A customer asked me: "why is jade so addicting"! Genuine jade has wonderful qi energy, as the Chinese people have known for centuries. It has been used not only for jewelry, but for health tools, like jade rollers, gua sha tools, etc. Chinese people believe that jade becomes the person who wears it, their body qi and the jade qi mingle and become one. That's a reason why jade is passed down to family members, so that the person who wore it will also be with the person who is receiving the jade piece. When you see a piece of jade that really appeals to you, it's your eyes sending the message to your brain, then to your body, that piece of jade has the energy that will balance, be beneficial to your body. Sometimes when customers receive their jade that they order, they open the box, and not sure if they want to keep it, but then they put it on and the qi starts flowing and the jade becomes more beautiful, takes on a glow if your body is healthy. Or if you body is not healthy, your body may take on the healing energy of the jade and start to feel better. Jade is so alive, and truly becomes part of you as you wear it. August 28

I was explaining to a customer about the best qualities of jadeite bangle bracelets are usually in the "Chinese sizes", 52-57mm. She is looking for a very good quality, natural jadeite bangle to wear as an all-the-time bangle. Her ideal size is 59-61mm, which is average "American size" and since that's the most popular size, that's what the jade carvers make as "commercial", usually lower quality jade stone, often color treated. I think she sould consider trying to squeeze into a smaller size and leave it on permanently. She is thinking about buying a smaller size and having it cut in two, gold clasp attached. I have a vintage jade bangle that is cut and set with 18k gold hinges and took it out to look at it. While it's beautiful, A grade nicely green veined jadeited, it feels energetically "dead". If it were whole, it would have a lovely high "chime". But it just thunks when I chimed it. Traditional Chinese women who wear jade bangles would never wear this kind of jade. The belief is that when the jade bangle is "broken", all the qi energy goes out. I agree. The jade stone in my hinged bangle is so beautiful, but it's dead. August 22

I have to smile when I receive emails from blog readers asking how I am "enjoying retirement". Well....I wish!! There is still a lot of inventory to be dealt with and retiring the jade business will takes several months. And the Chinese jade part will continue to be active. So no retirement for me! We are working on moving some of the jadeite carved bangle bracelets to the JadeBangleBracelets.com web site and reducing the price in the Daily Special, hoping to sell it instead of doing all the work that goes into the change. There are a few that will remain on YYJ, the higher quality ones that have creative carving, are extra nice. Those won't get a reduced price, because you can't buy this kind of jade now. It's actually a vintage product because so few jade carvers are creative, and if they used the best quality of jadeite stone and make the most of the color and texture, it's probably going to be smaller "Chinese size", stay in China, and not be commercial. The carved jade bangles on the Daily Special stay at the discount price about two days, because of the time zones world wide, wanting to give our international customers the opportunity to make the purchase. But when they get removed, they will not be available at those low prices. The ones that don't sell might re-appear on JBB, but I have been working with a retailer who gets "second chance" to buy a wholesale lot of them for his store and web site. He thinks he can sell them for 3-5 times what they were priced here. Get 'em while you can! August 21

As you see, YYJ has hundreds of jade items for sale. Photos take up so much space on the server that we can offer only one photo per item. Customers often ask to see additional photos of the jewelry, but it's impossible to have more than one photo on file because of space, and to keep the web site running smoothly. We take 20-30 photos of the same item, then choose the one that best represents it and requires the least photo editing so the photo will look like the real thing. However, the carved jadeite bangle bracelets, especially the more expensive ones, really need more than one photo so a customer can view the other side. We decided to revamp the carved jadeite bangle section. Since I want to retire the business, what we will do is move the less expensive ones to the JadeBangleBracelets.com web site and continue to use one photo. But the more expensive carved jade bangles on YYJ will offer two photos, although the additional photo might be in the "shopping cart" that can be viewed when you click "order". I would love to purchase a rotating stand and take a video of the jade bangle as it rotates, but that takes a great deal of space on the server, also, and would slow down the web site workings. Of course I would like to avoid all the work involved in redesigning the carved jadeite bangle pages, so watch for some of these unique, one of a kind jade bangles to be on sale at a discount price prior to being removed, rephotographed, added to the site, linked up in the shopping cart, etc., etc. You will get a good deal if you buy it before we do all the work (and don't ask for a discount after it gets re-listed and looks so much better that you wish you had purchased it at the lower price:) Watch for these on sale this weekend. August 17

This jade business is a magnet for Chinese sellers trying to get me to buy all things made in China. I spend a good portion of the morning deleting emails, and unfortunately inadvertently delete "good" customer emails. That's also the reason I can't have a business phone, because China, being on the other size of the world and about a 12 hour time difference, has called and texted about totally irrelevant products, I had to stop offering phone support for jade order because it was impossible to deal with all the solicitation phone calls. One of the most intriguing products that keeps showing up is the "jade bangle making machine". It's actually a 3-D printer that uses plastic, crushed stone to make "jade" bangle bracelets! There's a seller in southern China who tells me I can use plastic inside and a coating of crushed jadeite outside so it will technically be "jadeite". I would love to see one in operation. But, it's another part of the unfortunate "jade joke" game. August 16

