Forest Green Nephrite Jade With Pyrite Keychain

This is a Forest Green Nephrite Jade with pyrite inclusions that I recently cut, polished and made into a keychain.

I purchased the rough material from a seller based in Washington State. This type of Nephrite is primarily green and black in color. What makes this type of Nephrite Jade unique from others is the pyrite inclusions throughout the stone. Pyrite is a iron sulfide mineral that is more commonly known as fools gold. The gold color throughout the cabochon is a result of the pyrite inclusions.

Nephrite Jade is one of two minerals that are considered Jade, Nephrite and Jadeite. Nephrite Jade is a metamorphic mineral often found at tectonic subduction zones where one plate is pulled under the other this usually occurs where an ocean plate meets a continental plate. The convergence creates extreme pressure and heat which transforms weaker minerals and can cause them to recrystallize as a stronger mineral like Nephrite. The west coast of the USA is a large subduction zone which is why you can find Nephrite Jade in California, Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia one of the worlds largest suppliers of Nephrite Jade.

Nephrite is considered the strongest naturally occurring mineral on earth. While Diamonds are the hardest mineral to scratch Nephrite is the strongest structurally do its interlocking crystal structure. You could hit a rough chunk of Jade with a hammer at full swing and odds are you would do little damage to the stone it is considered tougher than steel. At the same time Nephrite Jade is softer than many minerals only a 6 on the Mohs scale making it a workable material. For this reason Nephrite was often used by Native Americans for tools because of its durability and workability.

Authentic Jade has a distinct ringing sound when you tap it against metal. This is a good way to separate Nephrite from serpentine. Serpentine has a similar look to nephrite however it is softer and makes a dull sound when struck.

The most common color of Nephrite is Green but it can be found in Blue, Black, Yellow, Brown, and White depending on where its found.

The dimensions are 2.85"x 1.35"x .35"- .20" The weight is 28 grams.