From the perspective of western gem culture, there are two kinds of jade: soft and hard. Usually, jade refers to nephrite. It belongs to one of the most common Jewel.
nephrite refers to hetian jade in a narrow sense, and broadly includes more than ten kinds of nephrite such as xiuyan jade, Nanyang jade and Jiuquan jade. Many nephrite have the same long history, such as xiuyan jade. Jadeite only refers to jadeite.
These sayings are what we call jade in a broad sense today. They include not only Hetian jade and jadeite, but also chalcedony, xiuyan jade, Nanyang jade, crystal, agate, amber, coral, turquoise, lapis lazuli, Huanglong jade and other traditional jade. Modern mineralogy divides jade into jadeite and nephrite. Jadeite is jadeite, while nephrite mainly refers to Hetian jade in Xinjiang, which is the definition of "jade" in a narrow sense.
most valuable: suet white jade in hetian jade! Glass is the best. This "species" refers to the transparency of jade. The more transparent it is, the more expensive it is. For example, the glass species (basically the same as the transparency of glass) is one level higher than the ice species (have you seen the transparent ice, it's a little hazy, and you can't see it clearly). The worst species is generally called porcelain bottom (it can be said that there is no transparency).
1. Emerald: In ancient China, "Emerald" was originally the name of a bird, and its feathers were beautiful. Generally, the male bird was called "Fei Bird" in red, and the female bird was called "Kingfisher" in green. In ancient times, women's jewelry was inlaid with jade feathers, and the names of the jewelry all had the word "Cui", such as fine Cui and pearl Cui. Because jadeite is a very beautiful jade, with the progress of time, people regard the beautiful bird name jadeite as the beautiful jade, that is, the polycrystalline aggregate mainly composed of jadeite, omphacite and sodium chromite is called jadeite.
2. nephrite: nephrite is mainly an aggregate composed of tremolite-actinolite series minerals. In addition, it contains trace minerals such as diopside, chlorite, serpentine, calcite, graphite and magnetite. There are many nephrite producing areas in the world, but the nephrite produced in Hotan County, Xinjiang, China has the longest application history and the best quality, and is famous at home and abroad. Therefore, Hotan Jade is now regarded as a synonym for all nephrite, and the name "Hotan Jade" has no meaning of producing area.
nephrite is characterized by delicate texture, moist luster, softness, uniform color, smooth as fat, slightly transparent, tough and not easy to break. On the polished surface (jade), obvious mottled structure (fiber interlaced structure) can be seen.
3. dushan jade: dushan jade, named after being produced in Dushan, a suburb of Nanyang, China, is a unique jade species in China. Dushan jade has bright color, fine texture, good transparency and luster, and high hardness, which can be compared with jadeite. From the unearthed cultural relics, it has a history of 5~6 years.
dushan jade is an aggregate of jade-grade plagioclase and plagioclase zoisite, which were formed during geological processes. Unique jade has a variety of colors, bright color, fine texture, good transparency and luster, and high hardness, which can be compared with jadeite.
dushan jade's identification: dushan jade's colors are bright but complicated. Generally, there are many colors on the same piece of jade, such as white, green, brown, dark green, etc. This feature is not found in other middle and low-grade jade materials. Dushan jade has a fine granular structure and good transparency, which can be easily distinguished from jadeite and nephrite with fibrous structure.
4. Serpentine jade (Xiuyu jade): Serpentine jade is an aggregate mainly composed of fine fibrous serpentine minerals, which was formed during geological processes and reached jade grade. This kind of jade is mostly green-yellow to yellow-green, with less impurities, very delicate texture, translucent to nearly transparent, oily luster, and is widely loved by people at all levels of consumption.
serpentine jade is mostly named after its place of origin. Produced in Xiuyan County, Liaoning Province, it is called Xiuyu; Produced in Xinyi Siliu, Guangdong Province, it is called "Southern Jade" or "Xinyiyu"; Produced in Jiuquan, Gansu Province, it is called "Jiuquan Jade", also known as "Qilian Jade"; Produced in Lingchuan, Guangxi, it is called "Lingchuan Jade"; Produced in the foothills of Kunlun Mountain in Xinjiang, it is called "Kunlun Jade"; Produced in Huili, Sichuan, it is called "Huiliyu"; Yunnan jade produced in Yunnan is called "Yunnan jade"; Produced in Junan, Shandong Province, it is called "Junan Jade"; Produced in the old gentleman's hall of the Ming Tombs in Beijing, it is called "Jing topaz".
