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What is Jade?
If asked 'what is jade?', the most common answer would be that 'jade is a green stone from China'. That would be wrong on several counts. First: it is not one stone, but two. Jade refers, collectively to the two distinct stones JADEITE and NEPHRITE, as noted in the first observations. Second: it is not only green, but lavender, red (actually a caramel or red-brown), yellow, white, black, gray and totally colorless, called 'ice'. In fact, the Chinese say that it even comes in colors that 'you cannot see'. You can ponder that for awhile. Third:only nephrite, never jadeite, ever came from China. Certainly, fine nephrite material came from Turkestan, Xinjiang province, but those original sources were depleted over 100 years ago. However, new mines producing the fine, white 'Hotan' jade have recently been re-discovered in nothwest China and created such a rush of mining that the authorities have begun cracking down on small miners who do great damage to the environment in and around the Yurungkax river in Xinjiang. These small miners often produce nothing, and in the process bankrupt their villages who bankroll the expensive mining projects. I have purchased a few items from these 'newly re-discovered' mines and tested them, only to find that many white stones sold as jade are actually a form of quartz called chalcedony-fairly common stuff. Recently (that is, autumn of 2007), the Chinese government claims to have unearthed a huge white nephrite boulder the size of a small car. This would be very exciting indeed. The jury is still out until we see more evidence. Nevertheless, JADEITE, the gem-stone form of jade, has NEVER come from China. More than any other important gemstone, jadeite is site-specific in that it comes almost exclusively from northern Burma (Myanmar). Yes, there is jadeite mined in Guatemala, but it is a large-crystal form that is unsuitable for fine jewelry. And there is jadeite in San Benito County, California, (and other sites in California) but it is nowhere near the quality necessary to compete with the compact crystal-structure and intense, brilliant colors one finds in material from Burma. The one place that, as of this writing, has produced jade of gem-quality is Siberia. The stones produced are small, and so far, fairly rare. The regions where it might be found are so remote and difficult to access that the true availability of fine jade in Siberia is stilll unknown. There are several other sites around the world that have produced some small, insignificant amounts of jadeite. But again, these are not of jewelry quality. For better or worse, fine gem-quality jadeite is specific to northern Burma (Myanmar). So, what is jade? It is an elusive, mysterious stone, indeed, but worth seeking out and knowing. Back to News List |