Looking for a large "real" jade bangle bracelet

Jade bangle bracelets for women were made for the small wrist of Chinese and Asian women.  The jade was genuine, natural and high quality.  Chinese women wore Chinese jade bangle bracelets until the 19th century when Burmese jadeite was introduced, and then women who lived in southern China often preferred the jadeite to the Chinese jade because the Chinese jade mines were in the north of China.  "Chinese size" is 50-56mm.

Jade bangle bracelets started gaining popularity when western women visiting or living in China wanted to wear the jade bangle.  But western women often needed a larger jade bangle bracelet.  The men's size jade bangles might be large enough, but were made more "yang" for men, more masculine design, color and overall appearance.

Clever jade carvers in Shanghai, southern China and Hong Kong started making the larger sizes for western women, but knowing "foreigners" didn't understand the qi gemology of jadeite, used lower quality or even fake jade to make these kinds of jade bangles.  They weren't as "pretty" as the expensive high quality jadeite for Chinese women sizes, which would be very expensive if that same high quality of jadeite were used to make these larger sizes.  What many people don't know is that the true imperial old mine jadeite is very precious and expensive.  Jade carvers "gamble" on a rough jade stone, seeing only a small window cut into the jade boulder to know what's actually inside: imperial jade, or colorless cloudy no-color jadeite stone.  So jade carvers used their "gambling losses" of poor quality jadeite boulder to make these larger size jade bangles for "foreigners".  They bleach the jade stone with acid to remove all the spots, odd colors and then impregnate with artificial coloring to make it look "like the real thing", maybe even more pretty.  Keep in mind that gemologists have color enhanced gemstones for years, including diamonds, rubies, emeralds and many other gemstones to enhance their color, so color treating process is acceptable practice with any gemstones.

What's not acceptable practice is not being honest about describing the color enhancements.  And making fake certificates of authenticity to give to the customer.

Soon the color enhanced jade bangles were the kind of jade bangle bracelets that were being sold to foreigners, regardless of size.  If you are a China visitor, and go shopping where the locals shop, you had a better chance of getting a natural color jade bangle, but not in the larger sizes, especially larger than 60mm.

68.5mm carved jadeite bangle bracelet JBB3121

The carved jade bangle in the photo is a large size 68.5mm.  It's carved with the "yang" design of man protecting woman, a larger fish next to a smaller peach (symbol of woman).
The yang deeper green vein with the yin lighter green also indicates it was made for male.
It was sold to us with certification of being natural color, genuine jadeite.  I took it to my jeweler who is a GIA gemologist who thought it was natural color, but offered to send it to the Carlsbad, California GIA gemology testing office for $200 to cover the cost of testing and shipping.  His opinion was it doesn't matter if it's natural or color treated because it's so pretty, rare to find this nice quality in larger sizes. And the prices we sell the larger sizes he thinks are extremely reasonable.  He is surprised to see that larger sizes we sell because he knows that large is rare.  And we did test it to make sure it's genuine jadeite, so it's not "fake jade".   He also showed me that most of the colored gemstones in jewelry he had at the counter are also heat treated to improve the color, but there are no "certificates" to show they are not natural color, just the disclaimer jewelry sellers use to state that it's common practice to enhance color.

So why all the drama around jade?  People who claim B and C grade is not real jade?
Part of the reason is the Chinese seller culture of fakes, knockoffs, and fraud.  As a jade seller, it's difficult to believe the jade I purchased as genuine, natural color, really is.  I've seen jade sellers in China shuffling a large stack of fake certificates they give to customers when they purchase jade in the jade markets.  When we take the photos, we also test each jade bangle with refraction to make sure it's jadeite.  Then it's a gamble, like in China.

Unless we purchase them directly from the jade carver while shopping in China, having tea with them and their family, and spending hours talking with them and making the best deal on jade bangle bracelets that benefits all of us.

How to Meaure for a Jade Bangle Bracelet - Find Your Jade Bangle Size

If you have never worn a jade bangle bracelet, and you don't know your size, the video will give you hints for finding  your size. 

If you  plan to wear your jade bangle all the time, get the smallest size you can slip over your knuckles.  Chances are it will still slide up from your wrist towards your elbow, but that's just the way of our anatomy!   The smallest size you can wear will stay closer to your wrist and not "clunk around" as much, so less chance of damaging or breaking it.

