformability, absorption and transparency, thus forming a kind of porcelain which has similar appearance as bone china.

2) Difference between bone china and new bone china

While New bone china might have a similar whiteness and smooth like bone china, it is quite differenced from bone china in the aspects of raw material and texture.

• Raw material

Bone china contains more than 36% of bone ash, while new bone china doesn’t have any bone ash added.

• Firing

As mentioned, bone china formed by two times of firing, while new bone china, like other porcelain, formed by one-time firing.

• Other features

Comparing to new bone china, bone china has a softer white appearance, higher transparency, and lighter. Its appearance is much better than new bone china.

• Price

The advantage of new bone china comparing to bone china is its price. New bone china products have a lower price than bone china.

When international buyers ask quote about bone china, if they are not careful enough, they may get a quite low price quote and they are very happy, while in fact, the quote is about new bone china products.

So it is important to know the difference and be clear when you buying your bone china products.