I received an email today with photos attached of jade bangle bracelets, and the question if they were "real" and what would they be worth. The only way to know if jadeite is "real" is to get it tested. Every piece of jade that goes on this web site gets tested before it gets photographed, to know it is genuine Chinese jade or Burmese jadeite. And I have blogged previously about people asking if the jade we sell is "real". (BTW, the answer is "yes".) It's sad people have to ask. China has had a long history of jade culture, number one in the world for jades. Then in the later twentieth century when China started turning to strict Communist to more business oriented, the jade carvers started making jades for the "foreigners" who like the "good green" color but need larger sizes and want lower prices. This meant color treating the jade stone. That's also the time when other gem sellers throughout the world wanted better color for their stones and color enhancements became more common in emeralds, rubies, sapphires and other precious and semi-precious stones. Most jadeite is from Burma, and the military took control of the jade mines there, political problems got worse and the many mines closed. The jadeite stone from Burma with natural good green and other colors became scarce but there was still a market for it, so jade carvers learned more techniques for color treating jade stone. If you read this blog, you probably know about the grades of jadeite, or you can do a search to learn more, and there's difference of opinion so it does get confusing. There's nothing "wrong" with color treated jade. Some people love all the colors they can get at much lower prices than the natural colors. But China hasn't really been able to enforce the credibility of the grades of jade. If you shop for jade in China, you see the sellers shuffling through their stacks of fake certificates to find one that is similar to the item you are purchasing to prove it is A grade natural. And these practices have changed China's historic jade culture to a jade joke. It used to be a source of pride to be a jade seller, and I was honored to be part of this tradition until it has turned into a shady and disreputable business that people don't trust. The final years that I went to China to personally buy jade, I took a long difficult bus trip inland to go directly to the traditional carvers to purchase jade because I wasn't sure that the "natural" jades in the jade market were really natural. I know the jades I bought at the inland traditional jade carving shops were natural, but didn't know for sure if the jades that we got tested from the jade markets were. This was just prior to the Lantos Law jadeite embargo, prohibiting the import of jadeite to USA and the sanctions other countries had for jadeite. I was glad I had a very large inventory of jadeite I had purchased prior to this, not only because of the embargo, but because I purchased during a time when the prices were lower, and quality was less questionable. I believe that "things happen the way they are supposed to", and that's the time when I was getting really disgusted with the jade practices in China. These things have led to this current decision about retiring the YYJ jadeite business. China allowed it's jade culture to turn into a joke, and I don't want to be part of something that will probably not change for the better. And that's why I like the Chinese jade, but trends are going the same way with it. Wait til I blog next time about what some Chinese people are trying to sell me! August 15

Thanks to the many long-time customers who sent me an email about retiring the jade business. As in all businesses, there are customers who are not happy with their purchases, but most customers are very pleased with their jade purchases, and write about the years of pleasure their jade has given them. And wished they had been able to buy their jade at the lower prices that many have been reduced to during last week! The emails helped me clarify my thought process. I'm not "retiring". I get great pleasure out of doing work that is rewarding, making a living from something I truly like. So I am not retiring, but am retiring the jade business, if that makes sense. We will continue to sell our original products made from Chinese jade, mostly health products that are part of Chinese medicine, including jade rollers, gua sha tools, ben wa balls and jade eggs for pelvic strength. And maybe the Chinese jade bangle bracelets and pendants, but that depends on the availability of Chinese jade. Which leads into the "other reasons" mentioned in the last blog. Jade availability. And perhaps the YYJ business contributed to its situation today. When I first started selling jade in 1999, it was Chinese jade only that I sold. Chinese jade was rarely sold outside of China, it's more a traditional kind of jade. I went to China in 1999 to learn Chinese medicine and qi healing, and that's when I discovered Chinese jade and how the doctors use it for health and healing I wanted to share this with the Western world, and enthusiastically learned more about it, promoted it and sold it. We sell these health items to spas, doctors, chiropractors, massage therapists, alternative healers world wide. The Chinese jade carvers learned how profitable our marketing was making their Chinese jade, and started mass producing, selling at very low prices because even a $1USD seemed like a good profit for them in the early 2000's. The mass production led to poor quality jade stone, and poor quality carving, in the interest of "profits". I went to China several times to make sure we had a good jade carver who used good quality for our carvings, and don't buy our jade from the general jade markets. In the past couple years, the jade mines are closing because the jade is getting used up, unfortunately squandered with the poor workmanship. We have to search high and low for good green Chinese jade now, very rare, very expensive, and then make sure the carver doesn't ruin it. Knowing it's for export to "foreigners" influences them to make jade bangles too chunky and not take care with workmanship and in the past two years I dread getting my shipments because most of the time it's disappointing, and then also so highly priced that we can do very little markup. (FYI retail is usually a mark up of three times the price: to pay for the merchandise, to pay for the expense of selling and taking payments, then the small profit is taxed by the IRS!) So the continuation of the Chinese jade health and wellness products depends on jade availability and quality. I personally love the qi energy of Chinese jade, and when "the girlfriends" come to my house for a jade bangle, when they see them "in person" and compare to the Burmese jadeite, they always choose the Chinese jade. It truly glows and is lovely in the Florida humidity and warmness. And women with health problems, including cancer and undergoing chemotherapy, also feel the appeal of the balancing and healing of the Chinese jade. I want to continue to be able to obtain and offer this kind of jade, and "retire" the jadeite, which is the next blog topic. August 13

