Red Jade Carved Dragon Pendant

Fine thickly carved jadeite jade pendant of a pair of dragons ‘in stone’ set with tsavorites in 18k.

The carving shows jadeite in two distinct sections of orange-red and white.

Natural unheated red jadeite is rare, most red jadeite is heated.

Since this is widely done most red jadeite while heated is still nominally held as ‘natural’ in the commercial market.

This red jadeite carving is unheated, valuable for its bold redness and hence carved around its premium color.

In fact its astutely-polished material resembles resin or enamel – it is a wonder jade is a stone where mere polish can reveal such extensive organic shine.

Indoors the red displays as deep orange, when held to light this brightens to red clay, the whole carving translucent and very dewy.

Carved on both sides in a style that can be described as Eurasian, or Old School, the carving is more archetypal than symbolic.

There is a tribal ring to its primitive and primal being, a human thing and not a design thing.

The dragons on each side are only partially fleshed out (head), it is the whole stone that comes alive in its perpetuity.

Such an unbroken ring design is pure stone and less art and this imprints on the pendant’s stoic beauty.

Possibly the unexpected tsavorites hint at its precious pure material – and the bail constructed to swivel the stone – all the better for both sides are equal faces to the story.

The carving measures 52mm all around, with a substantial depth thickest at 10mm.