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.
Dispatched within 48 hours of your order being confirmed, for delivery within 14 days from dispatch. I keep no buffer stock, and I won’t promise a timeframe I couldn’t meet.
Postage charges
€6.99 to any destination, free on orders of €47 or more to France, Belgium, Switzerland and Luxembourg. The exact amount appears in the cart before you pay.
The packaging, and why it matters
Every piece ships in its own pouch, kept apart from the others. This isn’t about presentation: the hardness of jade is ordinary, between 6 and 6.5 for nephrite and 6.5 to 7 for jadeite, and the quartz in everyday dust sits at 7. Two pieces of jewellery that travel together end up scratching each other.
Fourteen days to change your mind
With no need to explain yourself. An email is enough to open a return, there is no form to fill in. Return postage is at your expense, unless the piece doesn’t match its listing or arrives damaged.
Warm water, mild soap, a soft cloth. A very soft brush for the hollows of a carving. That’s all, and it’s enough.
What you must never do, and why
No ultrasonic cleaner, no steam, no solvent, no heat source. This isn’t a token precaution: the treatment status of my pieces is not established. My supplier doesn’t know, and weighing establishes the mineral without saying anything about a possible resin impregnation. Resin tolerates 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 hard to break: its interlocking crystal structure resists fracturing, and that is why axes could be shaped from it in the Neolithic. Its hardness, on the other hand, is ordinary, 6 to 6.5 for nephrite and 6.5 to 7 for jadeite. The quartz in everyday dust sits at 7: that is what dulls 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 the knocks against corners happen. 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. I’m French, from Morbihan, and based in Tallinn. I choose the pieces and have them set: I mine nothing, I cut nothing, and I don’t do the metalwork myself. The work I do is the sorting, and with this material that is what decides everything.
I am neither a gemmologist, nor a lapidary, nor a therapist, and I don’t claim to be.
I weigh, I don’t certify
Before putting a reference online, I order one example of it for myself. When it reaches me unset, 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 reference, not every piece. I don’t handle the piece that goes out to you, and I would rather say so than let you believe otherwise. The method, with its three limits.
What I can’t know
The treatment status of my pieces. My supplier doesn’t know, and the scales say nothing about it: they establish the mineral, not the resin impregnation. Only infrared spectroscopy in a laboratory would settle it, and I don’t have that done. So you will never read “jadeite A”, “type A” or “untreated” on this site. The information sheet.
Where my jade comes from
No Burmese jadeite, and the first reason is a legal one. Not the reason you read everywhere: the JADE Act of 2008 did indeed 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-owned company that controls the Burmese gem trade. So there is no general ban, but an American is not allowed to trade with that entity, and a stone never tells you where it has passed through. One single supply chain for ten markets: it has to hold up for the most demanding of them. When an origin isn’t confirmed to me in writing, the listing doesn’t state it. My sourcing policy.
