Is Jade and Jadeite referring to the same stone/material?

*This article talks about the common misconception of jade and jadeite in Singapore.

We often hear people use the term "玉"(jade) and "翡翠"(jadeite) interchangeably. In fact, there is a lot of misunderstanding on these two terms. At times, this can be a pricey mistake because people end up buying the wrong thing at the wrong price.

In general, since ancient time, the term Jade 玉,yu, has been used by Chinese to describe any stone that is beautiful. Thus, a beautiful piece of stone can be named according to the colour or based on the place of origin plus a word Jade 玉yu at the back. For example, beautiful stone in white is named White Jade 白玉, the ones in yellow is called Yellow Jade 黄玉; and those found in Hetian area of Xinjiang is called Hetian Jade 和田玉.

In recent times, geologist and gemologist have found that beautiful stones (aka Jade) can be sort into two broad categories: 1) Jadeite and 2) Nephrite. The former has a higher Mohs hardness (6.5 to 7.0), and is typically found in the Northern areas of Myanmar. The latter is softer in terms of Mohs hardness (6.0 to 6.5).

To sum up on the above. Jade is a broad category that includes both Jadeite Jade and Nephrite Jade. Whereas Jadeite Jade is more specific and typically refers to jade that has a moh hardness of 6.5 to 7.0.

Photo: Nephrite Jade (left), Jadeite Jade (right)

Additional Info:

Hardness is important, in particular for daily wear. Being harder meant that it is more durable for day-to-day wear. In fact, Natural Type A Jadeite aren't easily damaged or break from daily household chores. (Please do not deliberately damage it like how people test the toughness and durability of smartphones.)

As Jade can mean both Jadeite and Nephrite, thus it can be confusing. In TREASURECOVEONLYSG, we inform our customer the material of the item and encourage people to send their jade, jadeite and nephrite, pieces for professional certification.