I have broken my share of beads to see what I was dealing with. Great set of information here.
Have you tried scratching it? That could also give you and indication. The 8 dollar strand bead could be some type of soapstone? Most soapstone (though not all) scratches quite easily. I am sure there are
others on BCN who would know more about different types of stone.
I sure miss Russ.....

I have some dark green beads, with some type of carving on them. (similar to the ones in the link, but then dark green. They scratch easily, and I always thought they were some type of soapstone.

Anyway, your jade beads gave me an excuse to dig these pictures up again. Jade or jade-ish stones and bangles at the Panjiayuan in Beijing.