Mineral Monday's #45 Jadeite

Did you know there are two different minerals called jade? One is Nephrite Jade, a calcium, magnesium and iron mineral. It has been used in China & Europe since Neolithic times. The other is Jadeite, which is a pyroxene mineral composed of sodium, aluminum and silicon. It was also used during the Neolithic Era in Japan. Both are jade, however jadeite is the rarer and more colorful of the two and what I want to talk about.

So how do you know which is which?

For the collector, layperson or fashionista, identifying real jadeite is a challenge. There are many stones out there that can "look" like jadeite, both natural and man made. Searching the internet only turns up 1 or 2 good sources on how to identify jadeite, so last night I made a youtube video. It was done on the fly so it may be a bit longer than it should have been, but I think it is helpful. You can watch it below or continue reading as to the method I was taught by the Japanese on how to identify jadeite.

There are several ways to identify jadeite, but there is one surefire way that I use, looking at the crystal structure under a 10x loupe. I was actually taught this by the Japanese in Itoigawa three years ago, but only recently have I become confident enough to say I know how to identify the mineral.

When looking at a piece of jadeite under good light and using a 10x loupe you will see something unique, flashes of light in the shape of crystals. The shapes are random and only certain ones will shine back at you, not the entire specimen. Have a look at the piece below. What you are looking for a small flashes of light, almost silvery.

Ok, now have a look at these three. You can easily see the reflecting light, the tiny silver/white spots.

Even now that you know what to look for it's still difficult. Other minerals will trick you into seeing flashes of light. That's why I always carry a piece of real jade with me if I am going to try to identify jadeite.

There are other tests that can help you identify jadeite like the scratch test. Nephrite jade can be scratched by steel, jadeite can't. You can reverse the test too, scratch the steel with jadeite. Nephrite jade won't scratch steel.

Jadeite is tough

As mentioned jadeite is a pyroxene mineral and it's tough. While not the hardest mineral, coming in at 6.5-7 on the Mohs scale, its crystal structure makes it extremely durable. Jadeite crystals interlock and grow over each other in random patterns and that makes it extremely strong. There is no single point of failure like many other crystals. If you have ever seen a piece of OSB board used these days to build houses with, it is similar to that. Shards every direction grouping together to form a strong material. This is one of the properties that made jadeite so useful, It is tough.

Jadeite is colorful

Another important property of jadeite is its color. Jadeite comes in white, several greens, blue, lavender, red and black. The green color comes mainly from chromium inclusions. I know the blue and lavender are the result of titanium inclusions, but I am not sure what causes the red and black yet. While the green and white are prized by the Chinese, I like the blue & lavender varieties.

Have a look at this gentleman's shop in Matsumoto between Tokyo & Itoigawa. He has some of the most incredible pieces of colored jadeite I've ever seen outside of a museum! https://www.itoigawahisui.jp/product-list/6

Jadeite is rare

Jadeite is found in Myanmar, Japan, Russia, California, New Zealand, Guatemala, Canada, Italy, Turkey and Kazakhstan. It may seem like a lot of countries, but even in those countries most of the jadeite is not gem quality. Japan is the only locality that produces all the different colors of jadeite. Here are a few pictures I took of Itoigawa, Japan the home of Japanese jadeite.

The Himekawa river that brings the jadeite down from the mountains.

The beach full of rocks. This is where you find jadeite

That's it for this post. I hope you learned something and maybe I have lit a rockhound fire in your soul. Next week let's look at another pyroxene mineral, Kosmochlor. See ya then.

Thanks for reading!

Further reading about Itoigawa - https://discover-itoigawa.com
A good resource of tests to determine is it's jadeite - https://www.wikihow.com/Tell-if-Jade-Is-Real
My old post about traveling to Japan's Jade Coast - https://steemit.com/travel/@rt395/travel-to-itoigawa-japan-the-jade-coast-and-japanese-benitoite

Sources used - Wikipedia & myself.

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