The Chinese call Jade "The Stone Of Heaven". They treasured Jade beyond any other stone. The Chinese centered their culture around Jade. Since Jade is a very hard stone (6.5) they found that it made a good tool like an ax head and other hammering and cutting tools since at that time, the tool choices were rocks, wood and crystals (no metals were known at this time).

The stone "Nephrite" is a stone found in China. It is a green stone that fooled the ancient Chinese and they treasured it as Jade. They did not know the difference between the two stones.

Nephrite is still sold as Jade. It is hard to know if a stone is Nephrite or Jade without tests. Nephrite is a softer stone (6.0). Nephrite is found in the NW area of China. The Chinese still cut and carve this stone today for the worlds market and many times it is mistaken for Jade. Besides the difference of the hardness between the two stones, there are also structured noticeably different from one another with Nephrite the fibrous structure of the stone is looser interwoven filtrons structure, whereas Jade (Jadeite) has a very tight interlocking granular structure.

True Jadeite is found in Burma, California, Guatemala, Russia, Japan, Hawaii, AND Switzerland. The Jadeite found in Burma is then cut and carved in many of the Asian countries like Burma, Thailand, and China and then sold. Jadeite from Burma was not introduced into the Chinese market before the late 1800’s. Replacement of nephrite by Burmese Jadeite came quickly as the preferred stone, due to the unique colors of the Burmese Jadeite (green, lavender, yellow and orange, and its greater translucent quality. Today Jadeite from Burma suggests fine quality Jadeite. This is why we travel to the oriental countries ourselves and hand select the Jadeite that we have made into our very own designed jewelry.

Because Jadeite is hard, durable and resistant to most chemicals, caring for this stone is safe and simple (soap and water will clean it nicely).

    QUESTIONS OF VALUE

The most important factors in determining the value of Jadeite is the color and transparency.

Color - From rich brilliant greens to deep lavender, these are the colors that
demand the highest prices.    

The more light that shines through the stone, the better is the  quality.

Here at orientaljadejewelry.com, we have devoted years to the Jade jewelry Business exclusively. We are not like other companies that order their jewelry from wholesale catalogs from China for their business. We personally travel to the Orient (Burma, Thailand, and China) and hand select the Jadeite that will be used in our products. We work very close with our factories in these countries to produce our own original designs along with the new and the classic oriental designs. When the products are completed by our Asian factories, they are shipped to us in the United States ready for sale to our customers.

You will buy with confidence knowing that you are buying from a well established company that has been in the Jade business for many years. We know Jade, we do our own buying, and sell direct to our customers.

This allows us to sell our customers fine quality Jadeite at the lowest possible prices on or off the Web.

   We sell only fine quality, all natural Burmese Jadeite.