{"product_id":"1-412kg-b-grade-bc-nephrite-jade-rough-chunk","title":"1.412kg - B Grade - Nephrite Rough","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis 1.412 kg B grade nephrite chunk is rough BC jade from the Polar mine site, about 44 km east of Dease Lake in northern British Columbia. At Polar the jade forms as pods in serpentinized rock of the Cache Creek Complex. This piece is light green, with medium structure and no iron (black-dot) concentrations. Weathering is significant, and it has a live edge and cut faces.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eBritish Columbia Nephrite Jade\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin-top:16px\"\u003eBC jade is nephrite, one of the two true jades (the other is jadeite). Here's what that means at the bench.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHardness vs toughness:\u003c\/strong\u003e Hardness is not toughness. Nephrite is only 6 to 6.5 on the Mohs scale, so quartz grit will scratch a polish. But its toughness, how well it resists breaking and chipping, is near the top of all natural stones, about twice that of jadeite. That's because it's a mat of interlocked microscopic fibres, so a crack has no clean path to follow. It holds thin edges and fine detail.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eColour:\u003c\/strong\u003e BC jade is green, from almost inky dark to pale. Lower-quality material can look yellowish-brown but is still green. The green comes mainly from iron, and more iron makes it darker. Some BC jade contains black specks of chromite and other spinel-group minerals, and can include bright-green uvarovite, a chromium garnet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eQuality:\u003c\/strong\u003e Structure, meaning how tightly the fibres are woven, matters more than colour. A pale stone with sound structure can outrank a vivid green one full of fractures. On rough, weathering, freeze-thaw action and oxide buildup hide the true jade inside, which is why rough is windowed and cut.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhere it comes from:\u003c\/strong\u003e BC jade mined today comes from northern BC: the Cassiar, Dease Lake, Kutcho and Polar areas.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNephrite was the jade of ancient China, carved there since Neolithic times. In New Zealand, Māori have used it for centuries as pounamu.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThousands of years on, carvers still pick nephrite for the same reason: it's tough enough to take whatever you throw at it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eNote: All our rough is filmed or photographed both wet and dry. The wet view gives an idea of how the jade may look polished.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Jade Guys","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51507959136562,"sku":null,"price":105.9,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0689\/3722\/0402\/files\/1.412kg-BGrade-NephriteRough-2.jpg?v=1785002941","url":"https:\/\/thejadeguys.com\/products\/1-412kg-b-grade-bc-nephrite-jade-rough-chunk","provider":"The Jade Guys","version":"1.0","type":"link"}