Jade has an aura of mystery like no other stone. It has been prized by the Chinese for thousands of years, both for its rarity and its powerful talismanic properties. They call it the “Stone of Heaven” and consider it more precious than diamonds and gold.
Jade has a long history dating back to ancient China and Confucian philosophies cemented its popularity, making it a symbol of virtue, kindness, wisdom and justice. As acclaimed Hong Kong jewellery designer Michelle Ong explains: “Gold has value, whereas jade is priceless:
Jade is an umbrella term for two different minerals: nephrite and jadeite, both of which are admired for their hardness and smooth, lustrous sheen. Nephrite is a more opaque stone found in the Kunlun Mountains of western China. It was first appreciated in scientific circles and carved into weapons, ceremonial objects and, much later, sculptural ornaments around 5,000 years ago.
Jadeite is more translucent and can be polished to a high lustre, making it more suitable for jewellery. Its colours include green, lavender, red and white. Jadeite was first discovered in the remote mountains of Upper Burma (now Myanmar) in 1784, and by the early 19th century it was in great demand. Its popularity was boosted by Empress Dowager Cixi of the Qing Dynasty’s enthusiasm for the finest specimens of emerald green stones, which became known as ‘imperial jadeite’.
Military officers and nobles amassed as much jadeite as they could to give as gifts to the royal household or to wear themselves, causing its value to rise astronomically.
Historically prized by the Chinese, the stone is now appearing in contemporary jewellery in unexpected ways, even appealing to Middle Eastern consumers. British luxury accessories brand Asprey recently launched a collection of jewellery and objects made exclusively from the finest imperial jadeite, hand-carved by Chinese master craftsmen from a private archive.
The collection of lush green bangles, pendants, earrings and objets d’art was launched at the Ataya exhibition in Abu Dhabi earlier this year and has proved popular with the region’s royal families. Asprey has a long association with British and Middle Eastern royalty.
But to find such a quintessentially British brand associated with jade is unexpected. However, as chairman John Rigas explains, Asprey has been working with jadeite for 100 years. Much like Parisian houses such as Cartier, who began incorporating jade into their Art Deco designs, Asprey began creating jade pieces in the 1920s.
Asprey spent years researching the subject before sourcing the large, uncut pieces of stone that it transforms into jewellery and other items ‘to showcase the beauty and importance of imperial jadeite to the Western world’, says Rigas.
This preserved private collection of jadeite comes with handwritten records dating back more than 100 years, ensuring its ethical sourcing, as ethical supplies of new imperial jadeite are hard to come by due to Myanmar’s political and geological situation.
Jadeite cannot be carbon-dated and until now no one has been able to prove its purity, making the trade a notoriously opaque market. However, Asprey has worked with the University of Oxford’s Department of Earth Sciences to provide an expert mineralogical certification scheme to ensure safety and confidence in its jadeite products.
Traditionally, jade is carved into exquisite tablets, set in gold with gemstones, or smoothed into a tactile cabochon shape and set in rings. Necklaces in which each pearl is the same size are particularly valuable. This was demonstrated by the 2014 sale of American socialite Barbara Hutton’s jadeite bead necklace, which was bought for $27.44 million at Sotheby’s Hong Kong by Cartier, which, incidentally, originally made the necklace for her.
At Asprey, where jadeite is now the best-selling stone, the company is going one step further, with plans to facet the jadeite for a ring or pendant to create an interesting new aesthetic for the stone.
“The effect is mesmerising and a little disorientating because there is no fire [light] in the stone, but it does draw you in,” says Bobby Gill, Asprey’s retail director.
Elsewhere, at Geneva-based Boghossian, which has a rich history with jade and the expertise of Edmond Chin, its creative director and a renowned jade specialist, it was inevitable that they would explore and use this captivating material.
Initially, jade was used primarily alongside more conventional gemstones such as diamond, ruby, emerald and sapphire,” says Roberto Boghossian, whose ancestors originally traded gemstones on the Silk Road. “However, it quickly became apparent that the presence of jade resonated with a wide audience, as its unique qualities added a distinctive element to our jewellery creations.”
Recent designs include an imperial jadeite bangle with a white jade flower, and a sautoir that reinterprets the styles worn by high-ranking officials of the Qing Dynasty, with seven jadeite beads linked by diamonds and emeralds to a pair of gourd-shaped jadeite elements.
High-quality traditional forms of Burmese jadeite, such as pearl necklaces, cabochons and bracelets, fetch extraordinary prices at auctions in Hong Kong, where the clientele is predominantly Asian and American.
But the Middle East is a market that Phillips auction house is developing. Louisa Chan, head of jewellery sales at Phillips in Hong Kong, has over the past five years seen “a trend in the market to rejuvenate jadeite jewellery, so that jadeite, sometimes even antique carvings or plaques, are incorporated into modern and whimsical designs,” she says.
“These modernised jadeite jewels appeal to younger generations of collectors from all kinds of cultural backgrounds.”
Young Chinese designers such as Austy Lee in Hong Kong are certainly modernising jadeite with very contemporary chinoiserie settings, while Taiwanese artistic jeweller Anna Hu uses imperial jadeite cabochons in her lotus rings.
One of the most respected artistic jewellers working with jade is Hong Kong’s master carver Wallace Chan, who is drawn to the mesmerising effect of imperial jadeite.
“The stone itself is attractive, but the stories that come with it are part of its identity and fascination,” he explains. “Whether it is a cicada, a peapod, a dragon or whatever it appears to be, its shape almost always points to deeper meanings and is never just an ornament.
“Each piece of jadeite also has a destiny and it takes an expert with years of experience to unravel the mystery of whether it is meant to be a cabochon, a carving, a pendant, a bangle, a pair of earrings or something else.”
