Jadeite Gemstone: Properties, Meanings, Value & More

Jadeite is one of the two gemstones referred to as “jade.” The other stone is nephrite, which has a similar appearance but different properties.

What is the difference between jade and jadeite? All jadeite is considered jade, but jade gemstones can be jadeite or nephrite.

Is jadeite a rare stone? Yes, especially high-quality specimens.

Today, we’ll explore jadeite’s properties, meanings, history, pricing, and more!

About Jadeite Stone

Jadeite is a semi-precious gemstone and historical March birthstone. As a zodiac stone, jadeite benefits Pisces, Virgo, and Taurus. It’s also the traditional 12th wedding anniversary gem.

But what is so special about jadeite? One beloved quality is that jadeite’s fine crystalline structure produces a translucency that looks like there’s water inside the stone.

Jadeite Specifications & Characteristics

As a mineral, jadeite is in the pyroxene group. However, the mineral form is rare and usually tiny, so jadeite-rich rocks (like jadeitite) are used to create most gems.

Jadeite rocks are typically granular with interlocked crystals, making jadeite gems incredibly durable. The interlocked structure makes jadeite extremely tough, even more shatter-resistant than diamonds.

Which is better: jadeite or nephrite? Jadeite comes in more and brighter colors, but nephrite is more affordable. Our guide on the differences between nephrite and jadeite goes over jadeite vs nephrite in-depth.

Jadeite’s properties listed:

• Mohs hardness: 6.5-7

• Color: Usually shades of green or white; Can be colorless, white, yellow, red, orange, purple, yellow-brown, yellow-green, gray, black, or blue

• Crystal structure: Monoclinic (in rare mineral form)

• Luster: Vitreous (glassy), sub-vitreous, or pearly

• Transparency: Translucent to opaque

• Refractive index: 1.64-1.667

• Density: 3.24-3.43

• Cleavage: None

• Fracture: Splintery

• Streak: White

• Luminescence: Fluorescence & X-Ray colors present; Pale-colored specimens sometimes white in LW-UV; Pale yellow and mauve specimens sometimes intensely blue-violet in X-rays

• Pleochroism: None

• Birefringence: 0.012-0.020

• Dispersion: None

Pictured above: Maw Sit Sit

Types of Jadeite

Stones considered jadeite varieties include:

• Chloromelanite: Opaque, dark green to black jadeite OR outdated name for omphacite

• Omphacite: Mineral between iron-bearing diopside and jadeite; May contain aegirine, augite, and jadeite

• Maw Sit Sit: Rock with black and green veining exclusive to Myanmar; Composed of albite, jadeite, and other minerals; AKA “jadeite-albite”

• Turkiyenite: Turkish purple rock (typically with white spots) that’s mostly purple jadeite with quartz, orthoclase, and other minerals; AKA “Turkish purple jade”

• Jadeitite: Rock almost entirely composed of jadeite

Jadeite Meaning & History

Jadeite symbolizes luck, eternity, and balance. Throughout history, jadeite has been most significant in Chinese culture.

In the ancient Chinese art of Feng Shui, jade represents prosperity, harmony, and tenderness. Jadeite also represents mental clarity, spiritual purity, and wealth in Chinese culture.

Chinese jade carvings have their own meanings:

• Dragon: Strength, success, goodness

• Bat: Joy

• Butterfly: Longevity

• Peach: Immortality

• Bi (circular disk with center hole): Heaven

• Cong (square vessel with round interior): Earth

They also believe jadeite connects the living to the dead, or heaven to Earth, using it in Chinese funeral and mysticism rituals.

Pictured above: Bi jadeite carving shape

History

Before becoming a gemstone, jadeite was used in Europe during Neolithic times (3,500-2,000 BC) for weaponry. Europeans wouldn’t start using jade again until the 1500s, when Spaniards brought back green gems from South America.

Jadeite had been used for jewelry and ritual objects by Aztecs, Mayans, and Olmecs.

The Spaniards called them piedras de yjada, meaning “stone of the side” after the belief that Aztecs used the stones to treat kidney problems. The term yjada eventually became “jade” in English.

Jade carvings and ritual objects in China also go back to Neolithic times, but they were all nephrite. Jadeite (from Burma, present-day Myanmar) wouldn’t be introduced until the 1700s.

Chinese artisans actually distinguished the two, calling the former fei-ts’ui and the latter yu. But the two stones weren’t officially differentiated until French mineralogist Alexis Damour analyzed them in 1863. This distinction led to the term “jadeite.”

The most expensive jadeite jewelry is the Hutton-Mdivani Necklace, sold by Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton in 2014 for $27.4 million.

Now, what is jade used for in crystal healing?

Jadeite Healing Properties

Jadeite has been a healing stone for centuries. Green jadeite, like other green gemstones, is a powerful heart chakra stone.

What is jade good for physically?

Physical Healing

Purported physical jadeite stone benefits include treating:

• Cardiovascular health

• Hormone imbalance

• Fertility issues

• Infections

Emotional Healing

Emotionally, jadeite can reveal your truest desires and energize you to make them a reality. It’s also said to help you work through trauma or emotional wounds to reach acceptance.

