Burmese jade bracelet A (5-7mm grains)

Burmese jade is actually jadeite. In 1863, Alexis Damour, a French mineralogist (1808-1902), distinguished jadeite and nephrite in the composition of jade. Jadeite belongs to the pyroxene family, minerals of the inosilicate group. These are common components of igneous and metamorphic rocks. This pyroxene results from the metamorphism of sodium-rich serpentines.

In France, jadeite and nephrite were both called jade without distinction before the 19th century. In China, jadeite appeared in the mid-18th century. It originated in Burma. It turns out that all the ancient jade used in China before this period was nephrite.