JADES, S.A.™ welcomes you to our website.  We hope you enjoy learning about the three thousand year history of jade and its importance to the early cultures of the Americas.

Our company has evolved as a leader in reintroducing Maya jade to the world through the discovery, mining and working of Guatemala’s fine jadeite jade.  Guatemala shares with Myanmar (formerly Burma) the distinction of being one of the world’s major sources of this fine stone.

After the discovery of Jade near the Motagua River Valley, in 1974 Mary Lou Ridinger and her husband Jay Ridinger decided to restablish the jade industry that died 500 years earlier. They built the factory of Jades S.A.^TM in Antigua Guatemala in 1974.  In 1975 the Ridinger family opened the first retail store in Antigua Guatemala.  Today Jades S.A.™ produces the finest jadeite jade jewelry and museum replicas of pre-columbian legacies such as: masks, plaques, figures, vases, ceremonial knives, etc.

During recent years Guatemala’s jadeite color palette expanded enormously with the discovery of  Rainbow™ Jadeite, that incorporates several new colors within a single boulder.  The new jadeite colors are lavender, mottled white and blue, different shades of green, light yellow, pink and olmec blue jade.

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