Looking to purchase antique art deco jade pendant

[Seastheday]

Hi all, I’ve been bitten by the jadeite bug! Bought some jadeite earrings that didn’t work out, so turning my attention to jadeite pendants instead.

I really want to acquire an antique jadeite piece, preferably Art Deco era. Can compromise on color in exchange for nice carving.

My priorities:
1. Nice non-modern themed carving that’s not religious (no Buddhas, etc). I prefer floral carvings over animals
2. Stone be of at least “medium” PS quality in terms of translucence/water. I prefer green color but it does not need to be imperial green or even toned. I love uneven moss in snow, apple green, pea green, etc.
3. Untreated grade A jadeite only
4. Preferably in antique mounting that’s simple (not too many diamonds to distract from the jade), platinum preferred over yellow gold for my skin tone. Can’t do white gold due to nickel allergy.

But it has been difficult finding a piece that meets all the boxes.

Case in point, here are some pieces where I love the carving but the jade is so opaque and dry:


This one again, love the carving and the color is personally pleasing to me, but jade water/translucence is just meh in quality:


This one doesn’t come with a certificate for the jadeite and to be honest IMHO I’m not certain the jade part itself is a true antique (carving style COULD be more modern, the fox is a bit stylized):


This one I like the antique mounting but the jade itself is not super exciting as it’s quite opaque with some brown speckling:


This is a dream museum piece (not for sale!) but this would be what I’m looking for in terms of quality of jade and elegant simplicity of mounting, maybe a smaller version of this (I’m a very small woman so a piece of jade that’s less than 1 inch will more than suffice!) so I don’t break the bank:

 

[Seastheday]

If I may tag some jade lovers who have helped me immensely in my jadeite earring hunt (again, I love the look of the earrings I bought, they are just too heavy for my ears, but I’m hopeful PS will work its magic for me again!)

@Crimson @mellowyellowgirl @HockeyMama @Autumn in New England @MMtwo @LilAlex

Budget up to $20,000 USD for now although I’m afraid that may not be enough when it comes to the highly competitive market of untreated jadeite AND throwing in the antique factor (champagne taste, beer budget?), so if I’m being unreasonable, please do give me a reality check!

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

What kind of style are you looking for? It’s a heavy rock so anything will feel weighty unless you get the thin slivers off jadeite (I have some and they are light but unimpressive) or small stud type earrings.

 

[Seastheday]

What kind of style are you looking for? It’s a heavy rock so anything will feel weighty unless you get the thin slivers off jadeite (I have some and they are light but unimpressive) or small stud type earrings.

Thanks for your help! I think I’m giving up on the earrings because I had my ears pierced for the first time and don’t like the feeling of earrings, haha. Expensive mistake!

Hence moving forward to pendants instead.

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

Thanks for your help! I think I’m giving up on the earrings because I had my ears pierced for the first time and don’t like the feeling of earrings, haha. Expensive mistake!

Hence moving forward to pendants instead.

Whoops! I’m so sorry I thought I was in the earrings thread! Ha! I was so confused! I was like: Girl why are you spending $20k on earrings if you can’t wear them and at $20K they will be dead heavy

Did you want to start with something cheap and cheerful to get into the swing of things first and see if you like them?

I didn’t like jadeite pendants (too heavy and clunky for my outfits). Gave them all to my sister and opted for beads instead.

 

[Seastheday]

Whoops! I’m so sorry I thought I was in the earrings thread! Ha! I was so confused! I was like: Girl why are you spending $20k on earrings if you can’t wear them and at $20K they will be dead heavy

Are you after any shapes in particular?

Did you want to start with something cheap and cheerful to get into the swing of things first and see if you like them?

I didn’t like jadeite pendants (too heavy and clunky for my outfits). Gave them all to my sister and opted for beads instead.

I like floral motifs. I tried on a pendant at an antique store recently and didn’t mind the weight too much on my neck. I’m a quite boring dresser (usually a dark colored top varying from silk blouses in summer to wool/cashmere in winter, a good monochromatic backdrop for jewelry perhaps!) so can’t do cheerful haha.

