Imperial Green Jade Pendant

Very Fine jade pendant set with diamonds in 18k.

The carved jade is an intense imperial green Old Mine jadeite known as (老坑) ‘lao keng’ jade.

Not all Lao Keng jade is as intense, or is intense, though they must all be extremely fine grain.

The carving is a pair of bats and ruyi, loosely scrolled.

The show is in the undulating material, gelatinous, moist, and uniformly dense.

The undulation extends to the corners, the convex relief gives the jadeite a depth which is visceral.

This can be felt when you run your fingers around the jade’s circumference.

Such intense green glows like the jade of dreams, a specific way connoisseurs know to expect from Old Mine AND imperial green jadeite.

In this sense we don’t even need to speak of translucency, or of imperial green, because the way the jade displays is a rare kind of dream, and the carving of this dream material justified.

In fact it is more than justified because its carving suggests a legacy beyond its Old Mine provenance.

The setting is Old World Art Nouveau, made in modern times to distinguish from mid-century tinsel.

This jade pendant is one of the finest carved jadeite pendant we have curated – it ticks all boxes, including sparse competition.

Much of full green jade designed as pendants could be bigger, or accompanied by many stones, but fancy will pale beside legacy.

The pendant spans 50mm by 20mm.

Diamonds are superb, weighing 2.2ctw.