Jade

A rare, usually emerald to light green but sometimes white, auburn, buff, or violet mineral, NaAlSi 2O6, used as a gem and for ornamental carvings.Translucent emerald-green jadeite is the most prized variety especially in Korea and China. Rarely they are also blue, lavender-mauve and pink in color, depending on mineralogy and the impurity of elements. It wasn't until 1863 that it was realized that the name "Jade" was being applied to two different minerals. Jadeite is almost never found in individual crystals and is composed of microscopic interlocking crystals that produce a very tough material. Nephrite is actually not a mineral, but a variety of the mineral actinolite. The nephrite variety is composed of fibrous crystals inter-twinned in a tough compact mass. Other actinolite varieties are quite different from nephrite. The toughness of jade is remarkable. It has a strength greater than steel and was put to work by many early civilizations for axes, knives and weapons. It was later that jade became a symbolic stone used in ornaments and other religious artifacts during the eons. Today jade is still valued for its beauty. Its many colors are appreciated, but it's the emerald green color (that jadeite produces so well) that is highly sought after by artwork collectors. This emerald green jade called "Imperial Jade" is colored by chromium. Other colors are influenced by iron (green and brown) and manganese is thought to produce the violet colors. Nephrite is usually only green and creamy white, while jadeite can have the full range of jade's colors. Nephrite and jadeite were used by people from the prehistoric for similar purposes. Both are about the same hardness as quartz, and they are exceptionally tough. They are beautifully coloured and can be delicately shaped. Thus it was not until the 19th century that a French mineralogist determined that “jade” was in fact two different materials. Nephrite can be found in a creamy white form as well as in a variety of green colors, whereas jadeite shows more color variations, including lavender, blue, pink, and emerald green colors. Of the two, jadeite is the rarer form, which hasn't been documented in anymore than 12 places worldwide. Jade may be enhanced (sometimes called "stabilized"). There are three main methods of enhancement, sometimes referred to as the ABC Treatment System:
 * Jade**
 * Type A ** jadeite has not been treated in any way except surface waxing.
 * Type B ** treatment involves exposing a promising but stained piece of jadeite to chemical bleaches and/or acids and impregnating it with a clear polymer resin


 * Type C ** jade has been artificially stained or dyed

History
The maori word for jade is pounamu. You can harvest this stone in rivers in New Zealand, especially the south island. More specifically you can find it in Wai Pounamu, also known as the green stone river. It is also known for being highly valued and is commonly given as a reward. People pride themselves on receiving the jade. There all all kinds of pendants that can be forged by the stone: fish hooks, kiwis, spirals, and etc. All the the shapes have different meaning. Jade has been used for carvings for a very long time and can be very cool.

Originally the Maori used the Jade for tools, weapons, and jewelry. The families would pass down the pieces of special jade to their daughters and so on. Warriors would also wear the jade into battle as a sign of victory, honor, and good luck. The victor in the battle would take the jade off the man he killed, as a trophy. He would then tale the jade that that mans wife wore to give to his own wife. Now days, jade is called the green stone. Black jade is thought to be found in NZ, that is not the case. It is actually found in South Australia.

There are also different types of jade, and each has their own name. 1) Inanga (Whitebait): Very pale green. 2) Totoweka: Very rare form of Greenstone – streaked or spotted with red. 3) Kohuwai: Called after the greenish moss growth in a slow running stream. 4) Kawa-kawa: Has a strong green color with varying shades throughout. 5) Kako-Tea: Dark green with black spots. 6) Kahurangi: Bright green with light streaks resembling rolling clouds.

There is also a video game that has an assortment of jade weapons you can use in battle. You can have green, blue, red, orange, black, white, etc.

Jade – a gemstone of unique symbolic energy, and unique in the myths that surround it. With its beauty and wide-ranging expressiveness, jade has held a special attraction for mankind for thousands of years. This gem, with its discreet yet rather greasy lustre, which comes in many fine nuances of green, but also in shades of white, grey, black, yellow, and orange and in delicate violet tones, has been known to Man for some 7000 years. In prehistoric times, however, it was esteemed rather more for its toughness, which made it an ideal material for weapons and tools. Yet as early as 3000 B.C. jade was known in China as 'yu', the 'royal gem'. In the long history of the art and culture of the enormous Chinese empire, jade has always had a very special significance, roughly comparable with that of gold and diamonds in the West. Jade was used not only for the finest objects and cult figures, but also in grave furnishings for high-ranking members of the imperial family. Today, too, this gem is regarded as a symbol of the good, the beautiful and the precious. It embodies the Confucian virtues of wisdom, justice, compassion, modesty and courage, yet it also symbolises the female-erotic. A visit to the jade market, be it in Hong Kong or Rangoon, or at one of the Hong Kong jade auctions organized by Christie's, can give some idea of the significance this gem has for the people of Asia.