The Scholar's Jade

The object

• Nephrite, not dyed or polymer-filled quartzite. At this price the substitution is the norm, so the spec names it and the batch check looks for it.
• Each batch inspected at the drill holes, where dye concentration shows first and where a finished bracelet hides it best.
• 8 mm beads on doubled elastic cord, hand-knotted, knot tucked inside a bead.
• A card on metal in the five-element system: west, autumn, refinement and cutting away.

Materials and craft

Nephrite jade, undyed and unfilled. Dyed quartzite and polymer-impregnated material are both sold as jade at this price, and both give themselves away at the drill hole rather than on the surface, which is where each batch gets checked. Beads are 8 mm on doubled elastic cord, hand-knotted, knot tucked inside a bead.

What it is in the tradition

White is the colour of metal — west, autumn, the element of refinement and of cutting away. Pale nephrite is the jade of the Chinese classical tradition, the stone Confucius used as a metaphor for a person's character: hard, warm to the hand, quiet. It is traditionally worn as an object of temperament rather than of force.

Anything we make is jewelry: an object to wear, and a reminder of an intention you set yourself. We describe its materials, its craft, and what it has meant in Chinese tradition. We do not describe it as something that changes financial outcomes.

How to wear it

The questions every shop in this category leaves unanswered: which wrist, which way round, when to take it off, and what the customs actually are.

1. 01

   Which wrist

   Chinese custom reads the left side as the one that receives and the right as the one that acts, so a stone worn for its own sake usually goes on the left. Regional practice varies — plenty of families follow 男左女右, men on the left and women on the right. Both are customs rather than rules, and we pass them on as customs.

2. 02

   Getting it on without killing the cord

   Roll it over the knuckles rather than stretching it open. Cord fatigue is what ends most bracelets in this category, and cord fatigue is mostly a habit of stretching. Doubled cord buys margin; it does not repeal physics.

3. 03

   When people take it off

   Shower, pool, gym, sleep. Soap works into the cord and stays there, chlorine dulls a polish, and a bracelet caught under a sleeping wrist is where beads chip. Dress first, scent first, bracelet last.

4. 04

   The customs people ask about

   Whether to lend it out, whether two can be worn at once, whether a new piece should be rinsed before wearing. The tradition has answers — a daily piece usually stays with one wearer, and many people rinse a new one under running water or leave it out overnight first. These are observances, not conditions attached to an object doing something, because we make no claim that it does.

Care

Nephrite is tough rather than hard: it resists breaking and takes a scratch. Keep it away from household cleaners and anything acidic, wipe it with a damp cloth, and let the cord dry completely before wearing it again.