Billy Thompson, age 13, of Richmond, for his question:

 What is jade?

You may buy a jade necklace of green beads for $50. Larger necklaces of deep green jade may be worth $100,000. A jade ring may be worth $100 to $2000 depending upon the kind of jade, its history and artistic carving,

Ornaments of jade are out and polished from certain natural minerals occurring in the earth. Most of them shine like waxy young leaves after the rain. Other objects of jade are white like magnolia petals, others deep green like a forest pool, others tinted with violet or red and some are yellow like beets wax.

Imperial jade] the best, is cut from the mineral jadeite, The natural stone is pale to white, blotched and freckled with colors. Nephrite is another jade stone. It is white to dark green and more translucent than jade stones are not plentiful and their value is enhanced by carving.

. For centuries, Chinese artists have been famous as carvers of jade„

Though the jade for China was taken from India or Burma, It is said that of all the Chinese carvings of jade in the world, no two are alike. The artist studies a patch of color in the mineral and allows it to suggest a form or design. Sometimes an area of paler stone is left to surround and  emphasize the carving.

These artists knew that jade is a resonant stone. Strike it, and it makes a musical sound. Delicate fish and other forms were often hung from threads in ornamental frames. Such musical jades are meant to be tapped like little gongs.

The jade stone minerals are compounds of elements and simpler compounds. They are mostly silica. They also contain aluminum, lime soda and magnesia Jadeite gets its green tones from chromium, the same element that colors the emerald. Nephrite gets its green tones from traces of iron. Experts cal:. the materials that give color to natural stones impurities,

There are many false jades that can fool the eye. They can be detected by modern gadgets, but many an expert collector of the past has been fooled by them. Most of them, like true jade stones, are high in silica content: Most are softer and less dense than true jade; The South American jade is really green agate, Don't be too eager to toss out a bit of false jade, It may be a cloudy, opaque emerald&

Jade was cherished in Stone Age days and used to make weapons, Later, it was cherished as a charm stone. The name jade comes from a Spanish word meaning side stone, It was worn to relieve pains in the side: Nephrite means kidney stone   wearing it was supposed to pep up 'the kidneys, Nowadays, we take these troubles to the doctor. We cherish jade simply for its beauty   which is reason enough.