Jade Stone of Royalty

Jade A Semi-Precious Stone of Royalty

Jade is a stone of royalty. Jade jewelry has traditionally been a prized possession. It is a fine beautiful semi-precious stone, symbolizing perfection, constancy and immortality. Jade became associated with royalty and high status because it was worn by nobility. Some believe jade keeps the wearer from harm and brings harmony and attracts good luck and friendship.

Natural colors of jade include lavender, red and yellow as well as black, white and ice. Black jade is actually a very deep green with a high iron content, while ice jade is the result of fused jade crystals. Good quality, deep black jade is becoming difficult to find, and the price of white jade has soared recently. The majority of jade comes from the mountains and riverbeds of Myanmar/Burma. A growing demand has driven prices way up. In November 2007 a piece of raw jade weighing 3.6 kilograms was auctioned off at the record price of $201,500. in Beijing .

The 2008 Olympic Game medals increased awareness of the stone since the gold, silver and bronze medals incorporated jade in their design.

The gold medal was a fine white jade, the silver medal had a slightly darker shade of jade in it and the bronze medal had green jade. Olympic organizers produced 2,000 plus replicas of the jade seal of the Beijing 2008 emblem, which was sold to the public at 56,000 Yuan ($7,500) each.