5.9" Wide, Polished Jade (Nephrite) Bookends - British Colombia

Wide, Polished Jade (Nephrite) Bookends - British Colombia #195549

This is a stunning pair of bookends made from deep green sections of jade var. nephrite. The jade was collected from the BC Jade Mine in Jade City, Canada. The bookends have been cut flat and polished to a glossy finish on all but two faces. The base has been cut flat but not polished, and one side of each half of the bookends has been left rough. Exceptional polishing work on this pair.

One bookend measures 5.9 x 4.85 x 3.7" and weighs about 8.4 lbs. The other bookend is 5 x 4.8 x 3.7" and weighs just under 7.4 lbs.

Jade City is a small town located in the Cassiar Mountain Range of northern British Colombia, Canada, just south of the Yukon border. The town only has a population of about 35 people, most of whom are employed by the Bunce family, who run the Jade City's jade insdustry. For over 40 years, this same family has been working these mountains, extracting nephrite jade, cutting, and polishing the specimens in Jade City. The jade is then shipped all across the world in both its rough and polished form. In fact, roughly 90 percent of the jade on the world market is collected and supplied from northern British Columbia.

Much of the jade mined from the Cassier Mountains is processed in the tiny town of Jade City, BC

The popularity of nephrite jade from this location resulted in Discovery Canada starting a reality tv show known as Jade Fever. The show follows the Bunce family and their mining efforts through the Cassiar Mountain Range.

Jade is a silicate mineral best known for its green varieties, the most common of which are jadeite and nephrite. Jadeite is a variety of jade primarily composed of silicon, calcium and magnesium, while nephrite contains silicon, sodium and aluminum. For thousands of years, jade has been used for ornamental purposes and as tools due to its relative strength and durability.

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