From our grandmothers to our mothers, many of them would have owned a piece of jade or two. At least that’s how I got to know of this emerald piece of gem. 

We all think we know jade. Or, do we? 

What is Jade?

The first thing that we really need to know about jade is that the name itself refers to two different gemstones. Jadeite is one of the two mineral rocks that we call ‘jade’. The other is Nephrite, a more common and less valuable mineral,  found in various parts of the world including Southeast Asia, New Zealand, Western Europe and both American coasts. 

Jadeite, on the other hand, hails from Myanmar. In fact, more than 90% of the world’s Jadeite are mined from Myanmar, not China. Traditional Chinese jade or ‘Yu’ typically refers to nephrite as there are no jadeite deposits in China. 

Jadeite

Top quality jadeite is rare. And it doesn’t only come in green shades. Jadeite comes in many colors including lavender, red, orange, yellow, brown, white, black. The most common color is a pale green. An emerald green, or what we call imperial jade, is the most valuable of all, wowing with its rare translucency.

Nephrite

Nephrite is more common than jadeite and is therefore less valuable. However, Nephrite is also accepted as jade internationally in the gem industry. Nephrite comes mainly in gray and white, and occurs also in yellow, brown, light to dark green. Generally, Nephrite colours are not as vibrant as Jadeite.

Now that you know the difference between Jade and Jadeite, the next time someone tries to tell you that Jade is Jade, feel free to tell them what you’ve learnt! 

Curious to know what is a Type A/ Type B jade and all its different grades? Find out here.

Photo by 五玄土 ORIENTO on Unsplash