About nephrite
Know the stone.
What nephrite is, why we chose it, and what makes it fine.
Natural nephrite jade
The brand exists for one reason: to place fine natural nephrite jade in the hands of people who will wear it for a lifetime. Everything we make answers to three principles — respect for nature, authenticity, and lasting value.
Each piece begins as natural nephrite jade chosen with patience — color, grain, luster, character. We do not chase artificial perfection; exceptional jade should keep the quiet reserve nature gave it.
So we do not over-polish. We do not dye, bleach, or impregnate the stone, or cover its natural character in any way. Everything serves one end — to bring forward the beauty that was in the stone all along.
Why nephrite
Nephrite is not a single crystal but a rock: a dense mass of microscopic amphibole crystals of the tremolite–actinolite series, a calcium-magnesium-iron silicate. It forms in the earth's crust, where hot, mineral-rich water works along faults and the boundaries between rocks, reacting with the stone around it at a few hundred degrees Celsius and low to moderate pressure; there, countless fibrous microcrystals grow and interweave into one felted stone. Some deposits are hundreds of millions of years old. That interlocking structure is what makes nephrite one of the toughest natural stones: at 6–6.5 on the Mohs scale it is not the hardest, yet it is extraordinarily difficult to break, and polishing brings up a soft, quiet luster. The word "jade" in fact covers two stones — nephrite and jadeite — and nephrite is the one at the heart of our work.
For thousands of years, nephrite has stood in Eastern culture for purity, integrity, resilience, and harmony. Its beauty does not announce itself; it is a matter of depth, not dazzle. Where other gemstones are prized for the light they give at first glance, fine nephrite is a stone for the long run — to live with, day after day and year after year. That is why it has long been passed from one generation to the next.
Its standing reaches well beyond the jade trade. When the medals of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games were made, natural nephrite was inlaid in them — chosen to stand for honor and harmony.
Nephrite beside the others
Numbers explain what the hand already knows. Set beside the stones it is most often compared with, nephrite stands apart in one measure above all — toughness — and speaks more softly in every measure of shine.
| Nephrite jade | Jadeite jade | Rock crystal (quartz) | Sapphire (corundum) | Diamond | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mineral family | Amphibole — tremolite–actinolite series | Pyroxene (jadeite) | Quartz (SiO₂) | Corundum (Al₂O₃) | Diamond (C) |
| Structure | Felted, interlocking fibers | Interlocking granular crystals | Single crystal | Single crystal | Single crystal |
| Mohs hardness | 6–6.5 | 6.5–7 | 7 | 9 | 10 |
| Toughness | Exceptional — tougher than jadeite | Exceptional | Good | Excellent | Good — cleaves under a sharp blow |
| Density (SG) | 2.90–3.03 | 3.30–3.38 | 2.65 | 3.95–4.10 | 3.52 |
| Refractive index | 1.606–1.632 | 1.666–1.680 | 1.544–1.553 | 1.762–1.770 | 2.417 |
| Luster (polished) | Waxy to vitreous | Vitreous | Vitreous | Vitreous to subadamantine | Adamantine |
| Transparency (species range) | Translucent to opaque | Semi-transparent to opaque | Transparent | Transparent to opaque | Transparent |
Hardness resists scratching; toughness resists breaking. Nephrite's felted fiber structure places it among the toughest of all natural gem materials — the reason it can be carved thin, worn daily and handed on — and, as a polycrystalline aggregate with a lower refractive index, it gives a soft, deep luster rather than sparkle. Figures are standard gemological reference ranges; individual stones vary.
What makes fine nephrite
Fine nephrite is judged first by its flesh: a grain so fine the surface reads as one continuous substance, dense and solid in the hand, with the quiet, almost waxy luster the stone is prized for — warmth, not glassy shine.
Colour comes second: whatever the shade, it should sit evenly in the stone rather than on it. And the stone must be honest — untreated, undyed, its natural flecks in plain view. A mark nature left is a signature, not a flaw.