unclestu
Cave Dweller
WINNER OF THE FIRST RTH KILLER CAB CONTEST UNCLESTU'S AGUA NUEVA AGATE
Member since April 2011
Posts: 2,298
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Post by unclestu on Apr 30, 2011 18:45:23 GMT -5
Hi everyone, I have a quick question. Is yellow jade and yellow jadeite one in the same mineral. My wife was interested in getting a piece of yellow jade and she saw a piece of yellow jadeite. So me being the rock hound in training she asked me what the difference was. So I said Dahhh. If some of the true and knowledgeable rock hounds on the forum can give this nube some information it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance
Stu
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unclestu
Cave Dweller
WINNER OF THE FIRST RTH KILLER CAB CONTEST UNCLESTU'S AGUA NUEVA AGATE
Member since April 2011
Posts: 2,298
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Post by unclestu on Apr 30, 2011 19:07:45 GMT -5
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Minnesota Daniel
freely admits to licking rocks
A COUPLE LAKERS
Member since August 2011
Posts: 891
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Post by Minnesota Daniel on Apr 30, 2011 21:15:06 GMT -5
The first sentence of that link is wrong. Jadeite is harder than nephrite. The rest of the description is correct (and contradicts the first sentence). They have an awesome Chinese jade collection at the Minneapolis Art Institute, and most pieces say which jade was used. The nephrite is waxy looking while the jadeite is glassy. Once you've compared a couple pieces you can recognize the difference from four feet away.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on May 1, 2011 14:57:56 GMT -5
Yep, the article is good except for that initial statement on hardness, I'd add that both forms of jade are composite materials that often have inclusions making them mixed hardness stones. Jadeite is more prone to being of more homogeneous composition and thus often takes a glassier finish with less difficulty. Two exceptions I've encountered are Washington Jadeite and the trade named Turkish Jadeite ( which is jadeite, quartz and other stuff) both of which can be mixed hardness and more difficult to polish. I've worked multiple types of nephrite too and it seems to me to be much more variable with the better grades from Canada, Alaska, Wyoming etc taking a good polish and some of the local California and Washington types of mixed hardness and included resulting in more difficult to work materials....Mel
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Minnesota Daniel
freely admits to licking rocks
A COUPLE LAKERS
Member since August 2011
Posts: 891
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Post by Minnesota Daniel on May 1, 2011 22:55:51 GMT -5
My first exposure to jade was when I lived in Guatemala 40 years ago. Guatemalan (Mayan/Olmec) jade is jadeite. Black jade was the type most used by the Mayans. I purchased a ring with a black jade stone from the jeweler pictured in this link: www.gsafweb.org/TrusteeNews/inguatemalaamoth.htmlI'd be a rich man if I had a nickel for every time I've explained that it isn't black onyx.
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