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View All Gems Find My Gem
View All Gems Find My Gem
Chinese Art
This carving first came from Tienjun in China. It weighs 127 grams (4.5 ounces), about as much as a small apple.
Using Colors
The artist carved this jade to show off the white and bright green colors.
Skin
Jadeite’s beauty hides under a crusty brown “skin,” when the surface of the jadeite becomes oxidized.
There are two minerals called jade: jadeite and nephrite. Jadeite has a brighter and clearer color than nephrite. Both nephrite and jadeite are tougher than steel. They come in other colors besides green, such as yellow and purple! Jade has been around for centuries – ancient people used it for tools, weapons, and art.
Colors
IMG - Gem Factoid Color - Green IMG - Gem Factoid Color - Yellow IMG - Gem Factoid Color - Orange IMG - Gem Factoid Color - Purple IMG - Gem Factoid Color - Gray IMG - Gem Factoid Color - Black IMG - Gem Factoid Color - Brown IMG - Gem Factoid Color - White
The stronger-than-steel jade not only comes in green, but also yellow, orange, purple, gray, black, and brown.
History

PREHISTORIC

Hundreds of thousands of years ago, Stone Age workers made jade into weapons, tools, and ceremonial objects. Imagine prehistoric humans carving jade in dim caves and huts!
Famous Jade
IMG - Jade Factoid 142983 200x200
Ancient jade burial suits were used for Han Dynasty royalty in China. This one is more than 2,000 years old.
Professor Gary Lee Todd, Ph.D.
what's in a name?
Jade
[jayd]
(noun) The Spanish brought jade from the America’s into Europe. Jade comes from the Spanish words for “stone of the pain in the side” because it was believed to cure kidney diseases.

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