Collection: Jadeite Jade

Jadeite has cultural significance and has been treasured throughout the ages. Chinese considered it the gemstone of royalty and a bridge between the spiritual and material realms.

Jadeite can be semi-transparent to opaque and comes in a wide range of attractive colors: many shades of green, yellow, and reddish orange, plus white, gray, black, brown, and lavender (often a light purple or light grayish violet):

Green: The most valuable color, with shades such as imperial jade (intense emerald green), kingfisher jade (slightly less vivid green), and apple jade (intense yellowish green)

Lavender: The second most valuable color, especially with pink undertones

Ice jade: Colorless and ideally transparent, and the third most valuable color

Melon jade: Green or purple undertones in ice jade

Brown, gray, and black: The most affordable colors

Other colors include red, orange, white, and violet, which can be caused by impurities of iron, chromium, or manganese. Coloration is often unevenly distributed, giving jadeite an interesting visual texture. Natural specimens with more than three colors are valuable, but color-zoning decreases jadeite's value.

Jadeite is hard and tough, with a Mohs hardness of about 6.5 to 7.0.