kiwikoru.com

09/04/2013

Kia Ora (greetings),

Kiwikoru is becoming Earthbound Kiwi. Why? Well, basically--people tend to have trouble pronouncing kiwikoru (it is pronounced kee wee koh-roo, btw). The kiwi being a flightless bird unique to New Zealand and the koru which, in the Maori tradition, represents an uncurling fern frond bringing new life, and purity into the world. We do like the name, but it does cause confusion; so we decided to come up with a name that is more easily pronounced.

Why did we choose the name Earthbound Kiwi? Well, even though we are located in the US, we wanted to keep the Kiwi as one of us is from New Zealand; and the term "Kiwi" is used to refer to someone from there. Earthbound has a double meaning, which is why we like it. Firstly: the Kiwi is an earthbound bird, in that it is flightless, bound to the earth. Secondly: earthbound as in a destination, a trek, if you will, around the earth. And, since we ship around the world, and draw our inspiration from around the world, we thought this to be appropriate--we hope you agree.

Please give us a visit at earthboundkiwi.com-- where all the jewelry has a meaning. And, if you like, hop on over to earthboundkiwi on facebook and give us a like :) Currently all worldwide orders of $75.00 or more get free shipping. *certain restrictions may apply to some international destinations.

04/04/2013

05/16/2012

New Product: Jade adze strength necklace with laser engraved Lord's Prayer.

05/16/2012

03/18/2012

What exactly is "mother-of-pearl?" If you aren't sure... you aren't alone. The most common mistake is that it's the shell of the oyster (the oyster being the mother of the pearl). The fact is: mother-of-pearl is the beautiful, iridescent, composite material called NACRE that is found inside a variety of mollusks, not only the oyster.
NACRE (prounounced nay-ker) forms on the inside layer of the mollusk's shell and can become rather thick; our Pacific Pearl pieces are carved from the thicker deposits of this nacre --the exact same substance from which pearls are formed.

03/18/2012

Jade gets its name from the Spanish "piedras de ijadas" (stones of the loins). Mesoamerican peoples used it for tool-making and adornment; it was also believed to have healing propertries (esp for the kidneys).

The Latin translation of "piedras de ijadas" is lapis nephriticus (nephrite stone). It came to be called simply, nephrite.

Greenstone is what New Zealanders call green nephrite Jade.

Pounamu is the Maori word for the greenstone found in Aotearoa (New Zealand). For the Maori this is a highly prized stone with great spiritual significance. Historically, it was used for tool-making and adornment. It was also used as a symbol of authority and status and was used to make peace.

Black Jade (aka Cowell Jade) from South Australia is a true nephrite green Jade; higher levels of iron give it a black appearance (various hints/levels of green may be seen).

03/18/2012

We frequently get asked whether our jade is real jade. The answer is YES! If we call it jade-- it is true nephrite jade. There are some who will call dyed quartz jade (aka Malaysian Jade), others will try to pass off black onyx as black jade. True black jade is in fact a green nephrite jade with higher levels of iron which gives it a black appearance (the most common source of this is South Australia, but some is found in various parts of the US and Canada). Still others try to pass off serpentine and other greenish stones as jade. IF YOU WANT REAL JADE MAKE SURE YOU ARE GETTING EITHER NEPHRITE OR JADEITE. Jadeite is also commonly called jade and is accepted as jade; it is chemically different from nephrite jade but it is called and accepted as jade because those who originally discovered it believed it to be the same as nephrite jade and started calling it as such. Jadeite, aka Burmese Jade, mostly comes out of Myanmar (Burma) and is much more difficult to get. There are various levels of jadeite, from very, very cheap (not all that desirable) to very, very expensive. WE ONLY USE NEPHRITE--THE STONE ORIGINALLY NAMED JADE.

11/10/2011

Hand-Carved (true nephrite) jade pendants.

11/09/2011

11/09/2011