White Jade

The so-called white jade is a white nephrite that is also known as suet jade. It is a top-grade jade, but its white hue varies, and it can be categorised into suet white, pear flower white, ivory white, paraffin white, fish bone white and moon white. The suet white jade is particularly pure, sleek and clean like suet. The suet jade has only been found in Xinjiang Province, and it is very rare; therefore, it is most valuable and is regarded as a top-grade gemstone. The other types of white jade are lower quality. Some white jade contains impurities on their outer parts, which form shells of different colours when oxidised. They have different characteristics and names, such as ‘autumn pear jade’, ‘tiger skin jade’ and ‘jujube jade’, and they are all famous varieties. Like Hetian jade, white jade is also mined at Altun Mountain and in Qinghai Province; the latter is known as Qinghai White Jade (Fig. 13).

Fig. 13

White jade