Jade is often called “the stone of heaven," as it is believed it has the role of protection and against evil, says the New York Times.
Carly Raitt, a senior from Utah majoring in ICS said, “I know in New Zealand, there is a custom to wear green jade. At PCC’s night show, I have seen New Zealand dancers hold green jade in their hands. In their culture, green jade stands for the sense of power.”
Uuganbaatar Tsogoo, a senior from Mongolia majoring in ICS said, “In Mongolia, people normally wear gold decorations. Gold is the major material that has the value against evil.”
As the demand for traditional jade of a green color soars, “designers are increasingly turning to lavender, black, yellow and even colorless, or clear, jade,” writes the New York Times.
In terms of price, "There has been an upward growth these five to six years, mainly due to the economic strength of the mainland Chinese market,” said Chiang Shiu-fung to the New York Times, associate vice president of Christie’s Hong Kong and a jewelry specialist.
Last year, Sotheby's Hong Kong had the price of $ 27.44 million sold for the American socialite Barbara Hutton’ s jade necklace, which hit a record. “It is such high prices that have been changing the jade market,” says the New York Times.
Eddy Hui said, “When someone is spending millions of dollars purchasing a jadeite piece of jewelry, they are only concerned about the quality of the jade and not so much the design.” He is an artistic director of Edward Chiu Jewelry Art, a boutique in Hong Kong’s Central district which focusing on selling high quality jade.
“They tend to stick with very traditional and simple styles because the value of the stone prohibits them from being too fashion-forward. But we have been advocating other colors, which are more reasonably priced, and we can be more daring and creative, making jadeite jewels more relevant to the fashionable customer,” he told the New York Times.
"Jade" is actually the term used to refer to both nephrite and jadeite. Nephrite is more durable, is opaque, and since prehistoric times it has been used to produce everything from kitchenware to weapons. Jadeite jade is more expensive, and is more translucent, like quartz, and has been used mainly for the production of jewelry since the Qing dynasty (mid-1600s to 1912).
The New York Times also reports that Western jewelry designers also increasingly favor Jadeite, with New York's David Webb and the Paris brand JAR are using jade in their designs.
Today, most jadeite is produced in Myanmar, says the New York Times, “but top-quality Burmese jadeite is becoming rare to find,” which Chiang said is another element in the price rise in the market.
Chiu’s nephew and jade expert, Hui, said, "Yellow complements the fair skin tone of Caucasian clients.”
The jade jewelry design itself is affected by the shape, quality materials and features, said the New York Times.
Hong Kong jewelry brand owner and designer Michel Carnet Wong (Michelle Ong) said in order to design a flower-shaped brooch and a necklace she spent several years collecting shapes and sizes of suitable jade.
She said, “Jadeite is always going to be the chosen gemstone for Asians because of our heritage. The fact that we need to take our time and find the right stone first — you can’t rush it.”