In that process, they discovered that, despite the outward similarity, two completely different minerals were named jade. They renamed the second stone jadeite. Although they both include silica, magnesium is the secondary mineral in nephrite while jadeite contains aluminum. Pure jade of either kind is white. White, blue-green, lavender, orange and red are the primary jadeite colors.
Jadeite colors are usually more vivid than nephrite shades, especially the greens.
Because of this, jadeite is more highly valued than nephrite. Mineralogists and jewelers take care to distinguish between nephrite and jadeite. The general public continues to refer to either as jade. Although they first used nephrite, the Chinese now prefer jadeite because of its color. It's been named Imperial Jade .