California’s Clear Creek Jadeite Un-Masked
Clear Creek Jadeite From California
An Explanation Why
California Clear Creek Jadeite River-Worn Cobble
Clear Creek Jadeite Cobble From Kirk Brock's Old Claim
Many samples have been seen of California’s Clear Creak Jadeite at the various shows in California, one of which is the Big Sur Jade Festival. The Jadeite has been tested geologically and is mentioned in older, obscure periodicals, but to walk the area and pick up a piece of pretty colored stone does not necessarily mean one has found a genuine piece of California Jadeite. The stones we will be examining here were sent to us by Mr. Kirk Brock, of Rock Solid Jade, from an old claim he had been working prior to the California State shut-down of the area in which the Jadeite is found. While almost everyone of us Jade and Jadeite aficionados know the Jadeite from Burma-Myanmar and the Jadeite from Guatemala when we run across a good sample, this far less known but equally pure Jadeite from California has some properties shared with both aforementioned Jadeites, but is still unique and stands on its own in purity and complexity. This article will give us a brief synopsis of what Kirk asked me to provide from examination, and will also be the beginning of a topic on Jadeite and Nephrite that we have never seen written or discussed before – how fractured stones heal themselves. As can be easily discerned in the photographs above, this Jadeite shows it has not only been fractured but was practically decimated one or more times in what had to have been major catastrophic events which literally shattered this amazing deposit of one of the rarest stone in America.
Close-Up of Fractured - Healed & Healing Clear Creek Jadeite
Graph Of Jadeite 'Spikes' On California Crear Creek Jadeite
With such a shattered stone, it was a bit amazing when the stone tested out so pure. Kirk had sent a definitive sample to John Attard from Attard XRD Services for an X-Ray diffraction test, with the results seen above. Seeing such a once-fractured stone, I would have expected it to include many differing minerals, and the healed portions to be less Jadeite than the surrounding Jadeite. However, very much was different from my original assumptions upon first viewing the stone and later seeing the test above. With my own observations under microscopic conditions and a simple Presidium Gem Tester, new discoveries have been made and probably more will follow as it is examined more seriously by others. Now, much has been said about the Presidium from various different camps, and each and everyone who has either used the machine or just assumed an opinion based on cost, should know that I personally have a fair amount of respect for the machine, as we have worn out four of them and are working on our fifth. Having performed well in excess of two million ‘stabs’ on different Nephrites and Jadeites, among many other simulants, hemi- and semi-jades, we have found many consistencies and some anomalies in the machine, but even the anomalies are consistent (Steatite and ShouShan stone for some reason always test in the jadeite range, but knowing this, a simple viewing of the stone and a scratch test will verify these stones). While it is a single tool and only shows a piece of the puzzle, it does have its usefulness and is much more portable than hauling million-dollar equipment into the field, and with fairly pure Jadeite I have never seen it fail. All of our final analyses, especially with the differing nephrites, are done under microscopic examination. It is only when Jadeite falls below the approximate 65% pureness and is thick with other minerals, that the tester falls below the Jadeite mark. With the Clear Creek Jadeite, all areas fall exactly where I would expect, within the Jadeite parameters. With that said, what we found on the specimens of Clear Creek Jadeite under magnification and with the tester both bore each other out, and were perfectly in ‘sync’ with the testing results above.
Rough-Sawn Clear Creek Jadeite Slab
'Tumble Polished' Clear Creek Jadeite Large Pebble
In both of the pictures above we can easily see just how shattered these original pieces of Jadeite were, after whatever violent events took place. The amount of fracturing of the original dark blue Jadeite was extensive as can be seen by the many healed and healing fractures criss-crossing throughout. This effect is in all the pieces of Clear Creek Jadeite we have ever seen from differing sources. Some pieces we have handled are bluer, some are blacker and some are lighter, but the fractured qualities are always in every piece we have tested. What was not expected is what the X-Ray Diffraction tests prove out – the white and light blue veining are not only Jadeite but are of a purer nature than the surrounding original stone. As can be seen in the first photo above as the darkest of lines, and in the lower photo above in the more translucent white vertical vein, both contain pure crystals of Jadeite growing from the sides of the fractures in the ‘mother stone’ at varying rates, to in fact “heal the stone”. It is our opinion that these specimens of which we have taken photographs may have seen differing cataclysmic events in their history as some anomalies still remain, like some smaller veins being not totally healed, where other veins are not only healed but are starting to morph back into their original dark blue color from exchanging ions with the mother stone, after first growing to heal the damaged fractures. There are cases (as can be seen above) of older healed fractures running through newer fractures with clear, translucent crystalline growth (shown better in the microscopic photographs to follow) growing towards each other from both side of the fracture. [For those who might think we have gone too far here, please read on as we will also be showing 'witnessed' specimens by some of the finest jade collectors, gemologists, and artists, who work with the stone daily, of this same process in Guatemalan Jadeite, Burmese Jadeite and Wyoming Nephrite, with more promised specimens from other collections being sent for observation and photography, in a future article].
