I received a few emails from people asking when we were going to open Ying Yu Jade store again, that when they clicked to order, they got a message that the store was closed until June 13. If you are getting that page, then you need to clear your browsing history (cookies, cache), close your browser, then open a new browser. It's a good idea to clear your browsing history frequently, because the cookies can cause problems when you browse the internet, fill out forms, or place online orders. In fact, too much history in your cache really slows down your internet browsing. We have been re-opened since June 13! Clear those cookies. June 25

I took a deep breath and did something I've been reluctant to do for a few years. I listed some of the vintage jade bangle bracelets that I've displayed in my work area. They are not my size, but I love them and enjoy looking at them every day. I hope they get purchased by true jade lovers because they are precious and unique. These listings came about due to the "clean up and organizing" I've been doing. Now I have some other "favorites" in their display area, that I will probably agonize over when I list them in the future. One of the newly listed bangles is rare nephrite. Many people think that "Chinese jade" is all nephrite, but the fact is that China has very little natural nephrite to mine, and the jade carvers who make nephrite carvings, bangles, pendants, buy the nephrite mostly from North America, northern USA and adjoining Canada. That nephrite has a different qi energy, but still the deep green color. However, true old Chinese nephrite is very rare. There are also some "sister sets", a smooth and a carved jadeite bangle similar size that look like they were carved from the same rough. And there's a jadeite bangle with fine grain that vibrates with excellent qi energy and has natural color imperial green veins on white with hues of lavender. That was the most difficult one to list, and I thought if I got old and heavier someday I might be able to wear it! But they are all for your viewing and purchasing pleasure now. Click here to take a look at our vintage jade section. June 24

I was out running errands this morning and stopped at the Sally Beauty Shop for nail supplies for my friend who makes the jewelry to try to lure her back to work. The community has a high Hispanic population, and although we get some Hispanic customers, I rarely see Hispanic women wearing jade. But the manager at this Sally store always wears a jade pendant. Usually she wears j jadeite pendant that is "commercial" with some sterling silver and has an amethyst stone set in it. I noticed it right away because I have one just like it I purchased years ago on a shopping channel. Today I could see she was wearing "something" on a silk jade-beaded cord, but the pendant has slipped behind her shirt. So I asked if she was wearing jade. She was surprised I recognized that it was jade, because it was Chinese jade, and the Vietnamese manicure people who go to the store tell her it's "not real jade". Her pendant is a small, maybe one inch, Chinese jade luck symbol, and she told me it's her favorite and she always wears it when she needs to have a good and lucky day. I showed her the small jade pendant I made into a keyring that I attach to my handbag and we chatted about how much we like the Chinese jade. That's because there is never any question if it "color treated" as Burmese jadeite can be. And the energy is so good. It's the kind of jade the health tools, rollers, gua sha are made out of, and so pure and natural. That's why I always have a piece of Chinese jade with me. My friend who died a few weeks ago of cancer wore the Chinese jade, and it was cremated with her (although I didn't ask her husband for details of what happens to the jade that get cremated, but I'm curious. I have seen "grave jade" from Chinese people, the energy feels quite gruesome). So don't be put off if you love the Chinese jade but "unenlightened" people tell you it's not real jade, because it is. It's China's national jade, with wonderful qi energy. June 21

YYJ, JBB and Calm Spirit web sites are hosted on Hostway web servers, the first hosting company I started with. I like that they really keep up with technology, and was thrilled when they added a reasonably priced shopping cart system in 2005. Prior to the automated shopping cart, customers had to use a "self service" form to submit their order and credit card information, and I processed each order manually, and then had to securely store credit card information. With the automated system on the secure server (the "s" at the end of the http), your orders are automatically processed and I never get your complete credit card number, so I don't have to be concerned with storing your personal information, and it's much easier to process orders. Earlier this month, Hostway moved the JadeBangleBracelets web site to a new and higher tech server. It took me a few days to reconfigure the shopping cart system to get all the product details on the new server, but it seems to be working faster and more reliably now. We are now working on the actual web pages that show the products, and have completed all but the "elegant" category. And guess what: we decided to make the "bargain bangle" category even more bargain priced and lowered all the prices. Now they are truly a bargain for genuine jadeite bangle bracelets. We still have the "elegant" category to update the web pages, so watch for some pleasant price surprises there, too. The "elegant" category will take a few days to update, but hope to have it completed by next week. The lower prices will mean we won't offer coupons for the JBB web site, so you can make your purchase knowing that the prices won't get lowered after you make your purchase. That really irritates me, to buy something, then see a discount the next day. And I treat my customers the way I want to be treated. So check it, click here. June 20

