For thousands of years the Chinese have prized jade and attributed mysterious qualities and symbolism to it. In China, jade is a symbol of admirable values such as wisdom, beauty, courage and compassion and it is said that jade will protect and bring good luck to a person wearing it or carrying it on their person.
This versatile stone is used in all sorts of ways: as a gemstone in jewelry, carved into figurines, formed into bowls and teapots, made into chopsticks and chopstick rests, inlaid in wood – the list goes on.
Jade is commonly associated with China, but this beautiful stone has been mined and valued in Burma, New Zealand and even Central America.
There are actually two kinds of jade, jadeite and nephrite. Throughout most of history there was no distinction made between the two, but during the 1800s the fact that there were two types of stones was recognized and their differences documented. Jadeite is a rarer, harder stone, with brighter colors and is the more costly of the two. We automatically envision brilliant green when thinking of jade, but it can be found in many more colors, including orange, lavender and black.
Quality is an important consideration when considering jade. The best jade will have a uniform color. Translucency is another important quality, and the more translucent the jade, the better.
The difficulty with jade is that it’s not easy for a novice to tell real jade from green glass, so its advisable to buy only from reputable dealers when purchasing jade.. The best way to learn to distinguish the true jade from the faux is experience – handling lots of jade and learning the look and feel of it.
Related links:
Read about the grading system used to determine jade quality
