Jade is the stone that changes most with the light. Here it runs from ice-green through pale celadon to a smoky purple-grey and a warm caramel — and the same piece can read pale in the morning and deep by evening. Most of these pieces are bracelets.
The colors, and how they behave
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Pale green and celadon are the quietest. They sit close to skin tone and disappear under a sleeve.
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White jade is opaque and cool. It shows carving better than color, which is why the peace buckles and koi are cut in white.
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Blue jade takes a deeper tone in daylight and a greyer one indoors.
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Smoky purple-grey and caramel are the rarest shades here, and the ones that read most like stone.
Why it is cut the way it is
Jade is tough rather than hard. It resists a blow that would shatter quartz, which is why it can be carved into thin discs, open rings, and the interlocking forms you see on the peace buckles here.
Two shapes in this collection go a long way back — the peace buckle, a disc with a hole worn on a cord, and the gourd. Both are worn for keeping rather than for looking at, and both show up again on the red cord bracelets.
Wearing it
Jade holds a polish for a very long time and asks for almost nothing. Wipe it with a soft cloth and keep it away from harder stones in a box.
Choose the color you want to live with. The pale greens stay quiet; the blues and caramels are the ones people notice.
