Jadeite
Jadeite is a silicate mineral prized for its texture, translucency, and cultural significance, with known Chinese sources.
About Jadeite
Jadeite is a silicate mineral in the pyroxene group (clinopyroxene subgroup) and has the chemical formula NaAlSi2O6. It crystallizes in the monoclinic system and is one of the most visually varied minerals in the collector market. Its combination of structural character and global distribution make it a recognized species in both systematic and aesthetic collections.
Identification & care
Jadeite typically forms massive; rare prismatic crystals. Its color range is broad, including apple-green, vivid emerald-green (imperial jade — cr-bearing), white, pale green, lavender/violet, pink, yellow, orange, and black. The luster is vitreous, greasy, waxy (massive), the streak is white, and specimens range from translucent to opaque (most material); transparent (rare crystals). The cleavage is good on {110}, two directions at ~87°. The fracture is splintery, conchoidal, which aids identification.
Collector context
How it forms
Jadeite forms in high-pressure, low-temperature metamorphism (blueschist to eclogite facies) in subduction zones; found in serpentinites and blocks within subduction mélanges. It is commonly found in association with omphacite, glaucophane, lawsonite, serpentine, chromite, natrolite (as alteration).
Classic Chinese localities
Jadeite is widely represented across Chinese provinces, including Yunnan, Inner Mongolia, Jiangxi, Liaoning.
Why collectors care
Jadeite is central to Chinese material culture and is judged as jade, not as a crystal specimen. Collectors value fine pieces for dense fibrous fabric, quiet translucency, greasy luster, and a tradition of carving and connoisseurship spanning thousands of years. A good piece of jadeite feels cool, dense, and slightly greasy in the hand, with a quiet glow no photograph fully captures.
What affects value
Value in Jadeite is assessed, in typical order of weight, against: (1) verified source and historical provenance; (2) size and carvable volume; (3) color tone and evenness; (4) texture and compactness; (5) translucency and greasy luster; (6) polish response and surface quality; (7) workmanship on carved pieces. For culturally significant material, verified Hetian / Khotan provenance can weigh heavily beyond any single physical factor.
Naming history
The name Jadeite has a specific etymological and historical context — see Mindat's reference entry for provenance details. We have retained naming data at the record level; published prose is paraphrased from factual fields rather than copied from source.