J A D E I T E

 

Hardness 6,5-7

 

Jadedite is a very tough stone.  It occurs in many colours : brown, blackish, violet, green, reddish, yellow and even white. The most valuable is the imperial jade, which is a good emerald green colour.  It is translucent and comes from Burma. It would be very easy to mistake it for a cabouchon cut emerald. Recently at an auction in London, a strand of 8mm round imperial jade beads obtained a price of one million pounds, just to put into perspective its commercial value.