Clear Creek Jadeite Showing Large White Healing of Purer Jadeite
Lighter Colored Healed Fractures in Clear Creek Jadeite
All Above Photos Taken With Canon EOS XSi Using EF 24-70mm F/2.8L USM Lens
In the above two pictures we can clearly see the healed fractures, but what we can not see is the purity of the Jadeite in the fractures. With the Presidium Gem Tester we can easily tell the difference in purity, and subsequent conductivity, in the areas that are white and not contaminated with impurities which color the mother stone. In every case, the lighter the area probed, the higher the reading on the tester. In the case of the whitest areas with the most translucency, this stone will test to the same position on the meter as fine translucent Burmese Jadeite, and the translucent crystalline areas even higher. In the graph from John Attard you will also notice spikes that may correspond to the higher readings from the tester, but to be definitive, separate samples would have to be tested, and would probably be a fun thing to do for those selling this marvelous raw material.
Crystalline Clear Creek Jadeite Healing A Fracture Under 10X Microscopic Power
Surface Showing Particles On Rough-Sawn Slab at 25X Microscopic Power
In the first photograph above, we can again see just how much damage the original Jadeite has endured over time, and the first clear picture of the pure Jadeite crystals growing from both sides of a fracture to ‘heal’ the stone. In the lower left you can see part of the ‘rind’ from the outside surface of the slab where it has been penetrated by surrounding minerals in a damaged area, most likely from tumbling down the river in which it was found. In the second photograph above at 25X microscopic power, we can easily identify the typical ‘graininess’ of the Jadeite as opposed to the ‘felted’ fibers associated more with nephrite jade (although we have examples of Jadeite showing both the graininess typical to the stone with clear nephritic type fibers right next to each other – so, as with Nephrite, not all Jadeites are created exactly the same).
Pure Jadeite Crystals In Crear Creek Jadeite Under 25X Microscopic Power
California Clear Creak Jadeite Crystals Under 25X Microscopic Power
It from this part of the Clear Creek Jadeite (and other crystalline areas on other samples) where we got the highest Jadeite readings on the Presidium Gem Tester. Every time we probed these areas we found a much higher reading of conductivity than the surrounding bluer areas. The healed whiter and light blue areas also tested higher than the original darker blue matrix jadeite, exactly as the Burmese Jadeite tests with the pure white higher and translucent green emerald lower, because of the contaminants causing the darker colors. In all specimens observed where the crystalline structure could be noted (whether Jadeite or Nephrite), we have seen this exact pattern of growth from both sides towards each other. As we gather the other promised specimens, it should lead to a wonderful article devoted solely to this process of how Jadeites and Nephrites sometimes heal themselves.
Pure Jadeite 'Healing' Crystals Under 35X Microscopic Power
Healed Clear Creek Jadeite Showing Crystalline Structure Inside, Starting To 'Morph', At 35X Microscopic Power (Polished Piece)
Above Six Photos Taken With Canon EOS XSi Attached To Tri-Port Of Microscope
While the common current accepted theory is that there is no crystalline Jadeite, we do not accept this theory as ‘fact’. Through further and more intensive testing, we believe crystalline Jadeite will be acknowledged in the mainstream of geological knowledge. At the recent Jade Through the Ages Show at our Gallery in Tucson, Antiquities, Plus…, we were strongly encouraged to present this beginning article on this most fascinating of jade-related subjects, by some of the most respected jade people we know, who have seen for themselves what these specimens look like under microscopic conditions. It is only a matter of more definitive testing by those that are truly interested in the ‘final truth’ being known for the right reasons. Knowledge that can be shared freely will almost always lead to further knowledge being uncovered.
In closing, I would like to comment on the workability of this phenomenal Jadeite from the perspective of the carvers working the material. While I personally have limited experience in working this stone, I have found exactly what Kirk Brock of Rock Solid Jade and Peter Schilling of Taking Form Jade have told me of its properties. It is tight, hard, and works marvelously from the roughing stages clear through to the mirror-like polish it takes, even at six-hundred grit. My monolithic diamond tools find a sure surface to work on in the roughing stage, with the only caution needed being in the harder and whiter healed fracture zone, as I find it will skip a bit going over these fractures if not held steady. But overall, it is a wonderful stone to carve intricate shapes into, and with the amazing color variations, it makes a finished product that in the world of Jadeite is unique and beautiful to say the least, with very little undercutting experienced. Choosing the right portion of the Jadeite stone for the purpose intended will lead one to the desired results in a finished product. Also, I wish to thank Mr. Kirk Brock and all the other ‘interested’ parties who made this beginning article possible.
David Fredericks