 

[Autumn in New England]

I'm not as well-versed in jadeite as I am transparent CS (as much as I love it). So I think I should leave it to the experts. I just wanted to wish you the best of luck and say that I can't wait to see the results of your search!!

 

[Crimson]

@Seastheday, I agree with your assessments of the pendants above. The blue-green looking ones look suspect. The last one is the best.
I think $20,000 is a comfy budget for a pendant. For antique and vintage, you could consider Gem Gardener.

Jade | Old Cut Diamonds | Peranakan Jewellery | Antique Fine Jewelry | Gem Gardener

An antique fine jewelry store like no other. In store: old cut diamonds, Peranakan jewellery, jade bangles, antique jade & more. Ships worldwide.

www.gemgardener.com

Please also consider non-vintage! These two,stores are having a sale for Mother’s Day.
Kathy Jade 15% off at https://www.kathyjade.com/
On Cheong Up to 30% off at https://oncheong.com/ (@maryjane here’s the sale! You can get your cousin to look for items for you)
Have fun searching

 

[Seastheday]

@Seastheday, I agree with your assessments of the pendants above. The blue-green looking ones look suspect. The last one is the best.
I think $20,000 is a comfy budget for a pendant. For antique and vintage, you could consider Gem Gardener.

Jade | Old Cut Diamonds | Peranakan Jewellery | Antique Fine Jewelry | Gem Gardener

An antique fine jewelry store like no other. In store: old cut diamonds, Peranakan jewellery, jade bangles, antique jade & more. Ships worldwide.

www.gemgardener.com

Please also consider non-vintage! These two,stores are having a sale for Mother’s Day.
Kathy Jade 15% off at https://www.kathyjade.com/
On Cheong Up to 30% off at https://oncheong.com/ (@maryjane here’s the sale! You can get your cousin to look for items for you)
Have fun searching

Thank you so much!

I really like this one (sadly already sold); I like how it’s more petite (4 cm) which would suit me better, and although not particularly translucent, the apple green is quite pleasing to my eye, and the floral motif and the custom carved backing are quite charming. Would love to find something just like this:

 

[Seastheday]

This one on Gem Gardner below is for sale also, just under $9000:
1) I like the carving but thinks maybe at 6 cm may be too big/heavy?
2) Not sure re age--description only says vintage (feel like it’s so hard to date this jadeite piece since it does not have any settings to help date it as one would with some of the Art Deco pieces I shared above; this white gold bail looks custom/modern and I don’t like it personally).

I feel like the stone quality of this piece is better than the one above, but I like the smaller floral one above better for some reason. I know people recommend against buying jade that has a gold backing since the gold backing is often to hide flaws of the stone or make the color more concentrated, but I feel like for the floral piece in my post above, the gold backing adds artistic merit due to the beauty of the craftsmanship of the gold backing itself.

@Crimson @mellowyellowgirl what do you ladies think
1) How would you grade the quality of this stone?
2 How does one date jadeite based on carving quality/type? Meaning, can this type of carving found in modern jadeite pieces too (ie maybe not worth paying the vintage premium UNLESS there is something more distinctive about the carving that would date it as a true antique piece?). With other stones (sapphires, rubies) the cut can sometimes help date a piece (ie old mine cut on a diamond vs a modern brilliant)--but with jade this feels impossible (for me at least) to do.



Meanwhile I've reached out to vendor to clarify age, treatment, and a photo of it being worn so I can see how it looks in terms of scale. Will keep everyone posted!

 

[Seastheday]

Link to piece above: https://www.gemgardener.com/catalog/vintage-jadeite-jade-translucent-pendant-bamboo/

 

[Catmom]

I have no knowledge of jade but Lang Antiques has several Art Deco jade necklaces you could check out.

 

[Seastheday]

I have no knowledge of jade but Lang Antiques has several Art Deco jade necklaces you could check out.

Thanks for the lead, will do!