Jewelry Precious

A general introduction for vintage jade rings

By Jason Chen of jewelryprecious.com

Jade, with its discreet yet rather greasy luster, which comes in many fine nuances of green, but also in shades of white, grey, black, yellow, and orange and in delicate violet tones, has been known to Man for some 7000 years. In prehistoric times, however, it was esteemed rather more for its toughness, which made it an ideal material for weapons and tools. Yet as early as 3000 B.C. jade was known in China as 'yu.'

In the long history of the art and culture of the enormous Chinese empire, jade has always had a very special significance, roughly comparable with that of gold and diamonds in the West. Today, too, this gem is regarded as a symbol of the good, the beautiful and the precious, and also embodies the Confucian virtues of wisdom, justice, compassion, modesty and courage.

Soon after jade was established a good name as 'yu,' people began to use jade for rings. There are two kinds of jade rings in China:

The first one is similar to the jade rings we use today. In Shang Dynasty (1,600 B.C.-1,000 B.C.), Chinese began to use rings. Most of the earliest rings were made with copper, and a fraction was made with jade. At that time Chinese called the rings 'Promise Rings.'

Jade rings became popular since Qin Dynasty and Han Dynasty (221 B.C. - 220 A.D.), and used for wedding, promise, engagement and other purposes.

The second kind of vintage jade rings is the Thumb Ring (Banzhi). At the beginning, Chinese put a jade ring on their thumb as fingerstall for archery. Soon it became a symbol for men or powerful women's authority.

Not all vintage jade rings have high values. There are several kinds of vintage jade rings worth collection:

1. Vintage Burmese jade rings in Ming Dynasty (1368 A.D. – 1644 A.D.) and Qing Dynasty (1644 A.D. – 1911 A.D.) are good-quality with good prices. China began importing Burmese jade since Ming Dynasty. And the Burmese jade is the most expensive jade in China today. So a good vintage Burmese jade ring in Ming or Qing Dynasty can worth tens of thousand US dollars or more.

2. Beautiful and rare vintage jade rings, especially the good white jade rings in Song Dynasty (960 A.D. - 1279 A.D.), Yuan (1279 A.D. – 1368 A.D.).

We recommend you to visit the vintage jade rings catalogues in ebay if you want to buy or see vintage jade rings.