Chinese Jade Necklace

How to know if a Chinese jade necklace should be used in a formal occasion or not, is really a matter of taste and opinion, there is nothing, with few exceptions that we may call official. A jade necklace combined with pearls for example can be considered a formal piece if it has a bracelet and earrings to match.

The necklace should have the same number of pearls as it does jade balls and they should all be the same size and color. The normal combination is three or four jade balls to five or six pearls or you can have three pearls with three interchanged jades with pearls in between. The pearls on the bracelet and earrings should have the same quality but they should be smaller, the jade beads should also be smaller but they should have the same color as the necklace. Usually a complete set of formal jade wear is made when they find a large enough chunk of mineral to get all the pieces out of it.

A nice, long string of same color jade beads is also considered formal and correct for night wear if all the beads are the same size and color. Usually beads of different colors and sizes are combined in more juvenile styles and necklaces that are combined with other precious stones, silver and or gold. When you buy jade pieces which you intend to wear together, always try to make sure that the pieces are all the same color, or almost the same color.

An example of an informal Chinese necklace would be a necklace where the jade beads are separated by metal parts. They are not together on a string but are part of a greater design which involves the gold or silver under the jade. In this case the jade beads take second place to the general design which is basically the metal work.

A combination of different sizes of beads or shapes made of jade is also considered informal. Idols or heavenly figures made of jade hanging from strings of jade are also informal. In many places of the world jadeite is considered and called jade too so a nice yellow jadeite necklace would look great with a pair of jeans and a nice, white blouse. Chinese jade necklaces are often combined with jadeite to add color and decoration to them. When they do this the jade beads or shapes are very pale jade so it will look good with the other different colors.

A favorite combination of many women is a necklace with dark green jade beads, almost as green as emeralds combined with huge white or grey pearls.  It looks great both, on a string or on a gold ring as long as the ring is completely covered with pearls and jade.  A Chinese jade necklace usually has a Chinese god or idol, like a Buddha hanging from it. This is not funny even if the Buddha is fat and smiling, they have Buddha in many shapes and sizes and each one has a reason to be like that and has a different name.