The jade stone was previously used by many cultures, but with more force by the pre-Hispanic ones, who considered it the most sacred stone that could exist. In addition to using it to make large amounts of artifacts and utensils, it was mostly used to fight diseases. Many of these cultures knew it as the «eternal stone» or symbol of life for keeping the same appearance over the years, and it was valued more than gold itself.
Among these jade-loving cultures, the Aztec civilization stands out; For them, jade was the gem capable of connecting them with a greater divine force; the Aztecs made jade masks and placed them on their faces, in addition to creating figures to represent their most valuable men. Once in the struggle, when the Aztecs were fighting to protect their territory, they conquered a place called Chianpaneco, where they arrived with the intention of stocking up on all those lands with quetzal feathers, cocoa and calchihuete basins, this was the way they named to jade stones in the Nahuatl language.
In the year 1510, with the arrival of the Spaniards, who with arrogance and greed desperately sought gold and silver deposits to seize them, Moctezuma, fifth Aztec emperor, addressing the court, thanked the conquerors for not knowing about the chalchihuite deposits. After this, and after a period of truce had elapsed in which the Aztec and Spanish rulers established the first diplomatic contact, Moctezuma gave Hernán Cortez, the military man who led the Spanish expedition, some gems as a present for his friends. kings, accompanied by these words: «These stones are called chalchihuite you should only give them to your kings and not to someone else, each one of them is equivalent to twice a load of gold».
Cortez did not quite understand the Aztec emperor’s message, but accepted the jade jewels from Moctezuma. Although later he despised them as if they were just grains and discarded them. What the Aztec emperor wanted to tell Cortez was that gold was valuable, yes, but jade was priceless.
It is said that in Guatemala they distributed jade stones throughout the Mesoamerican territory. The Aztecs considered jade as a symbol of nature due to its characteristic green color, equal to that of plants, for this reason they always carried it with them.
Currently, the value of jade is only surpassed by diamond, however, no other mineral possesses the innumerable mystical properties of this beautiful gem.