The dragon, that most legendary of Chinese mythological creatures, has traditionally been associated with power and potency. Indeed, along with its ascendancy over all things elemental, the might and majesty of this winged wonder is said to be bestowed upon only the luckiest and most worthy of folks, surely a sign that the victor in a recent dragon-centric auction at Christie’s Hong Kong must, indeed, be of cast-iron character and undebatable demeanour.

Whatever their actual stature, they are fortunate indeed to have outbid all comers in pursuit of the 2,200-year-old Jade Dragon Ring, which ultimately went under the hammer for US$1.1 million (HK$7.9 million). Said to be one of the few extant artifacts from the time of the Warring States era, one of the less-edifying chapters in the saga of the Western Han Dynasty (206BC-9AD), this astonishingly well-preserved 9.5cm-wide ring has somehow managed to maintain its exquisite design over the centuries, with just a touch of opaque white-coloured calcification. Say what you like about the Western Han, they knew a thing or two when it came to leaving a leitmotifed legacy.