If you wear your jade bangle as jewelry that you change often, a larger size will be more easy to get on and off.

Having a variety of sizes can be helpful because your body often changes slightly and some days it will be easier to get smaller sizes on.  And keep in mind that for most women, your right and left hands and wrists are slightly different sizes, so that will also determine which wrist you want to wear your jade bangle on.

If you are a first time jade bangle bracelet buyer, I will do my best to help you get your best jade bangle size.  When you know what size  or sizes you can wear, it opens up a wealth of possibilities for your jade bangle passion!

Why do Chinese women love jade bangle bracelets

Why do Chinese women love jade bangle bracelets?  Not all Chinese women do. In fact, younger Chinese women think wearing a jade bangle is something "grandmother" would do, and are too modern to even think about jade. But Chinese and Asian women who do love jade bangle bracelets cherish them and plan to pass them to family members.

There's a Chinese saying: Jade becomes the person who wears it.  Jade qi and body qi come together and the jade takes on the body qi energy of the one who wears it.

Some women who wear jade bangle bracelets all the time feel like they are truly missing a part of themselves when they can't wear their jade bangle.  If they have to remove it for medical procedures, they actually become more ill and don't benefit from the medical procedure as much because they are missing a part of themselves: the qi energy from the jade. 

When I first started selling jade bangle bracelets 15 years ago, a Vietnamese woman living in USA contacted me because she had to remove her jade bangle for a surgery, but she had worn her jade bangle since she was a teenager and her age was near 60.  It was stuck on her wrist, very tight and just the way she liked it.  And it had to get broken so it could be removed.  She felt lost without having a jade bangle and wanted another one as soon as possible.  In the year 2000, the only place you could buy jade was on ebay, and most of it was made for "foreigners", low quality and color treated so not natural.  She had purchased a few trying to get one that felt good, but disappointed they weren't natural when she finally received it.  I had recently returned from China and had purchased quite a few Chinese jade and jadeite bangle bracelets.  In one of the rural areas I went to the residents  heard that an "American" was looking for jade, and and people came out of their  homes with their family jade they wanted to sell to me.   They really wanted American dollars at that time.  I spent as much cash as I had on me buying their older jade, including bangle bracelets.   One of them was just the kind of jade this Vietnamese woman was looking for.  She still wears that jade bangle, and sends me an occasional email to let me know she's still "around" and wearing it. 

I am equally divided about whether to wear one jade bangle bracelet all the time, or change them.  I have quite a large personal collection but have three that I wear most of the time,  and change them as the seasons change.  I wear jade to balance my body qi, and the different seasons of the year require different jade for me.  If you see a jade bangle that really appeals to you,  the reason is probably because it has the right kind of qi energy for you. Trust that feeling.

Green veins on white jadeite bangle bracelet from  "Jade Market" Collection

Classic Round Jade Bangle Bracelets

Women in China and Asia used to wear the classic round jade bangle bracelets until after the Qing Dynasty.  Women who could afford to wear jade bangles were usually royalty, or wealthy and weren't very active.  The round jade bangle bracelet stimulates the acupuncture points around the wrist.  Although they have more jade in the thickness than the modern flat inside jade bangle, they have a higher risk of breaking because they stick out from the wrist more and when you are doing everyday tasks, like cooking, cleaning, playing sports, it's easy to strike the bangle on a hard surface.

Classic round small "moss in snow" jadeite bangle bracelet

Classic round translucent green jadeite bangle bracelet

And even though jade is strong, if you strike it just right (actually, just wrong), it will crack or break.  And round jade bangle bracelets are at higher risk.

Men also wore jade bangle bracelets in the Dynasty eras.  However, men's jade bangles were usually flat inside because men were more active.  And the  men's jade bangles were also thicker, giving more durability for their lifestyle.  So if you find an older jade bangle bracelet that's larger than the standard Chinese size, 52-57mm, and it's flat inside, it was probably carved for a man.

After the Qing Dynasty, and communism wiped out the "elegance" of the Dynasty eras,
it became less common to wear jade bangle bracelets.  The wealthy people were sent out to work in the countryside during the Mao era, so if a woman had a jade bangle, she didn't wear it.  Jade carving in China slowed, although Hong Kong had a thriving jade business.

