We Love Our Jade, and Our "Other" Jewelry

My previous blog, I fell in love with a jewelry that wasn't jade while I was shopping during my Caribbean cruise.  During the 17 years I've been buying and selling jade, I've also bought other interesting items when I traveled through China.  I bought and sold cinnabar for awhile, and we still have genuine natural pearls on the web sites.  One of the items that I still really like is the crystal pendants.  Sometimes the woman who makes jewelry for YYJ uses the crystal pendants when she makes jade and pearl necklaces. 

In the year 2000 I was visiting a Buddhist temple in the mountains between Shenyang and Dandong and discovered an orphanage behind the temple with children that were not adoptable because they had major disabilities.  I knew China child adoptions were big business in China because I stayed at the White Swan hotel on Shamian Island near Guangzhou, and that's where many of the couples adopting children completed their adoption tour.  Most of the children for adoption are girls, because with the one child policy, boys were favored, so girls were often given up for adoption or abandoned.  The one child policy has changed recently, for many reasons.  But children with major disabilities were not in the adoption programs, and their conditions were extremely frugal.  The monks at the monastery gave me a tour, which was heartbreaking.  The monks sold the crystal pendants, and I bought a large quantity and gave them as much money as I could.  There are still a few of the crystals pendants on the Ying Yu Jade web site. 

Spiritual Crystal Pendants on Ying Yu Jade web site

 

 

Recently a long time customer purchased two "medicine Buddha" crystal pendants, and told me she was making earrings with them.  She sent me photos.

She sent me another photo of her wearing them but it "disappeared" when I was editing it.  They look very nice on her, and she did a good job.  Wish she was next door so she could custom make these crystals for YYJ!   

I also have vintage pre-owned jewelry that I bought at estate sales of Chinese people.  Sometimes there was a box of jewelry that included jade I wanted to sell in the Vintage and Pre Owned Estate Jade collection.  I listed the jade, but not the other jewelry.  I sell some of  it on ebay, but thinking about adding it to the web site.   It's not Chinese or Asian jewelry, just older jewelry that is interesting.  I don't know the value of the jewelry, and don't know what some of the stones are, or if they're "real and natural", or the carat weight of the stones.  I donated the "cheap stuff" to Goodwill, and wish I had more time to get photos and list some of the interesting, possibly valuable jewelry.  When I get it listed, I'll send an email to those of you who signed up for emails on the Ying Yu Jade web site. 

We love our jade.   And usually jade lovers enjoy other jewelry, too.