As a kid, my brother and I would while away the family get-togethers and dinners leaning over the railing at the Pagoda Hotel, counting koi—orange, white, gold—drifting through the water like they had nowhere to be and all the time to get there.
I've been aging alongside those koi ever since.
There's a legend that says koi fish spend their lives swimming upstream, fighting the current. The ones that make it to the top of the waterfall—the Dragon's Gate—transform into dragons. It's a story about perseverance, about becoming something greater through sheer determination.
I think about that story every time I hold one of these jade koi pendants.
Why Jade?
Every Asian auntie and grandma I've ever known has a jade story. Jade for luck. Jade for protection. Jade passed down through generations, worn smooth by decades of touch. There's a reason it shows up at every milestone—weddings, births, graduations.
Jade isn't just pretty. It's one of the toughest gemstones on Earth (tougher than steel, actually). It doesn't chip or crack easily. It survives. Maybe that's why so many cultures connect it to longevity and resilience.
These particular jade koi are jadeite—the rarer, more prized type of jade. They come from a local family vendor here in Honolulu who sold jade for years before retiring over a decade ago. When they closed up shop, we held onto what we could. Once these are gone, they're gone.
The Koi's Journey, and Yours
There's something about wearing a koi carved in jade that feels like carrying both stories at once—the toughness of the stone, the perseverance of the fish. Whether you're swimming upstream through your own challenges or just want a little extra luck in your pocket, these pieces hold meaning.
Each one is hand-carved, slightly different from the next. That's the nature of working with real stone and real hands.