Jadeite

Other Silicates & Gemstones

Jadeite is a sodium-aluminium pyroxene mineral and one of the two materials recognized as jade. In jadeite jade, tightly interlocking grains create exceptional toughness, while trace elements produce colors ranging from white and lavender to vivid green.

Identity

Material or variety: Jadeite
Scientific or material identity: Jadeite
Classification: Natural mineral or mineral variety
Aliases or trade names: Jadeite jade
Composition or formula: NaAlSi₂O₆
Crystal system or structure: Monoclinic
Geological or manufacturing origin: Can form in more than one geological environment, or combines several materials.
Mohs hardness: 6.5 to 7

Origins

Guatemala · Japan · Myanmar · Russia · USA

Appearance & optical properties

rich green semi-translucent jadeite with waxy luster.

History & discovery

The name ultimately comes from the Spanish piedra de ijada, or “stone of the side,” reflecting an old medicinal belief. Jadeite tools occur at Stone Age sites, while jadeite from Myanmar became important in China near the end of the eighteenth century.

Uses & care

Common uses: Jadeite jade is fashioned into cabochons, beads, bangles, detailed carvings, and decorative or ceremonial objects. Earlier peoples also made tools and weapons from jadeitite.
Handling and cleaning: Clean jadeite with warm soapy water or a soft cloth. Although its interlocking texture makes it very tough, it can still be scratched; unknown coatings or fillings also make gentle cleaning the safest choice.

Jewellery

6 pieces of Jadeite jewellery. Learners earn each one in DigMyGem by learning words; until then it shows as a silhouette.

Jadeite Cabbage
Jewel
A Qing-dynasty carving of a napa cabbage cut from a single half-white, half-green block of jadeite, with a locust and a katydid hidden in the leaves. It is one of the best-known treasures of the National Palace Museum in Taipei.
Imperial Bead Necklace
Necklace
Twenty-seven perfectly matched beads of imperial-green jadeite, strung from a single boulder and closed with a ruby-and-diamond clasp. It was worn by Qing court ladies as the crowning jewel of formal dress.
Gourd-and-Vine Pendant
Pendant
A small lavender jadeite gourd hung from a woven gold cord, its double bulge a wish for long life. The stone is carved so the pale skin of the jade becomes the gourd and the green rind becomes its curling vine.
Jade Mask of Pakal
Jewel
A funerary mask made of more than 346 pieces of green jade, found on the face of the Maya king K'inich Janaab' Pakal in his tomb at Palenque in 1952. It is now in the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City.
Photo: Wolfgang Sauber, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Mask of Calakmul
Jewel
A Maya funerary mask of fifty-seven green jade tesserae with white shell and obsidian details, made between 660 and 750 AD and found in a tomb at Calakmul. It is a masterpiece of late Classic Maya jade work.
Photo: Bernard DUPONT, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Hutton-Mdivani Necklace
Necklace
A jadeite necklace from the jewels of the heiress Barbara Hutton, who married Prince Alexis Mdivani in 1933. Long after, it sold at Sotheby's for 27.4 million dollars, a record.