Jadeite Gemstone Properties

Jadeite’s value is most dependent on its color, size, and origin. However, texture, treatments, cuts, and transparency are also significant factors.

Color

Typically, jadeite’s color is its number-one value factor. Shades of green are most valuable, with “imperial jade” being priciest. Popular jadeite greens are:

• Imperial Jade: Purer green than emerald, medium-dark tone, saturated; Ideal coloring sometimes called laijao or “chili pepper”

• Apple Green / Xim Keng Zhong: Lighter green with yellow undertones

• Flower Green / Huã Qing Zhong: Mottled pattern of bright, light, and dark greens, sometimes with white patches

The second most valuable color is lavender, especially with pink undertones.

The third most valuable is “ice jade,” colorless and ideally transparent. Green or purple undertones present create “melon jade.”

The most affordable colors are brown, gray, and black.

What is the rarest color of jadeite? Blue jadeite is the rarest color.

Color-zoning decreases jadeite’s value, though most stones are mottled. Natural specimens with more than three colors are valuable.

Cut

Jadeite is rarely faceted. The most valuable cuts use the most rough, like bangles. Most high-quality jadeite specimens become cabochons. Long strands of jadeite beads can be quite valuable, since finding matching colors is difficult.

Valuing jadeite carvings is dependent on the piece’s age, intricacy, and origin. Designs that would be infeasible on other gems can be done on jadeite given its toughness and lack of cleavage.

Clarity & Transparency

Only colorless jadeite can be transparent, which is highly valued. Higher translucence creates a moonstone-like internal glow and higher value.

Certain inclusions can increase or decrease jadeite’s value. If they’re black or lower transparency, value decreases. Colored inclusions on white jadeites or silky tubes can increase value. Fractures decrease value.

Texture

Jadeite texture can be fine, medium, or coarse. Fine-grained jadeite is stronger with the desirable “wet” translucency. Medium or coarse texture decreases value. Black jadeite’s value is largely dependent on its texture.

Carat Weight & Size

A lot of jadeite jewelry isn’t valued per-carat but on overall size and quality. Larger jadeites — even 5 carats — of good-quality are valuable.

Treatments

Jadeite is treated more often than nephrite, but both receive treatment-related Type grades:

1. Type A: Natural, untreated except sometimes wax coating

2. Type B: Bleach (acid soaking) and polymer impregnation

3. Type C: Dyed

4. Type B+C: Bleach and polymer treatments plus dyed

Any treatments besides wax coatings lower jadeite’s durability and value. For reference, Type B jadeite’s price will be around 5-10 percent of the price of an equivalent Type A jadeite.

Other treatments for jadeite include foil backing or composites (doublets or triplets).

Synthetics & Simulants

Synthetic jade exists but not as commercial gems. “Synthetic jade” gems are probably simulants.

Common simulants are:

• Calcite

• Idocrase (Vesuvianite)

• Aventurine

• Serpentine

• Hydrogrossular garnet

• Dyed marble

• Glass

• Plastic

How can you tell if jadeite is real? Our guide on how to test if jade is real has great tips!

Jadeite Formation & Sources

Jadeite, like nephrite, forms in metamorphic rocks. However, jadeite formation requires higher heat and pressure deep underground, only emerging from earthquakes or erosion.

As such, most jadeite deposits occur near or on faults in serpentine rocks or alluvial boulders.

Mining Locations

Where is jadeite found? The top source is Myanmar, producing around 70 percent of the world’s high-quality jadeite.

Gem-quality jadeite also comes from:

• California, USA

• France

• Guatemala (blue jadeite)

• Italy

• Japan

• Kazakhstan

• Mexico

• Russia

• Turkey

But what is jadeite worth?

Jadeite Price & Value

Burmese Imperial jade is the highest-quality and priciest type.

Untreated jadeite prices per carat:

• Imperial Jadeite (Burmese): $400 per carat (below 2 cts); $500 per carat (2-10 cts)

• White Jadeite (Burmese): $90 per carat

• Jadeite (Non-Burmese): $100 per carat

Treated, non-Burmese jadeite starts at $9 per carat. Most mid-quality jadeite ranges from $70 to $400 per carat or higher.

Our jadeite cabochons range from $35 to $2,950.

Jadeite Care and Maintenance

Proper gemstone care depends on jadeite’s treatments. You can mechanically clean untreated jadeites, but only use warm water, mild soap, and a soft toothbrush on treated jadeites.

Can you shower with jadeite? Jadeite jewelry secured with epoxy can weaken with exposure to hot water.

Avoid the following with jadeite:

• Showering

• Swimming

• Mechanical cleaners (e.g. steam, ultrasonic)

• Harsh chemicals & acids

• Gardening or intense activities

• Intense heat

Store jadeite separately from other gems. Do NOT freeze jadeite.

Never Feel Jaded with Jadeite!

Jadeite is a gemstone steeped in history and lore, but it also offers toughness and beauty. Wearing jadeite is a great way to invite some luck and enthusiasm to your day-to-day life!

Buy jadeite gemstones today!