Nephrite "hei-tiki" (neck pendant). These are believed to have their own "mana", are handed down as valuable heirlooms, and often given as gifts to seal important agreements. It has also been used for a range of tools such as adzes, as Māori had no metal tools before European contact. Commonly called "greenstone", jade jewellery in Māori designs is widely popular with tourists. Stone is often imported from Canada, China and Siberia, and Ngai Tahu runs a pounamu certification scheme to verify the authenticity of New Zealand stone. Nephrite Nephrite is a variety of the calcium, magnesium, and iron-rich amphibole minerals tremolite
Empire Nephrite (Fabergé egg) Empire Nephrite (Fabergé egg) The Empire Nephrite (sometimes mistakenly referred to as the Alexander III Medallion) egg is a jewelled Easter egg, one of the Imperial Eggs made under the supervision of the Russian jeweller Peter Carl Fabergé in 1901–1902 for Nicholas II of Russia, who presented it to his mother, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, at Easter 1902. The name of the egg refers to the fact that it was made in the Empire Style, from nephrite. The original Fabergé invoice reads: "Egg, 'Empire', from nephrite, with gold, two diamonds and miniature". The egg reappeared in the mid-1990s and