A jade and gold pendant in the classic design of the halo: an oval cabochon of deep green, well domed, ringed by a crown of small white stones that sparkle. Everything is claw set on a gold-toned metal, and a gold-toned chain comes with it.
In four lines
An oval cabochon in deep green, high and domed.
A crown of faceted small white stones, not identified.
Claw set on gold-toned metal, alloy not specified.
Gold-toned chain included: no size and no length to choose.
The design of the halo
This jade and gold pendant takes up one of the most classic designs in jewellery: the halo, a coloured stone at the centre, ringed by a crown of small pale stones. The green comes out more intense for it, and the crown sparkles at every movement.
Here, each small white stone is faceted and held by its own gold-toned claws, and the metal beads that separate the stones draw a lace around the cabochon. It is a piece that shows, made to be noticed.
A deep green that keeps some life
The cabochon is a tall oval, well domed, in a deep green. Looking closely, you see lighter zones and darker ones, a slight veil that gives the stone depth. The polish is bright: a long reflection runs over the dome and changes with the light.
Jade is almost always cut as a cabochon, rarely faceted: it is a stone that shines through its material and its polish, not through fire. The crown of faceted stones brings exactly the fire that jade lacks, and that is the whole point of this setting.
Gold tone, to warm the green
The metal is gold-toned throughout: the claws, the mount, the bail engraved with a small star, and the link chain supplied with the pendant. I do not know its alloy, so I do not write it. The gold tone warms the deep green of the cabochon and the white glitter of the crown.
What to wear it with
It is a pendant with character, which dresses an evening outfit, a black dress or a silk blouse. It also works very well by day, over a fine jumper or an open collar, for a touch of colour. With discreet earrings, it stays the centre of attention. With no size to choose, it is also a gift that is easy to get right. Giving a piece of jade jewellery.
Wearing it, and keeping it beautiful
A claw-set pendant asks for one small habit: now and then, check with a fingernail that the claws hold the cabochon and the small stones firmly. A claw that catches is easily tightened by a jeweller, provided you notice it early.
Take it off for the shower, the pool and sport: water and chlorine tire a gold plating. For care, a soft toothbrush and warm soapy water, then careful drying. Never ultrasonic, never steam, never solvent: ultrasound loosens set stones, and the treatment status of the jade is not known. Care in detail, and jadeite or nephrite, what sets them apart.
Additional information
Stone
Jadeite or nephrite, not resolved
Colour
Clear green
Stone shape
Cabochon
Motif
No motif
Mounting
Chain
Metal
Gold tone, alloy not stated
Setting
Claw set
Worn by
Women
Paired stones
White stones, not identified
Mineral family
Calcic amphibole, Sodium aluminium pyroxene
Hardness (Mohs)
6 to 7
Reference density
2.90 to 3.36 g/cm³
Toughness
Exceptional, interlocking crystals
Treatment
Not determined
Origin
Outside Burma, country of extraction not confirmed
What tradition attributes to jade and gold
What follows changes register, and I flag it rather than blending it into the rest of the page. None of it is proven. These are customs and images, old and documented, which I report because they are part of the history of this stone. No piece of jewellery in this shop is sold as a treatment, and I claim no effect for this one.
A stone of moral virtueIn Confucian thought, jade is associated with qualities of character rather than effects on the body: uprightness, constancy, restraint. It is the best documented meaning of them all.
Gold and jade, the perfect matchChinese speaks of a union "of gold and jade" to describe a perfectly matched couple. The phrase was made famous by Dream of the Red Chamber, the great novel of the eighteenth century.
A jade given in returnIn the Book of Odes, the oldest collection of Chinese poems, a lover answers the fruit thrown to him with a jade pendant. The poem made it an image of the gift that speaks of attachment.
The stone worn against the skinIn China, jade is worn in contact with the body rather than as a mere ornament, and it is said to gain there, little by little, a glow it does not have in a display case.
Dispatch within 48 hours of your order being confirmed, for delivery within 14 days from dispatch. I keep no stock in reserve, and I will not promise a date I could not meet.
Shipping Costs
€6.99 whatever the destination, free on orders over €47 to France, Belgium, Switzerland and Luxembourg. The exact amount is shown in your basket before you pay.
The Packaging, and Why It Matters
Every piece travels in its own pouch, kept apart from the others. This is not a question of presentation: the hardness of jade is unremarkable, between 6 and 6.5 for nephrite and 6.5 to 7 for jadeite, and the quartz in ordinary household dust sits at 7. Two pieces of jewellery that travel together arrive marked.
Fourteen Days to Change Your Mind
No need to give a reason. An email is enough to open a return; there is no form to fill in. Return postage is at your expense, unless the piece does not match its listing or arrives damaged.
Lukewarm water, mild soap, a soft cloth. A very soft brush for the hollows of a carving. That is all, and it is enough.
What You Must Never Do, and Why
No ultrasonic cleaners, no steam, no solvents, no heat source. This is not a precaution for show: the treatment status of my pieces is undetermined. My supplier does not know it, and weighing identifies the mineral without telling me anything about a possible resin impregnation. Resin withstands neither heat nor solvents, so every piece is handled as though it might contain some. The information sheet on treatments.
Scratches, and Where They Come From
Jade is tough, meaning very difficult to break: its structure of interlocking crystals resists cracking, and that is what made it usable for axe heads in the Neolithic. Its hardness, by contrast, is unremarkable, 6 to 6.5 for nephrite and 6.5 to 7 for jadeite. The quartz in ordinary household dust sits at 7: that is what dulls a jade, not knocks. The difference between the two.
Day to Day
Put the piece on after perfume and cream, never before. Take it off for housework, gardening and sport, where knocks against hard edges are common. Store each piece on its own, in its pouch. On a strand of beads, the thread wears out before the stone: it gets restrung, and there is nothing abnormal about that.
My name is Jade. French, from Morbihan, living in Tallinn. I choose the pieces and have them mounted: I mine nothing, I cut nothing, and the metalwork is not done by my hand. What I bring is the selection, and with this material that is what decides everything.
I am not a gemmologist, not a lapidary, not a therapist, and I do not claim to be.
I Weigh, I Do Not Certify
Before a listing goes online, I order one example of it for myself. When it reaches me unmounted, I weigh it in air, then suspended from a thread in a glass of water: the ratio of the two masses gives the density, and that figure separates jadeite, nephrite, serpentine and dyed quartzite without ambiguity.
One example per listing, and not every piece. I do not handle the piece that is sent to you, and I would rather write that down than let you believe otherwise. The method, with its three limits.
What I Cannot Know
The treatment status of my pieces. My supplier does not know it, and the scales do not tell me: they identify the mineral, not the resin impregnation. Only infrared spectroscopy in a laboratory would settle it, and I do not have that done. So you will never read “Grade A jadeite”, “Type A” or “untreated” on this site. The information sheet.
Where My Jade Comes From
No Burmese jadeite, and the first reason is legal. Not the one you read everywhere: the JADE Act of 2008 did ban these stones in the United States, but that ban was lifted on 7 October 2016. What applies today dates from 8 April 2021: the US Treasury sanctioned Myanma Gems Enterprise, the state company that controls the Burmese gem trade. So there is no blanket ban, but a US person is not allowed to trade with that entity, and a stone never tells you where it has been. A single supply chain serves ten markets, so it has to hold up in the most demanding of them. When an origin is not confirmed to me in writing, the listing does not state it. My origin charter.
