Jamie Thorsen is a respected presence in the Chicago financial community who held leadership responsibilities with BMO Capital Markets for many years. With a passion for jewelry making, Jamie Thorsen guides the company Seeforever Designs and has extensive knowledge of gemstones used in necklaces.
One of the broad gemstone categories is jade, which is not a distinct mineral type, but a cultural term for an extremely durable stone that has a 5,000 year history of being turned into sculptures, tools, and gemstones. While green is the color many associate with the stone, there are many types, including blue, lavender, red, orange, and gray.
The mineral distinction between types of jade was codified in 1863 by Alexis Damour, who divided the difficult-to-distinguish stones into two types: the aluminum-rich pyroxene jadeite and the magnesium-rich amphibole nephrite.
These distinctions had been recognized centuries before by Chinese craftsmen, who preferred jadeite, a denser and harder stone primarily sourced from Myanmar. One of the most sought after types of this material is fine-grained “Imperial Jade,” which has a bright translucence and polishes to a high luster. Originally reserved for the Chinese Emperor, this type of jade is now found in high-end jewelry, with the finest specimens commanding a higher price per carat than quality diamonds.
Jamie Thorsen 