Would you mind letting us know the approximate size of the jade cabochons please as it's difficult to gauge from the photo. Do you know if the gemstone is Jadeite or Nephrite? And would you like me to move your submission to YOUR FAVORITE JEWELRY Forum?

Both Jadeite and Nephrite are referred to as JADE. However JADEITE is much more valuable. It is harder than Nephrite on the MOHS SCALE, fractures more easily and has a GLOSSY appearance.

The most valuable is translucent in color and emerald-green and called IMPERIAL JADE.

It is suitable for making intricate objects, beads, or cabochon cuts. When polished Jadeite's surface has a slightly dimpled appearance.

If you are thinking of investing in Jadeite, be on the look out for - Jadeite TRIPLETS, it is hard to detect. It is a composite stone, made by cementing three cabochons of White Jadeite bonded with a green jelly-like cement. When set, so that the join is not visible, the deception is difficult to detect.

When purchasing jade, quality is determined by the degree of translucence, cleanness of color, and purity of color.

'The wise in Chinese culture likened jade to virtue. For them, its polish and brilliancy represent the whole of purity; its perfect compactness and extreme hardness represent the sureness of intelligence; its angles, which do not cut, although they seem sharp, represent justice; the pure and prolonged sound, which it gives forth when one strikes it, represents music.

Jade's color represents loyalty; its interior flaws, always showing themselves through the transparency, call to mind sincerity; its iridescent brightness represents heaven; its admirable substance, born of mountain and of water, represents the earth.

Used alone without ornamentation Jade represents chastity. The price that the entire world attaches to it, represents the truth. To support these comparisons, the Book of Verse says: "When I think of a wise man, his merits appear to be like jade."

Yvonne Hammouda-Eyre
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jadeite