CJK Compatibility Ideograph FA4A

No: they are the same character in different encoded forms.

Japanese reference works list 琢 as an old form of 琢. It also appears in Japanese character-set and name-character records. In ordinary modern Japanese, use 琢 unless a person’s name or source document requires the preserved form.

Where did the jade meaning of 琢 come from?

琢 means to carve or polish jade. The Shuowen Jiezi, an early Chinese dictionary compiled in 100 AD, defines it as 治玉也 (“work jade”) and quotes the Book of Odes, an early poetry collection: 如琢如磨 (“as if carved, as if polished”). The 2002 encoding date for 琢 is far later than this classical record.

In 琢, the jade component signals the material and the other component hints at the sound. The classical expression 切磋琢磨 moves through cutting, filing, carving jade, and polishing stone; that craft image became a metaphor for refining learning, skill, character, or expression.

Why does 琢 become 琢?

Unicode normalization can rewrite 琢 as 琢. The text still represents the same character, but the exact encoded form is lost.

A Japanese IVS (ideographic variation sequence) list published in 2012 records a source-specific sequence for this form. A variation-aware editor and font can preserve that distinction.