My Jade Ring
My favorite piece of jewelry is a jade ring which I wear every day. It was given to me a number of years ago by a dear friend and I feel naked without it. The ring’s design is carved into real jadeite – one of the two stones collectively known as jade. The highly three-dimensional design features a carved bat, known as fu in Chinese and a symbol of good luck and two peaches. The depiction of double peaches is a symbol for long life.
My Jade Ring
My favorite piece of jewelry is a jade ring which I wear every day. It was given to me a number of years ago by a dear friend and I feel naked without it. The ring’s design is carved into real jadeite – one of the two stones collectively known as jade. The highly three-dimensional design features a carved bat, known as fu in Chinese and a symbol of good luck and two peaches. The depiction of double peaches is a symbol for long life.
The ring is special to me for two reasons: firstly, because of the giver and secondly because it is such a large and unusual ring people constantly comment on it and so I end up having interesting conversations with strangers. Sometimes I even let them try it on.
Because of the delicate tips of the bat’s ear and a few other spots on the carving, some chips have appeared. At first this upset me, but now I feel it adds to the character of my ring. I often run my fingers across the smooth surface of the jade – rubbing jade improves its patina – and I know exactly where my chips are located.
As the ring is a little bulky I have to keep my eye on it because I often take it off to use my computers. I have to be careful to remember which computer I left it at so I don’t get worried I have misplaced it.
Once I took a load of letters to the post office and when I dropped them in the mailbox at the street I realized my ring was gone. I ran frantically into the post office and then stood guard at the mailbox until the supervisor came to unlock it! Now I never use my left hand to put mail in a mailbox or anywhere else it can fall off.
I feel my ring is my good luck charm . . . I have often returned home to put it on if I have forgotten it. For me it is a modern day amulet that protects me and is essential for me to wear no matter what other jewelry I am wearing.
