Thanks, Rosanna. I'm glad you like it. I've always liked amethyst, and in Chinese feng shui it's traditionally valued for its health-giving, balance-restoring properties. Supposedly it helps to focus the mind in meditation, and it's quite widely believed to counteract stress and insomnia. Each to her/his own remedy, I guess.

But I think I've given the wrong impression about Chinese taste. Sorry! The older Chinese friends who dismiss pretty much everything from the Qing dynasty do so because they see the high points of Chinese culture as having been in earlier periods, the Song dynasty especially, and Tang and Han. By contrast, the younger generation seem to value everything from the Qing dynasty with its ostentation and bling - porcelain most of all, but Sino-Tibetan gilt bronzes and sometimes court necklaces as well. One of these, a freshwater pearl and turquoise necklace that may have been worn by the Yongzheng emperor in the early eighteenth century sold at Sotheby's in Hong Kong for about US$8.7 million. Anything with an imperial association is guaranteed to reach an astronomic price in China - which is an amusing contradiction in a society that still insists on calling itself communist!

Cheers,

Will