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27 Jan '16

Does My Jade Have a Crack?

Posted by Ying Yu Jade in jade crack

You receive your new jade bangle bracelet, put it on and love it.  Then you start to closely examine it, and you think there is something wrong with your jade bangle.  It's nicely polished, but there are some tiny areas around the edge that feel slightly rough, maybe even feels like a chip.  When you hold it to the light, you see what looks like a crack.

Jade, jadeite, is stone.  Stone is not "perfect".  All of the natural-ness you see is what makes stone, jade so special.  It's wearing something that has spent centuries under the earth on your wrist. And the jade carving process itself is done by hand.  If you own a hand knit or hand sewed item, you see all kinds of variations due to be hand made.  There's a Chinese saying:  The jade carver always leaves something behind.  Women who live in China often cherish "imperfections" because it shows the jade is natural, hand carved by a traditional jade carver, not a machine.

But a crack can mean damage. A crack is a line in the jade that goes up and down the width of the bangle, and you can feel it. See the red line below:

A crack doesn't always mean your jade will eventually break.  Sometimes the crack takes the tension out of the rounded-ness of the design, and then when you do strike it against something hard, there is less chance it will break into pieces than a "perfect" bangle.  Most of the jade bangles I kept for myself have cracks in them, and while I've broken two "perfect" jade bangles over the past 20 years, none of my cracked bangles have broken.  And some have quite big, serious looking cracks.

 

Sometimes you can see lines that run through the jade bangle that look like cracks, but are clarification lines, natural lines in the jade stone.  They are not damage; it's the way the jade was formed, note the red line below:

You can see these clarification lines more in translucent jade stone.  They can be very obvious in the fine grained, high quality jade stone because they are so much different than the fine grain.  Sometimes they are on the surface, sometimes the jade carver can make the jade piece with the clarification inside so it can be more smoothly polished.  Clarification lines are not cracks, they are not damage.  And on our web sites, if there are clarification lines they are described, and often discounted because we know most "Western women" still regard the clarification line as damage.

A crack means damage.  Cracks can occur from handling the jade rough, the carving process, or after you receive it and it gets damaged.  Clarifications lines mean the jade stone is natural.  Usually the higher priced jadeite items don't have the clarification lines, and we discount the items that do have clarification lines.

15 Jan '16

Chinese Health Secrets for Winter and Jade Gua Sha for Health

Posted by Ying Yu Jade

I am allergic to the flu shot for protection during the winter.  Even if I weren't allergic to it, I don't think I would get it because I found a Chinese health secret that I think works better, and is natural and safe to use.

There's an acupuncture point, GV14, Da Zhui, at the base of the neck, on top of the spine that Chinese doctors stimulate to avoid colds and flu and to help recover from them.  I rub this point every day as part of my qigong practice.  And if I feel the hint of a cold, I rub it often during the day.

Using a jade gua sha tool to stimulate your acupuncture point can keep you healthy naturally.  And relieve pain and other problems if you suffer from them.  Some people scrape their meridians 2-3 times a week with jade gua sha tools to keep their qi moving smoothly. They are very helpful tools. 

I learned about them the first time I went to China in 1999.  I was exhausted from the long trip from USA, had jet lag and trouble adjusting to the 12 hour time difference.  I was sitting in a class about Chinese medicine, and a doctor performed a jade gua sha treatment on my back, and it was so effective, I was hooked.  And found a jade carver to make these to sell online.

This weekend, 15% discount on jade gua sha tools.  See the Daily Special for the coupon code.

 

09 Jan '16

"Dynasty Collection" Carved Chinese Jade Bangles Featured Sale This Week

Posted by Ying Yu Jade

The carved jade bangle bracelets on this page are replicas of ancient Chinese Dynasty styles. I researched the style and pattern of ancient dynasties, and contracted a jade carver to make them in the same style from the same variety of indigenous Chinese jade that was used to make them hundreds of years ago.
These are very unique, and carved for Ying Yu Jade exclusively.

I went to a wholesale gem show this weekend, and saw a seller who had one of these kind of carved Chinese jade bangle bracelet for sale.  She had ONLY one, and was selling it for YYJ usual price of $2500.   This week they will be on sale as our feature item

03 Jan '16

Jade for Lunar New Year Collection

Posted by Ying Yu Jade

We completed  a Collection of jade that is auspicious for Chinese New Year.  It's the "Red Fire Monkey" Collection.

Lunar New Year will be here soon.  It's very auspicious to wear traditional jade to celebrate.  February 8 begins the Year of the Red Fire Monkey (which we will sometimes refer to as "spunky monkey"). This collection will be auspicious Fire Monkey Year jade.  

Of course, "Fu Lu Shou" three color jade is the traditional color combination for Lunar New Year and celebrations.  Fu Lu and Shou are the gods of happiness, luck and wealth, and health and longevity.  Ying Yu Jade offers some very rare, genuine and natural fu lu shou jade. 

Characteristics of Monkey People
People born in the year of the monkey are lively, flexible, witty and versatile with strong practical ability.
They love to be active and they enjoy sports.
Often highly intelligent, they are talented problem solvers, and are self-assured, sociable and innovative.
They love being the centre of attention and have a magnetic personality.
Monkey people have an insatiable desire for knowledge and show amazing creativity in their work.
They like challenges and love to succeed, although they can be discouraged if things don't go their way.
Monkeys are mischievous; they are masters of the practical joke (though they can sometimes take things too far)
They tend to be healthy (probably due to their active lifestyle) but should remember to take a break from their busy schedule now and again.
Negative traits are that they can be jealous, suspicious, cunning, arrogant and impatient, and tend to look down on others.

2016 is the Year of the Fire Monkey, fire being the dominant element this year.

31 Dec '15

What Kind of Jade Do Chinese People Wear on the New Year?

Posted by Ying Yu Jade

"Fu Lu Shou" three color jade is the traditional kind of jade Chinese people wear for the new year and holidays.

Fu Lu and Shou are the Chinese gods of happiness, good luck and wealth, and wellness and longevity. The usual fu lu shou colors are green, white and a red hue, such as "hong" or honey.

Genuine and natural fu lu shou three color jadeite is rare.  Ying Yu Jade offers several fu lu shou jadeite pieces in the vintage and pre-owned collection, as well as in pendants.

It's expensive, but very auspicious, and will increase in value as it becomes more rare.