Last month we talked about Turquoise, this month we are talking about Jade!

There are two types of Jade: Jadeite and Nephrite. Nephrite is usually the more desirable and valuable. The important property of all Jade is its toughness. Toughness in this context is the opposite of brittleness, and is a quite different property to hardness, which is simply resistance of a material to scratching. Diamond is the hardest substance in the world, but Jade is the toughest!

Jadeite varies from white or near-colorless, to various shades of green (including an emerald green, named 'Imperial' and considered the highest grade), to lavender, yellow, orange, brown and black. Occasionally, but rarely it may even be blue.

Nephrite is the sort of jade that is used most often in carvings, including the ancient Chinese carvings that many people associate with the stone. Nephrite ranges in color between white, cream, and dark green.

Most of the Jade found in the United States is of the Nephrite variety though Jadeite has been found in Cloverdale and San Benito County, California.

While good Nephrite jade is found in California, the majority of it is lower quality. The majority of good-quality stones at the surface level have been collected in a lot of areas. In Northern California, you can still find jade in Eureka, in the gravels in the Trinity River near Willow Creek; in Siskiyou County, the area of jade mines north of Happy Camp; and in Mendocino County, along the Eel River.  Also, in Monterey County, you can go to the beaches near the mouth of Limekiln Creek or south of the mouth of Willow Creek to find superb jade specimens. And in Southern California, jade is found in San Luis Obispo County. Californian Jade can also be found on the ocean beaches in the Big Sur region.

Jade was once found in Central Wyoming in abundance. It was considered to be one of the finest Nephrite Jades found and was found in several colors from white to black, but mostly green. Unfortunately, the sources are limited now.

In northwestern Alaska the Jade Mountains’ creeks and gravels are filled with gem-quality nephrite specimens. The Kobuk River jade deposits are among the largest nephrite occurrences in the world. Jade has been mined here commercially since the 1940’s.

Nephrite Jade has also been found in Wassau, Wisconsin; in Skagit County, Washington and in Curry County, Oregon.