An Incredible Nephrite

From The Great North-West

And Jade Mine

While the world has heard about the famous (and now mostly depleted) “Polar Jade”, a close ‘cousin’ has existed, not far away, since the first finding in 1974 of a massive lens of this exquisite material. Lying on the north face of Ogden Mountain, approximately five kilometers north of the original famed Mount Ogden, British Columbian nephrite found by California school teacher Larry Owen in 1969, was a lens of approximately one thousand tons of high grade nephrite. The lens material consisted of pure nephrite ranging from the once more desirable light, translucent green to the darker green nephrite we will examine in this article. Now, for years, most people were led to believe that the lighter translucent green jade and jadeites were ‘the jades to own’, while other, more unique nephrite jades and jadeites languished, as the buyers abroad and even the carvers themselves set about standardizing the market for nephrite and jadeite, and instead, pigeonholed the market even more. Now, through the efforts of people like Kirk Makepeace of Jade Mine, and the modern carvers of jade who have expanded out of the ‘old school’, they now include in their inventory unique nephrite specimens that are starting to take the world by storm. Indeed, when people come to our “Jade Through The Ages” show, one of the most frequent comments many express is that they can’t believe jades come in so many different colors. Seeing the surprise and then the joy on their faces when they find a rare and unique carving made by one of these fantastic artists, which has turned an uncommonly colored jade or jadeite into a one-of-a-kind masterpiece with a unique rind and varying colors, whether opaque or translucent, shows that the world is starting to wake up again, as it once was in ancient China, to the many possibilities of these fantastic combinations. The incredible nephrite in this article is just such a stone, in a market that for years only demanded green, green, and green, and ignored the fabulous possibilities of other jades and the unique characteristics they each hold.

This wonderful jade from the British Colombian fields proves very difficult to photograph when in its polished state, as it truly takes on a mirror-like shine. The color of the jade also changes with differing light, from black to dark green to an incredible blue-green with astounding translucence, depending on the lighting and the thickness viewed. The flowing rivers of chromium are more like the nephrite indigenous to the Mount Ogden region, and less like the chromium garnet specimens from the Cassiar region. This flowing effect stands out beautifully throughout the stone, and should cause the master carvers much less problems than that with the garnets, as it would seem less prone to the pitting associated with the garnets. The turquoise rind on these specimens is thin and hard, and could well be incorporated into master designs such as the Chinese have mastered for well over 6,000 years, which the great new carvers are incorporating into their designs. The fact that this is such a translucent stone instead of the more opaque green-blues from other regions, should eventually carry this unique stone to heights similar to the famous “Polar Jade”. It has all the wonderful features of ‘Polar’ in its translucence and beautiful flowing grain — all the hardness and beauty but without as many inclusions as is found (and revered) in ‘Polar’. As will be seen in the microscopic photos to follow, the dense and flowing nephritic characteristics are extremely close to that of the most unusual Khotan-Hetian jades from China, and would easily render them an immediate hit with those master carvers in their sculptures of scholar’s rocks, where the true uniqueness of the stone would come alive. Imagine a beautiful scholar’s stone taking in the effect of the dark green and flowing chromium veins in the mountains and streams, while the fine detailed work of faces, trees, and heavenly cranes so finely carved takes advantage of the great translucence and lighter blues and greens form the more thinly carved areas. This jade, being so finely fibered and homogenous, would be a dream for those carvers, as it would be for the great artists the world over who mix their creations from thicker to finer, as the jade would constantly be changing colors according to the changing light. It literally changes in color from room to room, and bright sunlight to dark, so the stone never truly appears the same. An example of this characteristic is seen in the top photograph above, which appears in darker tones as the lens goes out of focus from the rind down toward the leading edge. The iron oxidation also appears on the rind, where the iron which makes the nephrite green has met with surface moisture to lightly oxidize the skin. Florescent lighting, tungsten, daylight fluorescents and natural sunlight all play marvelous ‘tricks’ on this exquisite nephrite, making it truly a carver’s ‘dream stone’.

