Chinese Zodiac Tiger Pendant

The Jade Emperor (The Emperor in Heaven in Chinese folklore) ordered that animals would be designated as calendar signs and the twelve that arrived first would be selected. At that time, the cat and the rat were good friends and neighbours. When they heard of this news, the cat said to the rat: ‘We should arrive early to sign up, but I usually get up late.’ The rat then promised to awaken his friend and go together. However, on the morning when he got up, he was too excited to recall his promise, and went directly to the gathering place. On the way, he encountered the tiger, ox, horse, and other animals that ran much faster.

In order not to fall behind them, he thought up a good idea. He made the straightforward ox carry him on condition that he sang for the ox. At last, the ox and he arrived first. The ox was happy thinking that he would be the first sign of the years, but the rat had already slid in front, and became the first lucky animal of the Chinese zodiac. Simon's 12 piece Zodiac collection is a fun play on this tale. Each creature is hand crafted with the up most attention to detail in Sterling Silver and sits upon a delicate chain. In the Chinese calendar, the years of the Tiger are 1914, 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998 and 2010.