I really did a lot of thinking while I took a few days off last week. Although I am not ready to "retire", I would very much love to be free of working for at least a few months. There is so much of Florida that I would like to visit, spend a few days at some of the beach cities, and explore Florida and adjacent states. And my husband and I have elderly mothers: my mother is in assisted living in Ohio and I would love to spend more time with her, as I am her only daughter. But you can't take more than a couple days off when you are selling products every day. Some of you have been reading about how I think often about retiring from selling jade online, and now I am getting serious. When I blogged about the jade pendants yesterday, and how I am so attached to some of them I want to hoard them, I also do that with the small jade bangles 50-54mm that are my size. I listed some more of the small jadeite bangle bracelets today, and...drum roll....lowered the prices on several of the smaller ones on pages 9 and 17. I also accepted all of the offers made by customers during "make an offer" days this past week. I have had some offers to purchase the jadeite bangle bracelets and pendants, but I am going to give you customers the chance to buy them over the next few months, because I know this major retailer with sell them for much more than I have them priced. I have on of those big, tall jewelry armoires, almost as tall as me with a lot of drawers. The only thing in it is jade! And what it will hold is what I am allowing myself to hoard, and keep for myself. I need to keep a few jade bangles larger than my present size for when I got old and arthritic and need a larger size (good excuse to hoard larger jade bangles!) There's another reason why I am not as happy selling jade as I was when I started, fuel for the next blog. August 10

This evening my mother in law called me because she was watching a jewelry auction television show that had a collection of "vintage" jade pendants, and they were selling for hundreds of dollars each. She wanted me to see it because she thought I needed to raise my prices! I found the show. Not sure they were really vintage. They were big, but the carving wasn't very detailed, and that's one of the attributes that vintage jade shows. Since all the Burmese jadeite on YYJ was purchased prior to the Lantos embargo on jadeite, you could say that our jadeite pendants are "vintage", also. I bought some of the very detailed carved jade pendants from traditional jade carvers who were actually hoarding them because they liked them so much, the didn't want to sell them. You can click the photos below to take you to the page these pendants are on. They are very reasonably priced compared to what their actual value is. And I have to admit that I want to hoard them, too, because I think they are awesome. August 9

Taking a few days off, will be back to work August 8. The following weekend will be our "make an offer" weekend, so take a look around and be ready to make your best offer. And if you are familiar with the jadeite bangle bracelets on the YYJ web site, you might notice some surprise mark downs of prices! I would like to be on "permanent vacation" so my desire to do this is your chance to get a good deal. August 4

One of my customers sent me a photo of the jade bangle she purchased 10 months ago. She was driving in her car, and her jade looked so beautiful she just had to take a photo. You will notice she wears a beautiful frog bracelet with it, and this is what she wrote about the frog: I wear it with my little frog companion. In Japan, 'frog' and 'to come back' are pronounced the same excepting that the written characters are different. It's pronounced 'kaeru.' So the japanese used this symbol for good luck as in come safely back from a trip or money to come back. Very similar to the chinese but it's more about the play on pronouncing.... i think. That's how it's been taught to me but I just wear it because of the play on words and reminds me of my recent trip to Japan. I love to see photos of people wearing their jade bangle bracelets! It inspired me to take a photo of my jade bangle I wear all the time. It's more "yin" than hers, but living in Florida it works best for me. Mine is mostly white jadeite, but when it's hot, and I'm outdoors and feeling fine, the green veins "pop" and look terrific. August 2

The Calm Spirit / Ying Yu Jade complete August newsletter is available online now, click here. This month features Chinese medicine wellness information for August regarding balance of body, mind and spirit. There is information about what kind of jade to wear this month if you wear jade for your health, and more. The August 1 Daily Special is a lovely yellow natural Chinese jade bangle bracelet, with healing qi energy for the spleen meridian to keep you balanced during the hot days of August. August 1

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