Jade and Gold Pendant, an Oval Cabochon in a Halo

67,90 €

Jade and gold pendant in the classic design of the halo: an oval cabochon of deep green, ringed by a crown of small faceted white stones.

Claw set on gold-toned metal, alloy not specified, with a gold-toned chain included. No size to choose: a gift that is easy to get right.

Cabochon set, so not weighable. White stones not identified. Treatment status not determined.

Category:

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

StoneJadeite or nephrite, not resolved
ColorClear green
Stone shapeCabochon
MotifNo motif
MountingChain
MetalGold tone, alloy not stated
SettingClaw set
Worn byWomen
Paired stonesWhite stones, not identified
Mineral familyCalcic amphibole, Sodium aluminum pyroxene
Hardness (Mohs)6 to 7
Reference density2.90 to 3.36 g/cm³
ToughnessExceptional, interlocking crystals
TreatmentNot determined
OriginOutside 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 virtue In 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 match Chinese 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 return In 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 skin In 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.

These readings are told, not verified. The jade stone and its meaning, the virtues attributed to jade, told honestly, and what jade has been in China.

A stone does not replace a doctor and treats nothing: the full warning is here.

Lead Times

Shipped within 48 hours of your order being confirmed, for delivery within 14 days from the day it ships. I keep no buffer stock, and I will not promise a date I cannot meet.

Shipping Costs

€6.99 no matter the destination, and free on orders of €47 or more to France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Luxembourg. The exact amount shows in your cart before you pay.

The Packaging, and Why It Matters

Every piece leaves in its own pouch, kept apart from the others. This is not about presentation: jade’s hardness is ordinary, 6 to 6.5 for nephrite and 6.5 to 7 for jadeite, and the quartz in everyday dust rates 7. Two pieces of jewelry that travel together arrive scratched.

Fourteen Days to Change Your Mind

No reason needed. One email opens a return, and there is no form to fill out. Return shipping is at your expense, unless the piece does not match its listing or arrives damaged.

It is all spelled out here, with no fine print.

The Simple Routine

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 cleaner, no steam, no solvent, no heat source. The reason is not caution for its own sake: the treatment status of my pieces is undetermined. My supplier cannot tell me, and the weighing establishes the mineral without saying anything about a possible resin impregnation. Resin withstands neither heat nor solvents, so every piece is handled as though it might contain some. The treatment information page.

The Scratch, and Where It Comes From

Jade is tough, meaning very hard to break: its structure of interlocking crystals resists cracking, and that is what made it possible to turn it into axes 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 rates 7, and that is what dulls a jade, not impacts. The difference between the two.

Day to Day

Put the piece on after perfume and lotion, never before. Take it off for housework, gardening, and sports, where the hard knocks happen. Store each piece on its own, in its pouch. On a strand of beads, the thread wears out before the stone does: it gets restrung, and there is nothing abnormal about that.

Cleaning a jade piece and storing it.

What I Do, and What I Don’t

My name is Jade. I am French, from Morbihan in Brittany, and I live in Tallinn. I choose the pieces and have them set: I mine nothing, I carve nothing, and I do not do the metalwork myself. What I bring is the sorting, and with this material the sorting decides everything.

I am not a gemologist, a lapidary, or a therapist, and I do not claim to be.

I Weigh, I Do Not 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, and not every piece. I never handle the piece that ships to you, and I would rather say so plainly than let anyone believe otherwise. The method, with its three limitations.

What I Cannot Know

The treatment status of my pieces. My supplier cannot tell me, and neither can the scale: it establishes the mineral, not the resin impregnation. Only laboratory infrared spectroscopy would settle the question, and I do not have that testing done. So you will never read “jadeite A”, “type A” or “untreated” on this site. The information page.

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 October 7, 2016. What applies today dates from April 8, 2021: the US Treasury sanctioned Myanma Gems Enterprise, the state-owned company that controls the Burmese gem trade. So there is no blanket ban, but an American is not allowed to do business with that entity, and a stone never tells you where it has been. I run one supply chain for ten markets, and it has to stand up to the strictest one. When an origin is not confirmed to me in writing, the listing does not state it. My origin policy.

The whole story.