Welcome to California Jade
California Jade: From Our Hands to Yours
Jade Harvesting: Responsible Sourcing
REFLECTIONS FROM CALIFORNIA JADE'S SAM GITCHEL
The visual beauty of River Blossom Jades is evident to all, it has tactile pleasure that is undeniable, it’s rarity is much sought after, but do we know the entire story? From the Trinity Alps to you, our number one priority is to be in harmony with Mother Nature and our fellow humans.
Jade Hunters: Journeys to Jadeland
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The gathering is a joyous occasion. We excitedly and happily helicopter into our week long adventure with family and friends in the remote wilderness of one of the inaccessible gorges of the Trinity Alps.
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It is both a wonderful and spiritual journey. All jades are surface gathered and no damage is done to the earth. Our tools are our hands and small pry bars. We only take what our Mother has given us each visit. We dig no exploratory mines. Wherever our path takes us we leave nothing but footprints. The camp is super clean upon our departure as is everywhere we have been for the week. All that came in by the helicopter goes out by the helicopter. The rare jade we are lucky enough to find comes out with us by helicopter as well. Everyone has excellent memories and rare jade to take home with them.
Treasures From The Trinity Alps
The majority of the jade heads west to the coast, where our workshop lies on a coastal ridge of Mendocino County. Upon arrival at the shop the 40 panel solar array underlines our intention of care for the earth by utilizing only solar power for the production of our jades and the use of re-purposed materials in our jewelry whenever possible. We contract with locals to create our works of art & offer fair compensation to our workers at all levels of our business. Our high quality handmade jewelry is made by content ladies and men with joy and good intent. There is never a delivery schedule imposed by us on our artists. When the spirit moves them they create the outer and add to the inner beauty that is the heart and soul of River Blossom Jade.
RiverBlossom Jade: Green In More Ways Than One
River Blossom Jade is beautiful in more ways than one. RiverBlossom Jade is Green in more ways than one. Not only does RBJ have beautiful green color within, our process is very green. Our artisan workshop is off the grid and totally solar powered, we do not use any cutting lubricants other than pure water in our saws or any of our polishing machines. We frequently need to rebuild saws and replace bearings and other parts, but our commitment to our environment and workplace quality is unwavering.
When I’m working or repairing something, I often think of our ancestors in the Jade trade and how, with only sand and bamboo, they drilled Jades, and how with sinew, water and gem dust they cut the Jades. With such very primitive tools they created their ancient masterpieces. The Jade trade has been around for many thousands of years. We want to be remembered as the Jade clan that took care of the earth and used the local jade to help the local people.