Above Photos Taken With Canon EOS XSi Using EF  24-70mm f/2.8L USM Lens

While these specimens were first mined in 1986 by Kirk Makepeace and Jade West, it was not until last summer’s season that mining of the deposit started in earnest. As discussed earlier, the world has been a bit ‘green-crazy’ for years, and only exceptions like the famous Black nephrites of Wyoming and white Siberian nephrites, along with a few others, have made any significant inroads into the world of white and green jade carvings. But it is this author’s opinion that the world is now becoming ripe for the other outstanding nephrite and jadeite discoveries, and indeed, the wonderful blues and other unusual jades that are finally gaining acceptance with both the world’s carvers, and among the aficionados of “The Stone of Heaven”. In this forum you will find a previous article on the unique qualities of Jade Mine’s “Polar Jade”, as it is indeed unique and has proven itself by the test of time to forever be a jade to which all other jades are compared. This ‘newest’ jade, although discovered some time ago, and just now coming onto the market with a splash, will be, in our opinion, another jade that will similarly stand the test of time as it gets out further into the master carvers’ hands. With its hardness, translucency, purity and unique color, it could very well be the next “Polar”, and as a ‘pet name’ of my own I have given it the moniker “Northern Light”, because after seeing it transform under so many conditions, it reminds me of the famous Aurora Borealis I watched as a child, marveling at how the flowing colors danced across the sky. I have asked Kirk to name this wonderful jade, as I believe it deserves its own unique title, as much as does “Polar”. We hope he finds one suitable for his own feelings for this superb nephrite, which we anticipate will soon be in the hands of the master carvers, which surely will produce wonders from this magnificent stone.

Due the amazing shine this exquisite nephrite from Mount Ogden takes on, I found it necessary to use the shadows created under the microscope lighting to best show the fibrous nature of this jade. In the three photos above, we can see at differing powers the fibrous nature of the nephrite. Not only are the fibers densely packed, but they also have a tendency to ‘flow’ much like the fabulous jades of the Khotan-Hetian region of China. While not as densely packed as the famous Black Edwards of Wyoming (the tightest I have ever personally seen), they are still incredibly tight, which allows for very little under-cutting of the jade while being highly polished. We have also found this type of jade to be harder, while not as ‘tough’ as the Edwards. What it does do is transform a mottled and opaque nephrite jade into one with more natural translucence, while retaining all the strength necessary to perform the most intricate of tasks, which only quality nephrite can tolerate and still hold together, to even a greater degree than a fine jadeite. Also, with nephrite, as opposed to jadeite, one never sees the fine ‘dry-lake-bed-like cracks’ after the carving ‘matures’, loses its moisture and gets to the 100 year-old mark (this effect also occurs on sapphires and rubies, but we have never seen it on a old diamond). It is the fibrousness in such fine true nephrites that distinguishes them from all other carving stones on this planet. In the hands of  master polishers the likes of Peter Shilling of Taking Form Jade and Georg Schmerholz of Jade Fine Art, among many others, this stone will see its true potential unleashed in intricate shapes and amazing attention to fine details.

Close Up Photos Of the Rind On Mt. Ogden Nephrite 10 X

Turquoise Rind Under Magnification Of Mt. Ogden Jade - British Columbia 20X

Do to the fact that the rind is so uneven, the microscope photos will be seem to be clear in some places and fuzzy in others. It is partially the unusual color of the rind that intrigues us so much about this particular nephrite specimen. We have seen such color produced in ‘skin’, and it makes this a very peculiar and extremely desirable characteristic in this jade. When incorporated into a fine carving, this rind should enhance the uniqueness of the pendant or sculpture. Not being soft, flakey or powdery, we believe this rind, along with the exquisite coloring, texture and translucence, to be among the most endearing characteristics which make this particular nephrite stand out from the crowd. The entire feel of the stone is one of high quality and uniqueness, and with its shine, strength, translucency and weight, we believe it will reach its place in the fine jades of history, along with many other wonderful jades from the British Colombian area.

Mount Ogden Nephrite 10X Magnification

Mount Ogden Nephrite 20X Magnification

Mount Ogden Nephrite 40X Magnification

Mount Ogden Nephrite 60X Magnification

Mount Ogden Nephrite 90X Magnification

All Above Microscopic Photographs Taken Through Canon EOS XSi

Due to the extremely high polish this fabulous translucent nephrite jade achieves, it is very easy to penetrate the jade with the microscopic photographs to see the underlying inclusions. As mentioned before, this jade has far fewer inclusions than its ‘Polar ‘cousin exhibits on the whole, and the ones that are present are of much smaller size. It is the translucency, chromium and deep emerald color of the ‘Polar’ which give it its charm, along with the unusual inclusions for which it is noted. This gorgeous nephrite seems to have the exact characteristics of the ‘Polar’ jade, but with its darker color and unusual blue tinge, we believe it will stand out on its own in the jade world,  unique in its own right, as all the finest jades have always graduated to top of the specimens remembered throughout history. Now, we encourage the great carvers to embrace this previously little-known but extremely promising new star, and realize what a true treasure this nephrite is. When that happens, we will start to see  future carvings that will do justice to this tremendous jade.

David Fredericks – Yulongwei

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 4th, 2010 at 2:48 pm and is filed under Gemological & Geological Jade Articles, Jades From Other Perspectives, The Awesome Feeling Of Jade. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.