Minerals & Crystals Codexery

Jadeite

A hard, tough pyroxene mineral forming the most valuable jade.

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Belonging to the clinopyroxene group, jadeite is a mineral that is both hard and extremely tough, and it is rarely encountered.[1] The most costly form of jade is jadeite jade; top-quality specimens can be sold for more than $200 per carat.[2]

Key facts and history

In the British Isles, more than 180 Neolithic axe heads have been discovered; these were crafted from jadeitite that was quarried in northern Italy.[3] At Itoigawa, Japan, numerous jadeite beads, axe heads, and remnants of Neolithic workshops have been excavated.[4] The Olmec and Maya peoples utilized jadeite sourced from Guatemala's Motagua Valley.[5] The first attempts to synthesize jadeite in a laboratory were made in the early 1950s.[6]

Because of the high difficulty and expense involved in synthetic production, no commercial-scale manufacturing has ever been achieved.[6]

What the research sources say

The 1993 "Manual of mineralogy" describes jadeite occurring with albite in metamorphic rock of the low-temperature, high-pressure blueschist facies at destructive plate margins.[7][8] That same source explains that jadeite can be told apart from nephrite because it has a vitreous luster when polished, along with a greater density and refractive index.[7][8] Sinkankas's work also mentions that jadeitite resists weathering, and alluvial boulders of it can weigh up to several tons.[9][10]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Jadeite" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sinkankas, "Mineralogy for amateurs.", Van Nostrand, 1964; Klein, "Manual of mineralogy : (after James D. Dana)", Wiley, 1993, p. 482–483, 598; "Glossary of geology.", American Geological Institute, 1997; Klein, "Manual of mineralogy : (after James D. Dana)", Wiley, 1993, p. 482–483, 598; Klein, "Manual of mineralogy : (after James D. Dana)", Wiley, 1993, p. 482–483, 598; Sinkankas, "Mineralogy for amateurs.", Van Nostrand, 1964 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Jadeite" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Klein Hurlbut 1993, p. 599; Desautels, "The Jade Kingdom", 1986, p. 9–11; Sinkankas, "Mineralogy for amateurs.", Van Nostrand, 1964; Austin, "Gemstones", US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines, 1994; "Jade", Springer Science+Business Media, 1991, p. 54 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Jadeite" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Jadeite axe-head", British Museum; "Jadeite axe", Wiltshire Heritage Museum; Barker, Graeme, "Companion encyclopedia of archaeology", Routledge, 1999, p. 378 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Jadeite" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kijima, "翡翠製大珠の加工と流通", Tateshinakougen.gr.jp; Pearson, "International Jomon Culture Conference Bulletin 1 2004 (English version)", Academia.edu (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Jadeite" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hargett, "Jadeite of Guatemala: A contemporary view", Gems Gemol, 1990, p. 134–141 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Jadeite" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Nassau, "A STUDY OF THE GENERAL ELECTRIC SYNTHETIC JADEITE", Gems & Gemology, Spring 1987, p. 27–35 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Jadeite" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Klein, "Manual of mineralogy : (after James D. Dana)", Wiley, 1993, p. 482–483, 598 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Open Library record, ISBN 047157452X ("Manual of mineralogy"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Jadeite" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sinkankas, "Mineralogy for amateurs.", Van Nostrand, 1964 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Open Library record, ISBN 0442276249 ("Mineralogy"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Jadeite (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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