chatoyant nephrite jade

Description

The nephrite jade from our recently discovered deposit in the West Australian Goldfields is composed of silicified/opalized tremolite-actinolite. Its green hues range from a deep emerald green to pale yellow-green, and it displays a high degree of chatoyancy, or sheen, similar to good quality tiger eye (silicified crocidolite) and not unlike silk. Similar material has been traded as “silk jade” or “pigeon’s eye jade”. To our knowledge, this chatoyancy makes our nephrite jade unique amongst Australian jade, and rare on a worldwide scale. Nephrite jade is remarkable for its toughness, which combined with its inherent beauty, has made it one of the most prized materials since antiquity, particularly in Asia. According to one gemmologist, material of this type and quality was last mined in larger quantities in China in ***0 BC.