14K Gold Carved Jade Swan Earrings - Fu Blessing Disc

Carved Jade Swan Earrings - Fu Blessing Discs in Solid Gold

An openwork fu disc at the lobe, pierced through the gold, and hanging directly beneath it a swan carved from natural jade, 13 x 11.5mm. The bird is worked in low relief on a rounded body - a clear round eye near the top, the head turned back over the shoulder, and one long wing curving across the flank to a tapering tail. The colour is apple green with deeper drifts, translucent enough to lift when light passes behind it. The pair weighs 2.25 grams in 14k solid gold.

Carving a bird at this size is a compression problem. There is no room for a neck, legs or feathers, so the whole animal has to be suggested with three marks - an eye, a wing line and the curve of the back - and the carver has to get all three right first time, because jade is ground away rather than cut and nothing can be added back. From a step away it is unmistakably a swimming bird. Up close it is barely more than three lines.

FAQs

1. What is carved into the jade?
A swan. You can see the round eye near the top of the stone, the head turned back over the shoulder, and a single long wing curving across the body to the tail - the whole bird suggested in three lines, which is how carving at this scale has to work.

2. Why a swan, and why a pair?
Because in Chinese decoration paired waterbirds mean devoted love and lifelong partnership - birds believed to mate for life. Carvings like this are made in twos for that reason, which suits earrings better than almost any other motif.

3. What does the fu character mean?
Blessing, or good fortune. It is among the most widely used good-luck symbols in the world, and the one most Chinese households display at new year. More at JewelMotif™.

4. Do they hang or sit close?
Close. The swan attaches directly beneath the disc, so the pair reads as one piece from the lobe rather than swinging free - which is right for a carving, because a carved face needs to stay still long enough to be looked at.

5. How do I care for carved jade?
Softly. The recesses of a carving hold skin oil and dust, so use a soft brush in warm soapy water every few weeks and dry thoroughly. Keep it away from harder stones in storage. Full guidance on our Jade Care Card, and for the gold, the Gold Care Card.

How to Style the Carved Jade Swans

Compact enough for the office and formal enough for a family dinner, these are the pair you reach for when you want the meaning to be legible. Wear with hair back so the fu disc is visible above the bird. Explore the full 14k and 18k Gold collection, browse more Earrings, or visit JewelBuild™.