What are jade bead bracelets?
By definition, jade bead bracelets are bracelets made of jadeite carved into spheres with a smaller hollow centre. The spheres are usually strung together with elastic cord which gives the bracelets a certain amount of stretch. This stretch allows bead bracelets to easily pass over one’s hand and still be worn snugly on the wrist. This is unlike jade bangles which require additional slack in the inner diameter of the bangles so that the bangles can pass over one’s hand. The additional slack or inner diameter in bangles will result in jade bangles being worn more loosely than what is possible for jade bead bracelets.
Natural jadeite can be found in a wide range of colour hues and quality and this applies to jade bead bracelets as well. Appealing to design trends, jade bead bracelets can be made with different coloured jade beads, creating beautiful and natural colour combinations. The most highly prized type of jadeite bead bracelets however, are ones that are strung together with jade spheres that are carved from a single jadeite rough. In doing so, the entire bracelet can have a uniform colour hue and quality. This is especially notable because of the surprisingly wide range of colours that natural jade can be found in. Even in a single colour, jadeite pieces carved from different jadeite rough can have distinct hue differences which do not match easily in a single strand of beads. Other than colour, differences in quality factors like translucency and fineness of crystal aggregates within the jadeite material can adversely affect the appearance of a jade bead bracelet. Even from a single jadeite rough, colour and quality can vary greatly from one end to the other. Thus, a jade bead bracelet strung together with jadeite spheres in matching colour and quality is exquisitely rare and especially beautiful.
How are bead bracelets made?
Carvings of spheres count as one of the most difficult and material-wasting types of carving in jade. Perfectly round spheres require equal diameters on all sides and to have a completely spherical shape, a perfect cube needs to be carved out first. The corners of each cube will subsequently be polished to finally result in a perfect jade sphere which involves a lot of jadeite material wastage. The amount of raw jadeite wastage from the carving increases with the size of the jade beads, thus larger sized beads are harder to find due to the scarcity of fine material and also the amount of wastage incurred. In cases where jade beads in similar colour and quality are too few to complete a bracelet, jade beads from various different jadeite roughs will be matched together to form bead bracelets in matching colours. Only if there are sufficient jade beads resulting from a single rough, a jade bead bracelet can be prepared.
Size reference for bead bracelets
Apart from colour and quality, jade bead bracelets can be found in various sizes. Jade bead bracelets are usually defined by 2 measurements, bead diameter and number of beads. The total number of beads and their diameter will affect the wearability of the jade bead bracelet. In the following images, several jade bead bracelets in a range of sizes are showcased. Each bracelet differs slightly in terms of their bead diameters. This display of different sizes of bracelets, worn on hand, seeks to give a better reference to how differently sized beads can change the resulting appearance of a jade beads bracelet.
9mm Beads
10mm Beads
11mm Beads
12mm Beads
13mm Beads
14mm BeadsAccessories for bead bracelets
As with any bracelet, jade bead bracelets can also be paired with accessories that add different meanings or effects to a bracelet. A popular addition to jade bead bracelets is auspicious or symbolic gold carvings. An example is shown below. The first bead bracelet is one that is simply strung with a matching set of jadeite beads. The second image is strung with jade beads from the same jadeite rough, but added with a 24K gold carving of a Pixiu. The gold carving adds contrast to the jade bead bracelet and gives it a special, auspicious meaning. The addition of a gold carving will also lengthen a bead bracelet and is a good option if the jade beads available are insufficient for a particular wrist size. On the other hand, if the bead bracelet has sufficient beads, the addition of a gold carving will allow several beads to be removed. This is not a bad thing for jade bead bracelets either. The additional jade beads can be made into bead earrings to create a jade jewellery set or simply kept aside as spare beads, in the unlikely case that any bead is damaged whilst wearing.
9mm Beads
9mm BeadsEnding thoughts
Jade bead bracelets are an exquisitely beautiful type of jade jewellery. Hopefully, this article provided more insight into this classic jade jewellery and also is informative as a guide to the various sizes of jade beads available in jade bead bracelets. If you do have any queries on the information provided above, feel free to reach out to us via WhatsApp or contact us here.