British Columbia Nephrite Jade Sterling Silver Handcrafted Pendant

This is a hand cut piece of British Columbia Jade set in a unique Art Nouveau Pendant design. 

The stone used here is hand cut and measures 30 by 20 mm or 3/16 by 7/8 inches and 
The entire pendant is 1 3/4 inches long by 1 1/4 inches wide

British Columbia is known for having excellent quality Nephrite Jade and was revered by the Coast and Interior Saliush people that used it both for jewelry and carving tools. 

The variety nephrite as opposed to jadeite which comes from China. Jade has been used by the ancients worldwide for carving beautiful and intricate sculptures. The tightly woven interocking crystal structure lends itself to strength and durability. British Columbia's Salish and other indigenous ancestors used jade for making tools to carve wood into totems, canoes and other useful implements.

Jade is an ornamental rock. The term jade is applied to two different metamorphic rocks that are made up of different silicate minerals:

Jadeite has historically only been found in China where it has been mined in some places since 6000BC.  For the most part has been mined out completely in china though some forms still occur in other Asian countries. 

Nephrite consists of a microcrystalline interlocking fibrous matrix of the calcium, magnesium-iron rich amphibole mineral series tremolite (calcium-magnesium)-ferroactinolite (calcium-magnesium-iron). The middle member of this series with an intermediate composition is called actinolite (the silky fibrous mineral form is one form of asbestos). The higher the iron content the greener the colour.
Jadeite is a sodium- and aluminum-rich pyroxene. The gem form of the mineral is a microcrystalline interlocking crystal matrix.