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Jade Stone
Chemical Formula: NaAl(Si2O6)
Mineral Name: Nephrite or Jadeite
Color: Shades of emerald green as well as white, gray, yellow, orange and violet
Hardness: 6.5 - 7.0
Specific Gravity: 3.25-3.36
Introduction
Jade is an ornamental stone used to define two different minerals having similar appearance but different chemical composition. The two minerals that the word incorporates are jadeite (silicate of aluminum and sodium) and nephrite (silicate of calcium and magnesium). The most purest form of jade that is the most adorable is Chinese Jade which is also known as Jadeite. Deposits of Jade is mainly found in the regions of United States, Canada, Australia and Taiwan.
Appearance of Jade Stones
Mainly, jadeites are of bright green color beads. These rarely found jade beads are extremely beautiful. In jadeite beads, the degree of translucency is higher than the average translucency of entire jade stone beads family. Jade beads are available in a wide range of colors and color combinations. These color shades include green, gray, pink, yellow and brown. Sometimes, these beads displays cloudy and milky appearance with very small black spots. Jade beads can either be opaque or translucent depending upon the chemical composition of the minerals from which these have been derived.
Nephrite beads, in comparison to the Jadeite beads, are less expensive and possess a long range of colors. Both types of jade beads are tough and strong. Nephrite beads are more stable than the jadeite beads. Jadeite is almost never found in individual crystals and is composed of microscopic interlocking crystals that can create a very tough material. Nephrite is actually not a mineral, but a variety of the mineral actinolite. The nephrite variety is composed of fibrous crystals inter-twinned in a tough compact mass. Nephrite is usually only green and creamy white, while jadeite can have the full range of jade's colors.
Popularity of Jade Stones
Jade has resistance to breakage and chipping and due to its toughness it was made a superior weapon and tool for early man. It has popularly become a symbolic stone used in ornaments and religious artifacts. Valued for its beauty, Jade is highly sought after by artwork collectors. Jade has a warm, approachable and desirable appearance, admirable for both its simplicities and complexities. The Chinese consumed powdered jade as a medical remedy for just about every ailment known. It was also consumed by the dying, as a powerful embalming solution. Jade is mined in the regions of Canada, Australia, United States and Taiwan.
