Following the afterglow of the Chinese lunar new year family dinner celebrations I pulled this breath taking gold bracelet out for it's annual appearance. It is an heirloom bracelet from my mother and her mother, my Chinese grandmother.
“Black birds tend to like shiny things.” ~ The Bloody Raven.
On each half of this bracelet's center is a solitary Chinese character 'xi' translating to 'Double Happiness'. I've seen this character often at higher end Chinese restaurants where a partitioned section of the restaurant is often reserved for Chinese styled weddings, this piece is meant as a family’s wedding gift for the bride. There is a figure of a Phoenix bird on the left and a dragon on the right.
The Gold Bracelet details
Opposite side of the hinge is the 'Pearl' of wisdom, pressing down this Pearl also disengages the primary latch to open the bracelet. A little design flaw is that the latch tends to release too easily, hence a small loop latch is added on the inside edge for added security.
Jewellery have traditionally traded as emergency money, this bracelet is designed such that it can be divided into two halves at the hinge if need be. There was a story that Grandma used this bracelet as collateral for a loan where half went to the liquidity provider while the other half remained with her as proof of the original owner.
A set of three Hallmarks on each side of the latch. One of rectangular hallmarks has Chinese 99 characters stamped next to the hallmarks suggesting a 1999 date but I've seen this before 1999 so I suspect that this bracelet is older than that. The other two hallmarks have different characters I've yet to determine. It's obvious that I'm dealing with a different hallmarking system. I will have to go to a local Asian jeweler to identify It's origin and purity that I currently estimate as 18k.
Closer examination of the artwork reveals some incongruant tooling marks that this was hand made rather than machine milled or minted.
The Aunties love their gold Jewellery
This is the kind of jewellery our Chinese aunties show off to each other at try on at jewellery shops. I remember my past early years at the annual family wide new years and weddings. I listened in on a group of middle aged and senior women comparing their jewellery. They were speaking fast Cantonese so I missed much of the language nuances but make no mistake, talking about Chinese jewellery seems a big deal especially around wedding receptions. Rather than translating for me my mom dismissively said most of the talk is plain gossip typical of 'Big Aunties'.
Now this brings me to the term, 'Big Aunties' I am familiar with the more endearing 'A yi' term but get the sense that 'dai ma' inflects a different subtle meaning. I asked Google AI, "what is the meaning of Chinese Auntie?"
past my pri... 😞 There you go, it depends on the context.
Hmmm,🤔 This almost applies to me. Wouldn't you think?
I can see it happening at the next big dinner.
One of my A-Yi will trot over to my table to invite me over to chat at the elder's table.
"Congratulations Kerran we hear you retire? You planning to travel? Buy new clothes? Tell us. Speaking of clothes..., why do you always dress for a funeral, this is happy dinner? You have gold jewelry? We know your Ma gave you some nice ones from your Grandma come tell us about them."
My Favorite Chinese restaurant; Western Lake Chinese Seafood restaurant.
I'm not very showy regarding jewellery and I don't like to make myself a target either. The elder ladies may have fancier gold but if they invite me over I better wear this bracelet to be in keeping with the spirit of the occasion.
It's just once a year. Even if it is to make them feel better about themselves in this cliquey context. after all they're still family from another side of the same tree.
Sure, I'll smile along these ladies not because I have so few relevant pieces to show but I'm content rather having my gold secured away in the form of bullion coins.
A Special silver Tael Issued by a Chinese Jeweler
Now for our second feature, I got this beautiful classic Dragon silver round from Ben of HK Colonial Coins in Hong Kong. I know Danny would have snapped this up the moment he saw this only to find I've already bought it with my intention of gifting it to him. That plan didn't pan out, rest in peace my Danny. ❤️
The mintage is not known and having performed two different AI image and a number of descriptive searches I am not able to find any other matching identical silver rounds. This could be a rarity.
2012 Year of the Dragon One Silver Tael by Lao Miao Gold
The reverse is a classic coiled Dragon, the clouds hint that this is a 2012 version. No characters or text, just a dragon that is similar to the iconic old 1903-1912 Imperial Kwang-Tung province silver Yuan.. The date fits the this company's founding year.
2012 Year of the Dragon One Silver Tael by Lao Miao Gold
The obverse has the dominant character 'Loong' Dragon. In the context of the Chinese New years symbolizing strength, luck and prosperity. The characters on the right is the issuer, 'Lao Miao Gold' a well known Chinese jeweller and brand. Meaning 'Old Temple' gold, as a colloquial brand name. Deeper research reveals that this company started as handcrafted jewellery shop going back to around 1906, and if this company has lasted this long it must be be reputable. Further searches about this company hasn't revealed any issues in the past. But some competitors have used variants of the brand name to give their own products an implied trust.
2012 Year of the Dragon One Silver Tael by Lao Miao Gold
I've followed the public Gold retailer markets through the China daily website just to see for myself what my Asian counterparts. Chinese 'Aunties' have to contend with.
Lately, most dealers and retailers have closed or gone bankrupt on the recent huge market volatility in both gold and silver products. So our western bullion retailers aren't the only ones feeling the pain if not uncertainty along the supply chain. It's feast or famine, mostly famine.
If that wasn't enough, the secondary market is rife of fake bullion and jewellery so Asian bound buyers beware, I won't shop for gold in China without at least a Sigma and a XRF verifier.
As we Stackers say, “If you don’t hold it, or wear it, you don’t own it.”
Thank you for coming aboard my friends, and a belated Happy Lunar New Year! 🎈🏮
Stacking Precious metals and Crypto for those dark stormy days!
The #piratesunday tag is the scurvy scheme of Captain 
References & Sources
Website; The China Daily News Hong Kong.
Website Biadu; Lao Maio Shanghai Gold Jewellery Brand.
Website; Lao Miao.
My Favourite Chinese restaurant; Western Lake Chinese Seafood restaurant.
Photos are my own shot with an ancient 2018 Samsung SM-A530W or otherwise indicated.
P. Image under Pixabay
W. Wiki Commons
☠️🎃 Page Dividers by thekittygirl. ❄️🌞
Cameo Raven Brooch from The Black Wardrobe.
Background; Frazier Lawrence black Asian blouse.
Background; Gold on Red silk Cheongsame by Siruivi ( a Thrift shop gem find)
Physical precious metals bullion stacking is only a part of my personal overall financial strategy. Meanwhile, collecting numismatics are a different set of objectives and strategy. Unless you are a complete nutcase as I am please, do your research before deciding to buy into any bullion or numismatic products.