Chinese Jade
Jewellery
By Tanja M Sadow
Jewellery associated with
Chinese culture is synonymous
with jade. Carvings made from
jade have been the most highly
regarded throughout Chinese
history and have been dated
as far back as the Neolithic
era where it was believed to
have spiritual and magical
qualities. For thousands of
years jade has adorned the
most powerful Chinese as a
symbol of their moral integrity
and accompanied them in the
afterlife to comfort their souls
Jade earrings
and hopefully preserve their
bodies. With this unusual and
prolonged interest in a single material, the craftsmanship
and artistry associated with jade ornaments and jewellery is
without comparison in other cultures.
With a hardness of 6 to 6½ on the Mohs Scale of Mineral
Hardness, the emerald-green jadeite is still considered one
of the most valued gems. Early on, however, another type
of jade called nephrite was often used instead of jadeite,
because it was less hard and therefore easier to carve.
Pure jade is a colourless or milky non-transparent
material, yet the presence of trace elements such as chrome,
iron or manganese produce a beautiful spectrum of jade
colour variations ranging from the popular emerald-green
colour, to brown, violet, lilac, pale green, red, orange and
sometimes also blue.
Hundreds of years ago, jadeite, nephrite, serpentine
and aventurine quartz were all covered by one Chinese
word ‘yu’ which today refers
specifically to jadeite and
nephrite. The name ‘yu’ has
a broad reference and means:
noble, pure, treasure, jewel,
or in general, ‘a stone which
is worth polishing’. It was
not until the 1800s that the
differences between jadeite
and nephrite were discovered
and the two materials found
to be distinctly different types
of minerals. Today in China,
jade ornaments and jewellery
remain the most popular gifts
for couples making a mutual
commitment or for those
wishing for good fortune.
Jade carving
Tanja M Sadow is the dean and founder of the Jewellery
Design and Management International School.
Photos courtesy of Jadeite Collections (go.jdmis.com/jadeite)
PASSAGE January / February 2014
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