Pounamu Necklace - Small

From Our Mountains, Rivers & In the Sea

Pounamu Necklace

Kiwi, Roimata (Drop), Legacy, Manaia, Hei Matau (Hook), Koru (Spiral), Whale Tail, Hei Matau (Hook)2, Disc, Hei Matau (Hook)3, Hei Matau (Hook)4, Koru (Spiral)2, Hei Matau (Hook)5, Hei Matau (Hook)6, Turtle, Manaia2, Koru (Spiral)3, Koru (Spiral)4, Manaia3, Manaia4

Charm 3-5cm

Greenstone

Nephrite jade is found in many parts of the world, but in New Zealand it can only be found in the South Island, mainly on the West Coast – which is why the island is named Te Waipounamu, which translates to “the waters of greenstone”. There are two stories of the origin of pounamu, one being Māori legend and the tale of a taniwha named Poutini - the guardian of pounamu. The second being the story of mother nature, and her incredible power.

Pounamu the legend

One day, as he rested in the northern seas of the Bay of Plenty, Poutini watched a beautiful young woman named Waitaiki come down to the water to bathe. Enchanted by her beauty, Poutini captured Waitaiki and fled south with his treasure - lighting fires along the way to keep her warm. Waitaiki’s husband, the powerful chief Tamaahua, soon discovered his loss and furiously paddled his canoe in pursuit of his love and her captor. He followed closely and found precious stones amidst the remains of Poutini's fires.

The chase was relentless, and Poutini finally stopped on the West Coast of the South Island, hiding up the Arahura River. Not wanting to give her up, he knew the only way to keep Waitaiki for forever, was to turn her into his own essence. So Poutini transformed Waitaiki into pounamu and lay her in the riverbed. He quietly escaped past Tamaahua, and is thought to have ever since swam up and down the West Coast guarding the land and its precious pounamu.

A gift from Mother Earth

Science tells us the origin of pounamu starts with mother earth and that the stone is a metamorphic rock formed deep in the earth's crust, under intense heat and pressure, 200-300 million years ago. As tectonic plate movement slowly forged the Southern Alps, uplifting stresses moved nephrite bearing lenses upwards to the surface of the mountains. Here the lenses were worn down by the elements, and jade was slowly exposed from its softer enclosing rocks. For much of the past two million years, the rising Southern Alps were buried under huge ice glaciers. As glacial movements occurred, pounamu was slowly forced down the valleys. Landslides, erosion and rivers also scattered fragments over wide areas. Pounamu today can be found on our mountains, in our rivers and in the sea.