Guatemalan Blue Jadeite Pendants, Motagua Valley, Guatemala) - Ventana Blue #1
Ventana Blue #1: 23 x 22mm
Here's a summary from GIA:
"Although lost for literally hundreds of years after the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs, many deposits of jadeite have been found in Guatemala during the last two decades. Following the discovery of the first significant outcrop in 1974, literally tonnes of jadeite in a wide variety of colors have been removed from the area...""
Despite this, Guatemalan jadeite is still one of the least known of all the jadeites.
From Guatemala, you can get two types of jade: nephrite and jadeite. Of the two, Jadeite is harder and rarer, so more valuable—sometimes, even more so than gold.
Jade has been collected around the world for all manner of purposes. In Chinese/Asian culture, we collect them for luck, prosperity and protection.
In Guatemala, the Maya believed jade to have a spiritual significance, connecting the Maya people to their grand pantheon of gods, to the natural world, the supernatural world, and to the afterlife.
In fact, the old Aztec or Nahuatl word for jade was “chalchihuitl”, which, with its associations of divinity, has been translated to mean both “heart of the earth” and “beauty”.
Another fun fact: Jade is often associated with Chinese/Asian culture, but the name is actually derived from the Spanish phrase 'piedra de ijada'. That means 'loin stone' because it was believed to cure kidney ailments.
The specific type of Blue jade we have are Ventana Blue:
"Ventana Blue": Another very rare, highly translucent blue jade was discovered in Guatemala by the Ventana team in 2000. This jade is similar in colour to a dye developed by the Classic Maya, known as Maya Blue. This new variety of blue jade is remarkably translucent, nearly transparent, and is slightly less saturated in coloru than the Midnight Blue. This unique variety is referred to by locals as “cielo azul” for blue sky, “plastica” for plastic, and most recently by the name "Ventana Blue".
Ventana Blue #1: 23 x 22mm
Here's a summary from GIA:
"Although lost for literally hundreds of years after the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs, many deposits of jadeite have been found in Guatemala during the last two decades. Following the discovery of the first significant outcrop in 1974, literally tonnes of jadeite in a wide variety of colors have been removed from the area...""
Despite this, Guatemalan jadeite is still one of the least known of all the jadeites.
From Guatemala, you can get two types of jade: nephrite and jadeite. Of the two, Jadeite is harder and rarer, so more valuable—sometimes, even more so than gold.
Jade has been collected around the world for all manner of purposes. In Chinese/Asian culture, we collect them for luck, prosperity and protection.
In Guatemala, the Maya believed jade to have a spiritual significance, connecting the Maya people to their grand pantheon of gods, to the natural world, the supernatural world, and to the afterlife.
In fact, the old Aztec or Nahuatl word for jade was “chalchihuitl”, which, with its associations of divinity, has been translated to mean both “heart of the earth” and “beauty”.
Another fun fact: Jade is often associated with Chinese/Asian culture, but the name is actually derived from the Spanish phrase 'piedra de ijada'. That means 'loin stone' because it was believed to cure kidney ailments.
The specific type of Blue jade we have are Ventana Blue:
"Ventana Blue": Another very rare, highly translucent blue jade was discovered in Guatemala by the Ventana team in 2000. This jade is similar in colour to a dye developed by the Classic Maya, known as Maya Blue. This new variety of blue jade is remarkably translucent, nearly transparent, and is slightly less saturated in coloru than the Midnight Blue. This unique variety is referred to by locals as “cielo azul” for blue sky, “plastica” for plastic, and most recently by the name "Ventana Blue".
Ventana Blue #1: 23 x 22mm
Here's a summary from GIA:
"Although lost for literally hundreds of years after the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs, many deposits of jadeite have been found in Guatemala during the last two decades. Following the discovery of the first significant outcrop in 1974, literally tonnes of jadeite in a wide variety of colors have been removed from the area...""
Despite this, Guatemalan jadeite is still one of the least known of all the jadeites.
From Guatemala, you can get two types of jade: nephrite and jadeite. Of the two, Jadeite is harder and rarer, so more valuable—sometimes, even more so than gold.
Jade has been collected around the world for all manner of purposes. In Chinese/Asian culture, we collect them for luck, prosperity and protection.
In Guatemala, the Maya believed jade to have a spiritual significance, connecting the Maya people to their grand pantheon of gods, to the natural world, the supernatural world, and to the afterlife.
In fact, the old Aztec or Nahuatl word for jade was “chalchihuitl”, which, with its associations of divinity, has been translated to mean both “heart of the earth” and “beauty”.
Another fun fact: Jade is often associated with Chinese/Asian culture, but the name is actually derived from the Spanish phrase 'piedra de ijada'. That means 'loin stone' because it was believed to cure kidney ailments.
The specific type of Blue jade we have are Ventana Blue:
"Ventana Blue": Another very rare, highly translucent blue jade was discovered in Guatemala by the Ventana team in 2000. This jade is similar in colour to a dye developed by the Classic Maya, known as Maya Blue. This new variety of blue jade is remarkably translucent, nearly transparent, and is slightly less saturated in coloru than the Midnight Blue. This unique variety is referred to by locals as “cielo azul” for blue sky, “plastica” for plastic, and most recently by the name "Ventana Blue".