I'm still organizing my inventory, and worked at it almost all day. Friends stopped by to see what's been keeping me in the house because I haven't been "out" in the last couple of days, and enjoyed looking through all the beautiful jade things. I made a big pot of tea, and we admired jade and had a good talk. I wish I could have a cup of tea and chat about jade with you, too! Since we can't do that in person, I'd like to offer you a cup of tea as a Daily Special Wednesday. With your purchase of $50+, I'll send you a small tin of tea with your order. If there's anything that can make jade more enjoyable, it's a cup of Chinese tea to go with it. Be sure to write "free tea" in the comments box on the order form. June 19

Today I finally got the Chinese jade dragon pendants listed, and tomorrow's Daily Special will be free silver bails for your pendant order with the purchase of two or more jade or jadeite pendants, mix/match. The jade pendants are traditionally sold in China with a red silk string to tie the pendant on your neck. But the silk has limited life to it, so I have always added bails to them and worn them on chains. I even took some quite expensive jadeite pendants to my jeweler and had gold bails put on to wear on my 18K or 24K gold chains, which is the only "respectable" kind of gold in Asia. That high K gold is a little "yang" for me, so most of mine get a silver bail and go on a thick silver chain, or my omega chain. A modern way to wear traditional, beautiful jade pendants, small carvings you can wear. June 18

I worked on cleaning up and organizing the jade business this weekend, and as always happen when I do this is finding odds and ends. I found some jade earrings in a bag that had fallen behind a storage cube, so they are the Daily Special, with free shipping worldwide. They are cute, and I used most of them for gifts for friends and family, so only a few pairs remaining at a great clearance price. I used to contract with a woman who made jewelry, like on the jade necklaces page, but she stopped making jewelry because she got tired of broken fingernails. I had purchased lavender jade beads prior to the year 2000 to make earrings and incorporate into unique jade jewelry, and they got taken out of the inventory and misplaced until I found them. Since they won't be used as jewelry parts, they are being sold as the necklaces they were originally made into. They are made in the old traditional method, not the commercial quality I have seen at trade shows today. Strung on silk cord, and tied to the clasp, so I know the beads are old, and the color hasn't changed, so they are most likely natural A grade. They are lovely to wear, but I recommend getting them re-strung, or if you make jewelry, you can make a good profit using these precious beads. As a result of finding odds and ends, this will be "free week" for the Daily Specials, so check each day to see what's new. June 17

On June 1 I blogged about taking care of the spleen meridian during June, that June puts stress on stomach and spleen. With all the traveling I've been doing, my stomach hasn't been "right" all month. Now that I'm home, I got out my yellow jade bead bracelets and put two on my right wrist this morning, drank green tea, and by dinner felt a lot better. I'm going to leave them on for a few days, maybe for most of June. I found some smaller 10mm yellow jade bead stretch bracelets and put them on the web site for those of you who may also be experiencing spleen imbalance and June heats up. Or click here to view all the bead bracelets, including the larger big bold yellow beads. June 16

We're back, and hope that's the end of our traveling for awhile. It's good to go places, do things, visit family, but it's also "work". The Daily Special is for you jade bangle lovers, $35 discount on jade bangles item #BB, regular price $500+, use coupon code BANGLE35. Good until Sunday. June 15

The stores will be closed for a few days, until June 13, while we visit family. Daily Special will resume June 15. And more stories about jade, and emeralds, will continue next weekend. June 9.

The Guatemala jade was very pretty, looked very natural and highly polished, but they just didn't appeal to me as much as Chinese jade and Burmese jadeite. But of course, I wanted some so I could study it, feel the energy, and get to know it better. I put on the bracelet after I purchased it. I usually wear two Burmese jadeite bead bracelets on my right wrist, so I took them off and replaced them with the Guatemala jade. They didn't feel comfortable energetically, but I realized it would take awhile for wrist to get used to it. But an hour later on the bus ride home, I got so violently ill that I asked the driver to pull over, I got off and was sick, and my wrist ached. The next evening I put it on to wear to dinner, got sick again. I've put it on a couple of times since I got home, and it's beautiful, but "feels" awful. I purposely chose the very pale green/white beads with the black beads for protection and balance and keeping healthy while I travel, as I would with Chinese and Burmese jade, but the qi energy is not the same. There were quite a few Chinese women from San Francisco on the bus tour, and they looked at the jade briefly, then waited on the bus for the 40 minutes we had remaining at the jade store. They all agreed that they didn't like it, at all. Geologically, Guatemalan jade might be "jadeite", but energetically, it's not the same at all, and I'm glad I didn't purchase a "store" quantity. June 7

