Jadeite

Jadeite is exceptionally tough due to its interlocking granular structure, which resists breaking, chipping, or cracking, making it ideal for daily use.

Jadeite demonstrates a high degree of stability under most everyday conditions. It resists water, sunlight, and dryness well and can be cleaned easily. However, caution should be taken with heat and harsh chemicals.

Jadeite is the preferred version of Jade for producing carvings and ornaments. It is more rare than the other mineral commonly called Jade, and has at times in history been worth more than diamonds. It is used as an honored gift for birthdays, weddings and other special celebrations.

In ancient China, jadeite was prized as an "imperial gem" and was considered a symbol of status, spirituality, health and purity. Many other cultures and civilizations such as Maori, Aztec and Maya valued the stone. Maya people used it in their ceremonial rituals, while Maori would make precious objects out of it and pass them down to the next generation. In Central America, jadeite was also thought to have magical healing capabilities that could be wielded against various ailments.

Jadeite is reported from California, US; Myanmar; New Zealand; Guatemala; Itoigawa, Japan; other localities of jadeite include Kazakhstan; Russia; British Columbia, Canada; Italy and Turkestan.

Jadeite forms solid solutions with other pyroxene endmembers such as augite and diopside (CaMg-rich endmembers), aegirine (NaFe endmember), and kosmochlor (NaCr endmember). Pyroxenes rich in both the jadeite and augite endmembers are known as omphacite. Jadeite is formed in metamorphic rocks under high pressure and relatively low temperature conditions. Albite (NaAlSi3O8) is a common mineral of the Earth's crust, and it has a specific gravity of about 2.6, much less than that of jadeite. With increasing pressure, albite breaks down to form the high-pressure assemblage of jadeite plus quartz. Minerals associated with jadeite include: glaucophane, lawsonite, muscovite, aragonite, serpentine and quartz. Rocks that consist almost entirely of jadeite are called jadeitite. In all well-documented occurrences, jadeitite appears to have formed from subduction zone fluids in association with serpentinite. Jadeitite is resistant to weathering, and boulders of jadeitite released from the serpentine-rich environments in which they formed are found in a variety of environments.

The name jadeite is derived (via French: jade and Latin: ilia) from the Spanish phrase "piedra de ijada" which means "stone of the side". The Latin version of the name, lapis nephriticus, is the origin of the term nephrite, which is a different mineral that also shares the common name jade.