Jade Earrings

Bezel set studs, framed sleepers, drops and hoops that set the stone moving. Twenty-five listings, in jadeite or nephrite, with the mineral named on each one.

This is the lightest family in the catalog, and the one where the mounting counts almost as much as the green: it decides whether the stone stays still or catches the light with every step.

AffinerStoneColorStone shape+6
Stone
Jadeite or nephrite, not resolved24Jadéite1
Color
Light green12Water green4White4Dark green2Bright green1Clear green1Olive green1
Stone shape
Round beads6Carving in the round5Drop4Cabochon3Bar2Pierced disc2Barrel beads1Flower1Tube1
Motif
No motif18Flower5Bamboo1Leaf1
Mounting
Ear wire12Metal band6Metal setting4Chain2Stud1
Metal
Gold tone, alloy not stated16Silver tone, alloy not stated8Sterling silver 9251
Setting
Drilled stone16Bead cap4Bezel set4Claw set1
Worn by
Women24Unisex1
Paired stones
None, jade only3Green stone, not identified1Red bead, not identified1White stones, not identified1

Showing all 25 results

Four mountings, four ways of wearing

On an earring the stone is small: it is the mounting that decides what you see of it.

The stud
A bezel set cabochon, sitting on the lobe, motionless. Two points of green, sober enough for the office and clear enough for the evening. It is the mounting you wear longest without thinking about it.
The sleeper
A frame that holds the stone without hiding it, and a mechanism that does not open on its own. It is the one I would recommend for a pair you keep on from morning to night.
The drop
The stone hangs free below the fitting and moves with every turn of the head. That is where translucency shows best, because the light keeps changing angle.
The hoop
A ring that carries the stone around the lobe. It catches the light from the side, which a stud never does.

Two stones from the same pair are never quite the same green, and I would rather write it beforehand than after: jade is a natural material, and a perfectly identical pair would be a signal worth examining rather than a guarantee of quality.

What you will not find here

No listing for men in this family, and that is not an oversight: measured demand is almost nil on this side, while it is real on the pendants. If you are looking for jade to wear for a man, the pendants and the bracelets are the two sections that suit. What I would recommend.

No price, no dimension and no weight is written on this page. They are on the product pages, and they are written there after the example has arrived.

Genuine, and how I check it

What is sold under the name jade is very often serpentine or dyed quartzite, under labels that sound serious: “new jade”, “Malaysia jade”, “Korean jade”. None of them means jade.

This is where my measurement is at its weakest, and I say so rather than keep quiet about it. On a stone a few millimeters across, the uncertainty of the scale becomes the same order of magnitude as the gap between a nephrite at 2.95 and a quartzite at 2.65. The figure still exists, but it no longer separates them with the same sharpness.

On those pieces I therefore also rely on what I see and on the provenance of the batch, and the product page says so. The three limits of weighing.

Values from the mineralogical literature. The last two rows are the materials sold under the name jade.
MaterialDensity
Jadeite3.25 to 3.36
Nephrite2.90 to 3.03
Serpentineabout 2.6
Quartzite, dyed or notabout 2.65

The word genuine on this page sets real jade against serpentine, and never the untreated against the treated. The treatment status of these pieces is not determined: my supplier does not know it, and the scale does not say. The information sheet explains it in full.

Silver, gold, and what touches the skin

Sterling silver is the most neutral metal: it holds the green without warming it and does not green the skin. Gold plating brightens the stone and pulls it toward the warm side. Plated is written plated, on the product page as here. What gold changes in the way the green is seen.

On an earring the question of metal is not only aesthetic: the post goes through the lobe. If you know your skin to be sensitive, solid silver is the safer of the two, and I sell no post in a metal I would not name.

Wearing them, and not damaging them

A pair of earrings is the piece of jewelry that falls most often, and the smallest to find again. Jade is tough, but a thin edge chips on a tiled floor.

  • Put them on after perfume, hairspray and cream, never before.
  • Lukewarm water and a mild soap. Never ultrasound, never steam, never solvent, since the treatment status is unknown. The detail.
  • Store the pair together, in its pouch, lying flat. The hardness of jade is ordinary, 6 to 6.5 for nephrite and 6.5 to 7 for jadeite, and the quartz in household dust sits at 7. Why one pouch per piece.
  • Take them off to sleep: that is where posts get bent and backs get lost.

What follows changes register, and I flag it rather than blending it into the rest. Nothing here is demonstrated: it is what traditions have attributed to this stone.

Jade worn close to the face, the pair given on a particular occasion: these usages are old and documented. What tradition puts into jade.

A stone heals nothing, and the full disclaimer is here.

Frequently asked questions

Are the two stones in a pair identical?

No, and that is normal: jade is a natural material. I choose the two stones so that they match, not so that they are twins. A pair that is absolutely identical in shade and veining is in fact worth asking where it came from. Added color can be recognized.

How can I tell whether these are genuine jade earrings?

By density, but with an honest reservation: on a stone a few millimeters across, the measurement loses its sharpness. The other markers then count for more, the waxy luster of nephrite, the absence of bubbles, the grain visible with a loupe. The steps to follow.

Which mounting for sensitive skin?

Solid sterling silver, rather than a plating whose layer eventually wears through at the contact point. The metal of every post is written on the product page, and nothing there is implied.

Can I wear them every day?

Yes, and that is exactly what studs and sleepers are made for. Take them off to sleep and for sport, and put them on after cosmetics.

Jadeite or nephrite for earrings?

Jadeite is more translucent and livelier, which shows well on a drop that moves. Nephrite is tougher and gives darker greens, more discreet on the lobe. They are two unrelated minerals. What tells them apart.

Can a lost earring be replaced singly?

Not reliably: it would mean finding a stone that matches the one left, in a natural material and from a batch that will have changed. Write to me anyway, and I will look at what I have.