Yellow Jade Views

Jewelry

True yellow jade refers to yellow nephrite, a variety of nephrite. It is one of the rarest types of jades, and can be as light as a lemon, or a dark golden color. They are found in Japan, Myanmar, Guatemala, California, and in some parts of Alaska. In China, it is mostly found at Ruoqiang of Xijiang, Qinghai, and Xiuyan of Liaoning. The jade mined from different locations show various features in color, degree of smoothness and some more. The yellow coloration is caused by ions getting into the crystal lattice, and the element tantalum, so it is the color of its own, that is of the original chromophore, rather than the secondary chromophore. This is an important base for judging yellow jade.

As a rare specie in nephrite, yellow jade has a long mining and employing history, and it continues today. Yellow jade has a long history of use as artifacts since the Neolithic. The value of high quality yellow jade with pure color is comparable to or even surpassed the mutton fat jade (white jade), and closely followed by more and more collectors.

Generally speaking, there were two time periods yellow jade was focused and used heavily, one is the Warring States Period to Han Dynasty, another Ming and Qing dynasties, especially during the Warring States to Han Dynasty, yellow jade was put in more centralized usage in many areas. So a lot of objects made of yellow jade discovered were from that time, typically ritual and animal based.

In China, yellow jade symbolizes wealth, good fortune, friendship, and loyalty. Golden colored yellow jade is mostly used for artifacts, it is also made as jewelry, such as necklaces, and large round-beaded bracelets. Some believe that jade can help a range of ailments including problems with the kidney, heart, larynx, liver, parathyroid, spleen, thymus, thyroid, bladder, and even eyes. Yellow jade is thought to aid poor digestion. Read more about Chinese Jade: Culture & Meaning.