Tamaora Walker Wins People’s Choice Prize at the 2025 R.T Nelson Awards for Sculpture
We’re proud to share that Tamaora Walker, the lead artist at Mountain Jade, has been awarded the People’s Choice Prize at the 2025 R.T Nelson Awards for Sculpture for his deeply personal work, He Momo Kotahi - Through My Grandfather’s Eyes.Supporters of the Tarawera Ultramarathon by UTMB 2025
For the seventh year running - and since its inception in 2018 - Mountain Jade have been selected to work with IRONMAN in delivering the pounamu toki finishers medals for this years Tarawera Ultramarathon 100 MILER event.Our pounamu gift guide for the wonderfully different people in your life.
It is well-known that pounamu designs are embodied with deep meaning and symbolism. From strength and determination to hope and everlasting bonds, your choice of pounamu design can help you express your admiration, love, and wishes for a loved one - without the need for words.Mountain Jade crowned Supreme Winners at the Rotorua Business Awards 2023
Rotorua businesses came together for a huge evening of celebration and recognition, on Saturday night (4 Nov), as the Rotorua Energy Events Centre hosted the 2023 Tompkins Wake Rotorua Business Awards.
Delivered annually by the Rotorua Business Chamber, these high-profile awards set out to celebrate innovation and creativity in the business sector and have been a highlight of Rotorua’s business calendar for well over 20 years.
With dozens of businesses and around 500 of Rotorua’s biggest movers-and-shakers in attendance, the glitzy black-tie occasion – draped in black and gold and under the sparkle of fairy lights – became an arena of anticipation and excitement.
Following a rousing whakatau, which embodied the spirit of Rotorua, her worship Mayor Tania Tapsell addressed the room and the formalities began.
The format sees sixteen awards given on the night, with six of these belonging to the Excellence category, including the Retail award for which Mountain Jade were nominated. The finalists for the Supreme award are made up of the respective winners of each of the Excellence categories. A best-of-the-best ‘Overall’ winner.
As each award was introduced, the finalists stories were heard and applauded. Each victory proceeded with tension and greeted with cheers of joy, as tables rose to their feet punching the air, as energetic music filled the room.
Themes of resilience, of gratitude and the Rotorua way weaved likes threads through the acceptance speeches, and as the evening moved over the half-way point it was time for Mountain Jade’s nomination.
Winners of the Deloitte Retail Excellence Award
The Deloitte Retail Excellence Award had six finalists, making it one of most highly-contested categories on the night.
Mountain Jade were represented on the night by staff from the Rotorua retail stores and artists from the carving studios. A tight team who’ve all contributed to the phenomenal retail success of the last twelve months, and when the winner was announced, “MOUNTAIN JADE!”, they rose to their feet as one, and emphatically shared the moment.
A delighted Chief Executive, Sam Hulton led the acceptance on stage, congratulating the other finalists and thanking the sponsors.
“Our focus on excellence means that we often shine the brightest light on the amazingly talented artists that call our studio home, but my hope is that our success in the retail category can go some way toward acknowledging the unsung heroes of our business, our front line retail team.”Packaging for Generations
Ensuring we are respectful to the environment while endeavouring to teach the beauty of jade is something we will continue to work on as a business, constantly looking for ways to improve our sustainability practices and share our jade stories. Although we are not perfect, we try to do the least harm possible to the environment when packaging, shipping and gift-wrapping our pieces, and choose to work with suppliers that share this viewpoint.Māori traditions when buying pounamu. Answering your FAQs.
Māori traditions guide how pounamu is gifted, worn, and passed on, giving the stone deep meaning. These customs are part of what makes greenstone unique in New Zealand, and they continue to shape how people connect with it today. Exploring Māori surface designs and patterns
Exploring Māori surface designs and patternsThe meaning of Jade fern pendants
At its heart jade fern pendants are recognised as the unofficial symbol of New Zealand. They're worn as a sign of both national pride and as a vessel to store memories of the travels through New Zealand people wish to remember.Mythological creatures in Māori culture.
Māori culture is rich in pūrākau (legends), and within these legends, mythological, supernatural, and magical creatures are featured prominently, often acting as kaitiaki (guardians) of people or places worth protecting.
Before European arrival, Te Reo Māori was not a written language. This meant early ancestors used oral retellings and symbolic meanings embodied in carvings, knots and weavings to pass down histories, traditions, knowledge, and mythologies from generation to generation.
Fascinating tales of magical creatures including taniwha, whales, sharks and manaia tell of the observable world for Māori and provide insights and understanding into Māori worldview and the spiritual connection Māori have to the natural world in which they live.
