Fishing for Jade Once Again!

Do you know why do I love jade so much? Well, it's kind of my birth stone (according to the Japanese Wikipedia that along with emerald, jade is the birthstone for May). Even if it wasn't my birth stone, I like the fact that jade is understated (I can't afford the flashy pieces anyway), comfortable to wear, as they never leave marks/cause allergic reaction on my skin like other metal jewelry. Last but not least, each piece is truly one-of-a-kind, no matter how inexpensive it is.
Icy jadeite fish pendent, there are quite a few descriptive terms for the texture/transparency jade (more specifically jadeite), such as porcelain, jelly, icy and glassy...Supposedly the more transparent, the more expensive it is.
This little fish isn't expensive at all (it was actually a freebie) since the color is a tad muddy (you can see those tiny brown spots) and the texture is not fine that you can see the crystal structure with naked eye.
I know this jade pendent looks a lot like an alien, but it turns out to be a squid (hanged up side down) instead, at least my mom told me so. When it comes to buying jade online/in the Chinese market(my mom got it in an actual store but anyway...), it's a common practice to place the piece against your hand, wrist or even arm to show the size and color, making sure it's not off (or photoshopped).

When I was younger, I assumed that all jade are green but it turns out that jade can be white, colorless (the one as transparent as glass is rather expensive) yellow (like the patches shown here, some more vibrant types of yellow can be really valuable) red and lavender.
The jade squid would be called something like "fruit green". And the texture ( I admit it the sunlight kind of makes it a lot nicer than it actually it but I guess it's fine since I am not a seller anyway) could be called a "porcelain".

I posted picture of this fish more than a month ago, unlike the other two, this chubby jade fish is made of green nephrite (nephrite has a smaller Mohs hardness but it's tougher than jadeite) so the even color is deep and vibrant, it won't cost an arm and leg.
I made a little bracelet with the chubby fish(and later cut it because I just like to play with charm itself)some jadeite beads and some nylon thread (nylon melt when it's burned so I don't have to worry about loose ends hanging around).

Ok, that's enough jade for today. Do you collect anything other than makeup and belly fat(I think I need to get rid of some of that...)?

Comments

  1. These are all beautiful pieces! I like the first fish the most, I think. I have a little jade bunny figurine on my desk, it's the same color as your first fish. Alfredo-husband brought it back from me when he had his work trip to China. I like to think it's lucky. :-)

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  2. I love jade and this pieces are really beautiful, especially the cute little fish!

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  3. Ha, I knew it was a squid :D. I feel proud XD.

    Make-up's my main indulgence. If I had to list anything else, that'd probably be CDs.

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  4. I thought the greener and darker it is the more expensive they were. I guess not, you learn something new everyday. My mom also told me that when you first buy jade, it is light in colour but as one wears it, the oils on your skin turns the jade darker and darker; much like how leather turns darker after years of use. I'm not sure if this is true though.

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  5. That chubby fish is adorable, love how you made it into a bracelet!

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  6. Asami:
    People do wear jade (as pendant, bracelet or even cellphone charm) as a lucky charm, your hubby is really nice!

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    Gio:

    Oh, I like that one too(I am guessing you are talking about the chubby one, that is smaller in size)...

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    Cris:

    You totally should be...most of my friends couldn't even tell what it is, their guesses are like vase, pomegranate and...alien...

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    Gloria:

    It's partially true but the value of a piece of jade also has something to do with the texture/transparency of the material. For example inky jadeite is rather dark (it only looks green when you shoot strong light on it) but the main value usually comes from good carve works. For what I know, the best jade material usually have very minimal design, so that you can see the "natural beauty".

    For the color-changing, I would say jadeite is rather chemically stable that normal household materials/human contact wouldn't be that easy to penetrate its surface (people do use strong acid/polymer resin to treat some stone with poor quality but the piece would become brittle and lackluster in just a few year) so there really won't be that much color change on the stone. But the more you wear it, there would be some kind of polishing going on, the surface would be smoother so the green would be a tad more obvious.

    As for the human oil, I think it applies to nephrite (the softer type of jade). more so that jadeite. The oil usually just cling on the surface a form a really thin layer (and it's the same like if you moisten anything,the color would look more vibrant)making it smoother and darker (if it's colored jade).

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  7. Lily:
    I like it too, now I want to collect more animals!

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  8. I have a fish jade because I'm Piscean! Not sure if my mom gave it to me because she knew it or just because I that's the only available? hehehe I love jade and I missed wearing them!

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  9. Nikki:
    Oh, I think fish is a rather popular topic for jade carving,as it sounds similar to "surplus" in Chinese.

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  10. Hi

    love your collection of jade...could you by any chance showcase your outfits that you usually wear with your jade pieces?

    i need outfit inspiration...

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  11. Nutty:
    That's sounds pretty fun...I will definitely try to come up with something, although it might take a while.

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