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Colors:
Shades of greyed green, yellow, white and black
Durability:
Excellent: one of the toughest gems
Localities:
Canada, United States, Mexico, and Australia
Deposits in Rhotan, Yarkland in the Mountainous
Western China
The Jordensmishl Nephrite Jade Deposit in Poland
(Discovered by Herman Traube 1885)
Nephrite Deposits between Sestri Levante and Montererosso
in the Appenine Mountains in Italy
(Discovered by Kalkowsky in 1906)
Liguria Deposits in India
Several Deposits in Switzerland
(i.e. Salux, Val de Faller, Poschiaro, the Gottard Range,
the Honduas Area)
Nephrite Deposits near Usimaki in the Netherlands
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This
gemstone is often confused with:
Maw Sit Sit
Aventurine Quartz
Agate
Green Jasper or Bloodstone
Massive Green Grossular Garnet
Glass
Plastic
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Nephrite
Jade
Ca2(MgFe)5(Si4O11)2
calcium magnesium, iron silicate.
Nephrite
is a very tough mineral and was originally used in primitive
times to fashion tools such as axes, knives and clubs. The
mineral is abundant worldwide, being a metamorphic alteration
product of serpentinites. The Chinese have prized the nephrite
variety of jade more than any other gemstone. For over 3000
years, they carved flat discs with a central hole, termed
pi, from nephrite to worship heaven. Jade was equally
important after death, with pieces placed in the deceased's
mouth to serve as a heart in the afterlife. Two minerals
are both considered to be jade, nephrite and jadeite.
The latter was not discovered until the mid 1800s in Burma.
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