17: about jade

Dear Friend,

Today is hopefully a Happy Father’s day for all the Dads you know and love! How are you spending the day? Do you have Dad’s Day traditions in your family? I’m thinking of my Dad today and would have given him a little package of black licorice and a hug if he were still alive. Yes, to my Dad, black licorice was a perfect treat for any occasion, and a hug just makes everything sweeter.

My Dad loved to spend time outside in nature. And, because he was frugal and had an appreciation for naturally occurring things, he found humor in the way people tended to fix something that wasn’t broken, or upgrade to a more expensive model, such decisions made him laugh. I was reminded of his laugh this week as Frank and I visited the Monterey Bay Jade Festival.

The event includes an exhibit of jade work showcasing beautiful stones, carvings and jewelry.

Outside the gallery, there were several dozen artisans, all jade aficionados, showing and selling their jade wares.

But not all things that look like jade are actually jade; even if a stone is stunning to look at, it might not be very ‘valuable’ to a collector.

Now, I knew that, and so I kept testing myself to see if I could tell the difference between high-grade jade and some other material. For instance, a piece of jewelry that, to me, looked like it could be made of tinted glass might actually be a rare, jadeite necklace valued at over $3500.00. Incredible.  And, as we strolled along, I was reminded, time and time again, of my creative sense of value, and for that, I will have to thank my Dad.

Even though I might not be a seasoned jewelry expert, I do have my own sense of what I think is beautiful, and I think that nature is beautiful. And I think that nature is precious. Whether they were found in the depths of the ocean or high on a mountainside, it took these stones hundreds of thousands of years to become what they are now.

Some were polished in the ocean, tumbled, over a huge amount of time, in sand and water. Some are found on land, within a crust of other minerals and dirt, winded and weathered.

And, as is, (or perhaps after a bit of cleaning), these rocks can become natural statues that have within them a world of their own.

Our friend, Troy Burns, is a jade sculptor. Much of his work is about celebrating the natural state of the stone. His entry in the exhibition this year reminds the viewer of a mountain, and he chose this specific wood for a base, keeping the character of the stone in mind. I see in it a mountain island encircled by crashing waves, and I could stare at it for hours. It is like Japanese Suiseki, or, gazing stone, which celebrates nature within a natural stone. See more examples of Troy’s Jade work.

A jeweler or a geology expert might explain that there are two types of jade, nephrite and jadeite. And they might go on (and on) telling you the differences. Here is a very short explanation: What Is Jade?

In California, nephrite is the 'jade' that can be found, especially along the coast near Monterey. And there are many other beautiful rocks here, too, (and a lot of them look like jade). So, how can you know for sure if that pretty pebble you found really is jade? It turns out that without a lot of experience, very few people actually can.

Here’s a video that might help.  Jade vs Simulants

Nephrite can be green or green-yellow, creamy white, light to dark gray-black or even orangey brown. While jadeite can be any of those colors, it can also be a more vivid bright green known as ‘imperial green,’ or it can be shades of lavender, yellow, blue-green, and blue. It all depends on where and how the stone was formed and what types of minerals or inclusions might have accompanied the stone during formation.

This video explains a bit more about The Origins of Jade.

Well, though Frank and I would love to meet you in the park and talk about jade for the next three days, I’ll keep my writing short (you’re welcome)… but we do want to thank you for being here to read Tracks by the Post.

Please Write to us and let us know how your week is going and how you feel about fixing things that aren’t broken, or the beauty in every rock.. whatever comes to mind… we appreciate knowing that you are there and truly enjoy hearing from you!

Wishing you a naturally beauteous week ahead! (Go hug a Dad)!

Gently Be,

Leslie and Frank