I will return to the jade stories tomorrow, but have some positive news I want to share. While we were onboard the ship, with limited and expensive internet access, I couldn't keep up with my daily news, so I've been catching up over the past few days. And on May 18, 2012, I read this about the USA ending economic sanctions on Burma (Myanmar):
Secretary Clinton called on U.S. investors to look for opportunities across the country to benefit ethnic minority areas as well.
"Today we say to American business: Invest in Burma. And do it responsibly. Be an agent of positive change," she said. "We are suspending sanctions. We believe that is the appropriate step for us to take today," Clinton said."We will be keeping the relevant laws on the books as an insurance policy, but our goal and our commitment is to move as rapidly as we can to expand business and investment opportunities."
I don't know if this also means the end to the Lantos Law, the embargo on jadeite and rubies, but the article indicated that economic sanctions were ended. That would be good news to us jade lovers. It would mean the jadeite mines would get back into mining, so we could get the better green color of jade, and more genuine jadeite on the market. I don't think having more jadeite available will end the color treatment that many sellers claim to be "A" grade natural color. But your trusted sellers will have access to the supply of jadeite again. June 5

I had intended to buy a large sampling of Guatemala jade, but actually purchased only a few things. The stretch bracelet has smooth, polished black and very pale green beads, aprrox 23x12. It's rare to find genuine and untreated black Burmese jadeite, so I was happy to have some natural black jadeite. The jade pendant with silver is big and beautiful. The jade "bi" is 52mm across and the silver flower is 38mm and has a big silver bail so it can be worn on a heavy chain or omega necklace, or used as an enhancer on pearls or beads. The green is deep, dark with lighter mottling and very highly polished. The turtle is my favorite, the color of the jade deep green, highly polished, it's a little turtle coming out of a rock, 60x42x42mm, very heavy and a wonder jade piece to hold, touch. I also bought a bi pendant for a friend who is a GIA gemologist and jade lover and Gemini like me, having a birthday this month. I wanted her to have a genuine Guatemala jade piece. My husband and I each got small amulets, my sign is "woodpecker" and he is "coyote", which when I researched them are very compatible and balancing for each other, and they are our 30th anniversary jades to each other. No photos of those, sorry. There are still more stories, so check back! June 4

There was a large selection of jade jewelry and carvings at the main store in Antigua, Guatemala. The finer pieces were inside, and there was a courtyard outside with lower priced items. It was mind-boggling and we had less than an hour for shopping. Most of the green jade was either very pale or very deep and heavy green, and the prices reflected the quality of the color. There were a few pieces of pink/lavender jade, but the one bangle they had was too big for me, otherwise I would have purchased it. Most of the jewelry was made into necklaces and bracelets, designed by Mary's daughter, but there were a few bangle bracelets. And there were several armed guards at the doorways!

I introduced myself to Mary and told her about my jade business, love for jade, and I would like her to help me choose a special jade piece to blog about, and wear. I told her price didn't matter, that a jade piece from her shop was the highlight of my entire cruise. I was really disappointed she just pointed me over to her showroom and left me standing there! I had my credit card balance paid off and would have happily filled it with jades from her store, especially items she thought were special (which usually also means expensive). Perhaps she isn't a "people person". Next blog will show some of the jades I purchased. June 3

Here's the first of the stories from our cruise that all have some relationship to jade. Guatemala is famous for its jade, which gemologically is jadeite. In 1974 Mary Ridinger and her husband re--discovered the ancient Maya jade and she fell in love with it.

But it wasn't gemologically accepted as "jade" and she spent years working the the gemology institutes, including Gemology Institute of America (GIA) to recognize it. She also claimed that it was on the same geological fault line as the jadeite in Myanmar (Burma) so it's the same kind of jade. When it was finally recognized as a true jadeite jade, she claimed ownership to the jade mine and she and her husband began the mining and carving. When you visit her jade factory in Antigua, Guatemela, she is the person who greets and gives the introductory talk. Then she shows the stone that is her "fortune", the first jade stone she discovered and displays in her store today.

Next blog: photos of her jade jewelry. June 2

If you read the Newsletter for June, you will see a section of the kind of jade to wear for health in June, which is honey/yellow because of the qi energy for the spleen meridian. When I ordered my Chinese jade bangles for May and June, I neglected to state that I wanted the light green color. The jade carver, who is very traditional, assumed I wanted the "June Jade" and used the jade that has the more yellow hues, not the green I usually order. So we are starting June off with a Daily Special on this "June Jade", thanks to our jade carver who doesn't realize "foreigners" usually don't wear jade for the qi (although many YYJ customers do!)

The Calm Spirit / Ying Yu Jade complete June newsletter is available online now, click here. This month features Chinese medicine wellness information for June 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. June 1

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