Jade

Dry Gulch carries many different kinds and colors of jade.  Take a look at our hand carved jade pendants, White Jade stones, Soocho jade bead strands and more.  Most of our jade comes from East Asia.  Some bead strands have been dyed or heat treated for color.  Read below for more info on this amazing stone.

There are two types of Jade, Nephrite and Jadeite.  Nephrite is the traditional Chinese jade that comes in creams, whites and greens and has been used for millenia in beautiful carved creations from East Asia.  Jadeite hails from Burma and comes in many rich and beautiful colors, but is relatively new as it was introduced in the middle 1800s.  Jadeite is denser and harder than traditional Nephrite, but surprisingly, Nephrite is the stronger of the two because of its fracture resistent molecular structure.  Jade can be found all over the world including China, Myanmar (Burma), Russia, the USA and more.  Today, most jade beads are a lower grade of either Nephrite or Jadeite that has been formed, cut, polished and then heat treated and/or enhanced to bring out the colors.  Most of Dry Gulch's jade beads come from East Asia, and we specialize in beautiful colors and unique cuts.

• Our Soocho Jade is named after the city ‘Suzhou’ in China where it is made. Despite the name jade, the stone is really serpentine, a very common silicate mineral. The warm colours are created through heat treatment.