“Earlier this month in Tucson, Ariz., during the annual gem shows in that Sonoran Desert city, the buzz among jade lovers centered on a fresh supply of translucent jadeite, or fei cui, from an ancient deposit in Guatemala — much of it blue-green, but some virtually indistinguishable from the imperial jade of Myanmar, said Richard W. Hughes, a co-owner of Lotus Gemology in Bangkok, and a co-author of three books on jade. At his booth at the Tucson Gem Show on 22nd Street, Luke A. Miller, the owner of Yax Tun Minerals, a dealer in Chiapas, Mexico, that specializes in Guatemalan jade, took a strand of blue-green beads from around his neck and held it to the light. The beads, which were graduated in size, featured dark blue-green gems interspersed with lighter ones.
“This is a color we call ‘sapphire blue,’” Mr. Miller said, referring to the darker beads, which looked translucent against the light. “The folks down there call the lighter color ‘celestial blue,’ or ‘celeste.’”
Mined in the Motagua River Valley of Guatemala by the Olmecs and Maya people as early as 1,800 B.C., the jade’s unusual hues seem to appeal to buyers. “People are starting to really appreciate the darker undertones of Guatemalan jade, instead of the typical bright flashy purple or green they’re getting in Burma,” Mr. Miller said, using the former name for Myanmar.”