About Jade

About Jade

Jade, Jadeite, Nephrite, Greenstone and Pounamu are just some of the names given to this semi-precious Green Stone revered across many cultures for thousands of years. Credited with an array of highly desirable properties aside from its inherent geological ones, Jade is as highly-prized today as it was by the ancients some thousands of years ago.

The origin of the word nephrite comes from the Greek word nephros meaning kidney. The semi-precious stone was ground up and taken as a paste by sufferers of kidney stones, nephritis. Others wore jade charms to protect the kidneys as well as liver, spleen, heart, larynx, thymus and thyroid. New age books on healing crystals still credit jade with the ability to strengthen the kidneys and assist with bladder problems.

Jade is the name loosely used to describe both nephrite and jadeite. Whilst similar in appearance, these two gemstones are quite different in both chemical and structural make up.

Difference between Nephrite and Jadeite

Nephrite is essentially a calcium silicate composition with varying amounts of iron. Extremely tough, the stone is made up of densely interwoven fibres that will bend before breaking thus giving it an incredible toughness as well as a hardness equivalent to steel. Despite this strength and hardness, those who work closely with nephrite often describe it as having a waxy, soapy, talc-like or rich, resinous feel.

Somewhat rarer than nephrite, jadeite’s interlocking granular structure of tiny sodium aluminium silicate crystals make it even harder than nephrite. Jadeite carvings are characterised by rounded edges; jadeite cannot be worked to a sharp point or edge the way fibrous nephrite can, and is more easily broken or chipped due to its crystalline structure. This hardness dictates that both nephrite and jadeite need high-speed diamond cutting tools; a far cry from the traditional labour-intensive methods used when carvers employed loose grit or sandstone to wear away the stone.

History of Jade

While commercial mining of Jade Stone is carried out in a number of countries including New Zealand, Australia (Black Jade), Canada, Russia, China, Taiwan, Poland, India and the US (California, Wyoming and Alaska), the history of Jade Stone extraction goes back many thousands of years.

There is evidence that the indigenous Siberian people of Russia fashioned Nephrite implements as far back as 8000 years ago whilst the Chinese use, and notable appreciation, of Nephrite can be traced back to the Neolithic (New Stone Age) period that began about 9500BC. Nephrite, from the Kunlun Mountains on the Tibetan Plateau (in what was originally Turkestan), was carved by the Chinese for more than 5000 years until they learnt of Burmese jadeite in the 18^th Century and began importing it from Mogaung, in the rugged mountainous region of northern Burma (now Myanmar), in 1784. Despite often being called Chinese Jade, no Jadeite has ever been mined in China. Although Myanmar is now the world’s main source of high grade ‘gem quality’ Jadeite, it is also found in Japan, Russia, Guatemala in Central America, and California in the US.

Esteemed by the Chinese throughout recorded history, many Chinese still believe Jade strengthens the body through life and protects one after death.

Click here for more »

The Cutting and Carving Process

Today as in ancient times, Jade carving is a painstaking and exacting art form and care must be taken not to shatter the stone or make wasteful cuts. A carver first needs to study the ‘heart of the stone’ to see where its strength and beauty lie in terms of colour, clarity and patterning, then work to illuminate the best of those elements within a piece.

At Mountain Jade, boulders are sawn into blocks then slabs using diamond saws. When the shape of the finished object is decided, a template is marked on the stone then a small trim saw is employed to cut the rough shape. Next a grinding wheel is utilised to pre-form the shape before it goes to the carver’s bench where a high speed air tool running at 80,000 RPM slowly forms the final shape. Pre-polishing is done on a diamond cloth wheel whilst increasingly finer grades of sand paper and a buffing machine bring the finished item to Nephrite’s well known gleaming lustre.

Does Jade have Healing Properties?

The belief that wearing, using and even eating Jade will bestow health, wealth and good fortune stretches back into antiquity.

The origin of the word Nephrite comes from the Greek word ‘Nephros’ meaning kidney. In medieval times, Nephrite Jade was ground up and eaten as a paste to give relief to sufferers of Nephritis (kidney stones). Others wore Jade Charms to protect the kidneys as well as liver, spleen, heart, larynx, thymus and thyroid.

Known as the ‘Stone of the Loins’ in China, Jade has been esteemed by the Chinese throughout recorded history. In ancient times Jade was believed to have had strong medicinal powers, and many Chinese still believe jade strengthens the body through life and protects one after death.

Jade was used to fashion religious items as well as things like burial suits and grave furnishings for high-ranking persons as early as 6000 BC. Due to the belief that breathing through Jade would bestow longevity on the smoker, jade was a favoured material for the mouthpieces for opium pipes. Eating crushed Jadeite to improve the flow of ‘chi’ was also fashionable amongst very wealthy Chinese.

The ancient peoples in Mexico and Central America also thought that wearing jade would increase body strength and aid longevity.

Russian astrologers believed Nephrite is connected with personal belief systems and rebuilding of life. A Carved piece Nephrite as a present is still considered to be a sign of special love, friendship, eternal gratitude and favour.

Contemporary New Age books on healing crystals credit jade with the ability to strengthen the kidneys and assist with bladder problems, whilst those who practise Gemstone therapy believe Jade stimulates creativity and mental agility and also has a balancing and harmonising effect.

Books detailing the history and properties of crystals and stones report that Jade has the capacity to attract abundance and prosperity (Jade trees are the ultimate symbol of prosperity to followers of Feng Shui) as well as bring peace and kindness.