When women were able to start wearing jade bangles again, they weren't royalty anymore, and were more active.  They worked, or were busy mothers, and if they could afford a jade bangle, they would prefer a less expensive and flat inside jade bangle that would be more comfortable to wear. And when women who were wealthy because they were in the Chinese communist party wore jade, they didn't want to wear classic round jade bangles because the government might suspect their family of being corrupt. 

When jade carving became big business again, many jade bangle bracelets were made for export to "Western" countries.  The jade carvers had to make them larger for non-Chinese or non-Asian wrists, which required more jade stone.  Flat inside jade bangles use less jade stone. 

I personally love a slender elegant classic round jade bangle bracelet.  But I have to be careful when I wear it because I am very active and there's the risk of breaking it.  And I like to wear a jade bangle all the time, so the qi energy of the jade and my qi energy blend and work well together, because the jade looks more pretty as you wear it.  So I have changed to wearing a flat inside jade bangle.  It's more comfortable.

And "modern" Chinese women often don't want to wear a jade bangle like "grandma" wore, so they prefer the modern flat inside style.

If you are a jade bangle lover,  a classic round jade bangle that's good quality is not only pretty to wear, but it's also an investment.  And most jade bangle lovers have quite a collection of jade bangle bracelets, and enjoy wearing them all.

Why should I wear a jade bangle bracelet? What does my jade bangle mean?

Jade bangle bracelets are beautiful.   And they "go" with almost anything you wear.  Although jade bangle bracelets have been around for centuries, they are still cherished, slightly exotic.

If you are Chinese or Asian, you might want to wear a jade bangle bracelet for the tradition. Perhaps someone in your family passed their jade bangle bracelet down to you.  There's a Chinese belief that jade becomes the person who wears it.  Jade has strong, lively qi energy. When you wear jade, you not only receive the qi energy from the jade,  your qi energy also is shared with your jade.  That's why good quality jade will look more pretty and "glow" the more you wear it.

However, if you are a "modern" Chinese woman, you may NOT want to wear a jade bangle bracelet, because "that's what Grandma wore", and you are not like a grandmother!   When I went to China to purchase jade, I would always arrange to contract with a young woman to accompany me, not only for language and translation, but for the companionship and to learn more about real Chinese life.  And I liked to purchase jade directly from the jade carvers in southern China, near the Burma border, so I could get really good quality jade, not the questionable jade bangles I would buy in the Guangzhou jade market.  One of the young women became a special friend.  She thought she know all about jade, just because she was Chinese.  When she started shopping with me, she realized I knew more than most Chinese people about jade, so she always asked to shop with me when I went to China.  One time we went to Sishui jade city and found a younger male jade carver who had a great deal of different kind of jade.  They called it "modern jade" because it sure didn't look like the usual kind of jade bangles.  The colors were darker and they didn't have that soft, yin Qing Dynasty kind of color, the old kind of fei cui green.

My personal jadeite bangle bracelet "modern" style

She loved them, and and we bought quite a few.  Some to sell on the web site, and some she wanted to keep and give to friends.  She never thought that she would want to wear a jade bangle bracelet, but now she was motivated.

Another reason people wear jade bangle bracelet is for the qi energy.   Some people like to wear "jade as medicine" and use the colors as they relate to the qi meridians for balancing body, mind and spirit according to the Dao and Chinese medicine.  Jade bangle bracelets stimulate the acupuncture points on the wrist, to keep the qi flowing smoothly.  My first trip to China was to learn Chinese medicine, and that's when I got my never-ending interest in jade, so future blog posts will be about the colors of jade and qi energy.

Wearing a jade bangle bracelet these days does not mean you are affiliated with Chinese culture.  Jade bangle bracelets have become of world wide interest to women, and men, and even children.  I've been blogging about jade for 13 years, and it amazes me how I can always think of something to write about jade.  Jade is endlessly interesting, whether it's Chinese jade, or Burmese jadeite.  What's the difference? Future blogs coming up!

Classic round fei cui green Burmese jadeite bangle bracelet

Natural color Chinese "river jade" bangle bracelet

These two jade bangle bracelets available at JadeBangleBracelets.comhttp://jadebanglebracelets.com