Jade Photos: The Photo You See Online and the Physical Jade You Receive

The photos of the jade we sell online are very important.  When you shop online, you expect the item you order will look just like the photo.  That's what I expect, and I treat customers the way I want to be treated.

All of our photos are taken in a screened outdoor room because natural light is needed to get an accurate photo.  Each item gets at least 50 photos taken so when they are edited we can get the photo to look like the "real thing".  And we can't "photoshop" because that program is so technically "perfect" that the photos look great, but they don't look like the "real thing".  Photos take days, weeks to capture what we need.  Photo editing takes just as long.  And then we spend a great deal of time checking the listing with the photo on 6 different devices to make sure they are "good". 

But the end result of the photo still doesn't look as good as the jade will when you receive it.  The "old mine" jade has a "glow" and translucence that disappears during the editing, although we try to keep as much of the "glow", translucence as possible.  For example, JHBB3270 in this photo was so gorgeous to handle during the photos, editing and listing process.  I got the "qi feel" of "wisdom and compassion", so that was part of the description.

JHBB3270 "Compassion and Wisdom" Old Mine Burmese Jadeite Bangle Bracelet

You can see some of that "glow" around the upper edges on the right, but not on the front area.  I fell in love with it and if it were my size, it would be on my wrist instead of listed for sale!

Keep in mind that all of our smart devices are slightly different, what you see is slightly different than what you get.  But we spend a great deal of time to show it as accurate as possible.

And when you receive your jade and open the parcel in your home or office, and it doesn't seem "right", take it to outdoor lighting.  Jade is a natural mineral, and the natural outdoor light is what makes it look like it's supposed to look.

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Ying Yu Jade Birthday - 18 Years Selling Online

Ying Yu Jade has been online and selling jade for 18 years!

I have a feeling this is a "never ending job" for me.

In 1998 I built my first web site, Calm Spirit.  It was mostly online counseling.  Then I went to China in 1999 to learn Chinese medicine, and fell in love with jade.  The Chinese doctor I met in Beijing liked jade rollers, jade gua sha tools, and taught me about those.  We met a jade seller in Dandong, who took us to China's "Jade Capital" in Liaoning, China who introduced us to a jade carver.  I ordered a box of jade bangles, rollers, gua sha tools not much larger than a shoe  box,  and was quite scared about starting a jade business.  I started on eBay, and sold out!  So I ordered more and turned Calm Spirit into an e-commerce web site.  But it it wasn't really set up for selling,  and my associate in China told me "Ying Yu" meant "best quality jade", so Ying Yu Jade began.

Ying Yu Jade

I still chuckle when I think about how nervous I was about ordering a shoe box size of jade products.  At the height of YYJ,  I had a storage shed.  And I still have a lot of jade, but it does sell.

99% of the time it's been a great "job".  I love buying jade.  I can shop in China, or order the Chinese jade health care items from my jade carver.  I love unpacking it.  I love listing it.  But it is a big job because most items are one of a kind, require quite a few photos before editing and listing each one. Most customers are jade lovers.  And some would love to "close me down" because of the fine quality and good customer service offered.  As you know, the "fake" jades have added drama to selling jade, and when you look at YYJ and Jade Heaven, and you see what genuine and natural jade looks like, and read information about jade on the sites and the blog, it kind of puts a crimp into businesses selling "fake".

Check out the "Deal of the Day" on May 23 for some great discounts.  The more I sell, the more new jade I can buy!  Good for all of us jade lovers.

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Taking Care of Your Jade in Summer Weather

It's summer here in central Florida.  Really.  Hot.  90 degrees during the daytime already.

When summer comes, it's important to keep your jade cool.  I keep the jade that is in storage in a cool part of our home, where it is also dark.  That's what jade likes.  When I would go into very good quality jade shops in China, they were often dark, looking like it was closed, not open for business.  But if you could see a little light inside, you knew it was open.  The jade was stored in mostly dark.  And in cool temperatures, even in southern China. When I was in a shop like that, I knew I would get good quality jade.

I wear my jade bangle bracelet outdoors, when I go to the pool.  But since I don't spend long periods of time outdoors when it's really hot, it's safe for the jade.  When I go into the pool, I usually keep my jade bangle wrist above the water, but if it does spend some time in the chlorine pool water, I wash it with soap and cool water when I get home.  Sometimes if it seems sticky from sunscreen, I use furniture polish to clean it up.

