About Sky Jade©

Our Sky Jades consist primarily of very fine-grained, tough, naturally interwoven tremolite/actinolite mineral assemblages, with the occasional presence of quartz crystals, a hallmark of fine historical Wyoming Jades. Each piece of Sky Jade that we offer has been carefully hand-harvested at our project site by a team with decades of combined experience in geology, jade and gemstone carving. 

Routine confirmatory testing of our materials includes geochemical element determination, hardness and specific gravity tests. Stone hardness consistently tests in the 6 to 7 range on the Mohs hardness scale, while alteration skins or rinds can test lower, generally in the 3 to 6 range. Specific gravity, or density, generally tests in the 2.9 to 3.4 range for pure Nephrite areas, with lower values when quartz crystals form a significant portion of the stone. Of course, the most important test often remains the cutting of windows or polished surfaces on the outside of specific stones, to highlight each piece’s unique color, texture, intensity, uniformity and ability to polish.

As with every natural stone, our Sky Jades are likely to be naturally imperfect.  While textural changes and hidden features, such as fractures or internal quartz crystals can always occur within a natural stone, we endeavor to photograph and present each piece for sale with sufficient information to properly estimate the stone’s potential in its rough state for carvers, lapidaries, jewellers and collectors. Our Jades that are offered for sale are as natural as when we hand-harvested them from the ground where they were formed.  We do not treat or alter our materials in any way through oiling, waxing, dyeing or resin impregnation. Each piece is individually evaluated and priced to reflect its characteristics and estimated recoveries as finished product.