BTS’ V Wore Jade Rings And Made “Grandma Jewelry” Cool Again

Jade rings were once associated with grandmothers and traditional jewelry. Now, they are showing up on the fingers of Gen Z and BTS’ V may have something to do with it.

When BTS returned to the stage at Seoul’s Gwanghwamun Square in March with “ARIRANG,” fans quickly noticed the green and black jade rings stacked across V’s fingers.

The rings came from YEIJAK Jewelry, a family-run jewelry business based in Seoul’s Jongno district. We visited the store and spoke with CEO Lee Jin-wook, 34, about how V ended up wearing the pieces.

Just two days before BTS’ “ARIRANG” performance, YEIJAK Jewelry received an email from a BTS stylist asking for rings. The request did not say V would wear them. With little time before the performance, the store gathered more than 30 jade rings and sent them over. It was only when Lee saw V on stage that he realized the jewelry had made it into the performance.

“It felt meaningful,” Lee said. “He showed exactly the kind of modern jade styling we’ve been trying to build.”

Fans took notice of this. Following the performance, YEIJAK began seeing more customers looking for multiple rings they could stack across their fingers like V. The seven rings V actually wore are now displayed separately at the store, where ARMY from around the world stop by to take photos.

For younger shoppers, jade may not be the most familiar gemstone. YEIJAK says that made selling it online particularly challenging.

Instead of simply describing its pieces as natural jade, the brand began carefully sorting every ring by color, pattern, clarity and thickness. It even created names for subtle differences in color, turning what might look like minor variations into something customers could easily understand and choose from.

A blue shade, for example, can be categorized as “Slim,” “Super Slim,” “Aqua Green,” or a “Sky Blue / Aqua Green Mix,” depending on its tone and thickness. The result is a more approachable way of shopping for a stone traditionally associated with older generations.

YEIJAK Jewelry began in 1986, when Lee’s grandmother imported and wholesaled raw jade at Seoul’s Hoehyeon underground shopping arcade. The family later moved heavily into online sales and social media as the domestic jade market faced growing concerns over dyed and treated stones being sold as natural jade. Today, the brand serves customers in Korean, English, Russian and Chinese, with international visitors increasingly stopping by its Seoul store.

Lee believes V’s appearance helped introduce the jewelry to a new audience, but says the appeal ultimately comes down to the stone itself.

“A celebrity wearing our pieces was the trigger, but people are ultimately drawn to jade itself, to the color and the design,” he said.

For YEIJAK , taking Korean jade jewelry overseas will require more than simply calling it “traditional.” Modern designs, more variety, easy online shopping and reliable reviews will all play a role. If V’s styling is any indication, jade may be getting a very different image among a new generation of jewelry lovers.