Since I always have a jade bangle bracelet on, it's in the shower with me, too.  So it stays hydrated and clean.  I wipe lotions off, but don't use any harsh cleaners.

I love white jade with some apple green veins for summer.  The qi energy seems cooling, calming.  I know it's "right" for me to wear in the summer, a yin jade in yang heat, because it "glows" as I wear it.

JHBB579 soft yin green and white Burmese jadeite bangle bracelet for summer

Mother of Pearl jewelry looks good with my jade in the summer, and I really do like MOP pendants.  I was cleaning out a jewelry box last week and found a key chain I bought in Tahiti a few years ago.  It's mother of pearl with a palm tree near the ocean, and a little darker color near the top you usually don't see on mother of pearl.  It reminds me of how beautiful those islands are but there are also the dangers of tropical storms looming. 

I plan to remove the key chain clasp and replace it with a bail so I can wear it as a pendant. It's too pretty to leave in a drawer because I don't want to damage it using it as a key chain.

And I have to remind myself to wear all my jade bangle bracelets!  I get hooked on one, wear it for a long time, but when I "go to the drawer", I see another one that looks like "just the right one", and that gets to spend some time on my wrist.

Take care of your jade, so its qi energy takes care of you!

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Jade at the Gem Trade Show

This weekend is the G&LW Gem trade show in Orlando area.  Yesterday was first day, and that's when I go.  There are two gem sellers who sell Chinese jade and Burmese jadeite, and know that I "know" jade.  If they have something special,  they hold it for me if I go to their booth as soon as it opens. 

One of the gem sellers had some vintage old Burmese jadeite pendants and carvings.  They were beautiful, and very expensive.  And I didn't purchase anything from him.  The other gem seller pulled out a tray of Burmese jadeite beads bracelets. The smooth beads were reasonable prices that I could sell online, but I have a sufficient amount in my inventory.  He still had some of the carved beads bracelet and was selling them for almost the price I have them listed.

Jade Heaven Carved Burmese Jadeite Grade A Bead Bracelets

We discussed that each bead needs careful carving, and using the more expensive grade A genuine and natural jadeite is risky because drilling the hole, doing the carving results in some breakage, which is total loss for the jade carver. 

He goes to Hong Kong several times a year to purchase jadeite.  Some of his contacts in Hong Kong who shop for jade go directly to the jade carvers near the Burma border to buy wholesale and then sell to gem sellers who buy wholesale from him.  He got very serious and told me it is extremely difficult to sell jadeite these days because of all the fakes.  He mentioned a company in Tianjin that makes beautiful fake jadeite, color treated aventurine or other gem that can be made to look like jadeite.  He is very experienced and said that sometimes it fools him, too.  He just shakes his head when I tell him all my sales are online.  We agreed there is so much drama around jade, and it is very frustrating to be a genuine natural jade seller.  I told him that when my inventory gets lower, I am not going order again, and that will be the end of my jade selling.  Sad, but that's the way it is.  My regular jade supplier in China who never leaves the country and works with my jade carver said the same thing is happening with his jade sales.  He said buyers don't understand why the prices for his jade is higher than some of the exporters, because we have worked together almost 20 years and sells only genuine and natural Chinese jade and Burmese jadeite.

So it's the first time at the gem show that I didn't buy any jade!

To cheer me up, I wandered through some of the other gem sellers booths and was very tempted to buy up some of the gorgeous gem jewelry.  I put my "gift list" in my mind, and purchased a few things for gifts for friends.  One seller had very different gemstone items, including small trees made with gemstones.  I have seen the trees with all the different gemstones as branches, but this seller had these gorgeous amethyst trees.

Genuine amethyst small tree

The photo just can't capture how beautiful it really is.  All the little stones making up the leaf clusters, and some amethyst stones coming through the stone base.  I bought one for a girlfriend who is a Reiki master.  It "screamed her name" at me when I looked at it!

And as I wandered I did see "jade" being sold as genuine and natural when it obviously wasn't.  But most buyers didn't know that, and were buying it because of the low price.

This morning I received an email from a customer looking for a certain jadeite bangle bracelet, and telling me about she always gets "cheated"  and ripped off buying jade in Western markets, China Towns.   And I have been hearing that from many people over the years.  It's so sad that has happened to the reputation of jade it probably won't improve.  If you are reading this, you know where you can buy genuine and natural jade. 

Jade Heaven

Ying Yu Jade

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