A nice bright thread for what - here, anyway, in Canada - is a grey morning with rain and freezing drizzle.

I like carnelian mixed with ancient jade, as they frequently were in ancient China. The first photo is a little necklace that I got made up by a local jeweller as a present for a friend - one white Liangzhu jade bead, 5,000 years old, with two carnelians found in Yunnan, on a gold chain. The carnelians aren't as old as the jade, maybe 2,000 y.o., but they were the best pair I could find in all of the boxes I have.

Ancient Liangzhu jade is almost always white. Archaeologists disagree as to the cause; sometimes it's oxidation through long burial, but most of the time it seems to have been deliberate. Most of the time, in modern experiments, the jade turns opaque white when heated above 1,100 celsius.

The second photo is of 11 more Liangzhu beads, again with carnelians, that I've been meaning to turn into a bracelet (or possibly a necklace). I wish I had a fraction of Nishedha's wonderful design sense to be able to do them justice.

Cheers,

Will