Identification of serpentine jade: The difference between serpentine jade and nephrite and jadeite is that it has low hardness, oily luster or waxy luster, while the latter two are glass luster or oily luster. Jade similar to light green or yellow-green serpentine jade includes prehnite and almandine. Eclogite contains a small amount of calcite, so it is foamed with hydrochloric acid. The prehnite hardness is 6~6.5, and it can't be carved with a knife. hydrogrossular has a granular structure and hardness that can't be carved with a knife. Yin Zhangshi, such as Qingtian stone and Shoushan stone, which are similar in color, luster and hardness to serpentine jade, is different from serpentine jade because it has no fiber, scale, crystalline structure or reticulate structure.
5. Turquoise: Turquoise products are beautiful in color and are deeply loved by people at all times and in all countries, especially Muslims and people in the western United States. Gem-grade turquoise is a dense massive aggregate mainly composed of turquoise minerals, which is formed in the process of geological process and reaches jade grade.
identification of turquoise: turquoise is characterized by its unique opaque sky blue, light blue, green blue, green and its common white spots and brown-black iron lines on the background color. However, it should be noted that the characteristics of turquoise from different producing areas are not exactly the same. Jade similar to turquoise includes chrysocolla, artificially treated turquoise, dyed chalcedony and synthetic turquoise. Chrysocolla looks very much like turquoise with naked eyes, but its refractive index, density and hardness are lower than turquoise.
At present, the artificial treatment methods of turquoise include dyeing, injecting paraffin or paraffin oil, injecting plastics, etc. For dyed turquoise, aniline dye will be bleached by dropping a drop of ammonia water. For turquoise with oil or wax injection, put a hot needle close to jade and observe it under a magnifying glass to see melted and flowing paraffin or oil. For turquoise injected with plastic, touch the jade surface with a hot needle, and the injected plastic will find an unpleasant smell. But do not touch the experiment for more than three seconds, because turquoise is afraid of heat and will fade. ?
The synthetic turquoise is sky blue with uniform color, and the spherical structure can be seen under a 5x microscope.
6. Shi Ying jade: The mineral composition is mainly Shi Ying, which is crystalline or aphanitic, with a small amount of impurity minerals. There are many kinds of jadeite in Shi Ying, as follows:
A, quartzite:
① Dongling Stone: it is a quartzite with placer gold effect, and its color varies with different impurity minerals. The chromic mica is green, which is called green Dongling stone; Dumortierite is blue, which is called blue Dongling stone; The lepidolite is purple, which is called purple Dongling stone. The green Dongling stone produced in Xinjiang contains green fibrous actinolite. Generally speaking, the Shi Ying particles of Dongling Stone are relatively coarse, and the flaky minerals contained in it are relatively large, which can present a glittering placer effect in the sun. Under the magnifying glass, you can clearly see the thick chromium mica sheets, which are roughly oriented and slightly reddish brown under the color filter.
② Miyu: named after it is produced in Mixian County, Henan Province, it is a relatively compact quartzite. Most of them are green because they contain green sericite, and some are red, black and milky white. The red color may be related to the trace rutile and tourmaline, while the black color is related to the carbonaceous matter and trace iron and manganese oxides. Compared with Dongling stone, Shi Ying has smaller particles and finer structure. Mica flakes are sparse and light in color, and there is no obvious placer effect.
③ guicui: produced in Dachang, Jinglong county, Guizhou province. It is a kind of fine-grained quartzite containing green kaolinite. Its texture is fine, but its color is not as bright as that of Dongling stone and Miyu. The scales of kaolinite are not obvious and the distribution is uneven, so it is mostly light green with uneven color distribution, which looks like inferior jadeite with the naked eye.
④ Jingbaiyu: It is a white quartzite with fine texture and glossy oil. Because the earliest jade material used came from the suburbs of Beijing, it was named Jing Baiyu. In fact, this kind of jade material is produced in many parts of the country. It is white, uniform in color and free of impurities. Shi Ying particles are fine, the particle size is generally less than .2mm, and the texture is delicate, opaque or slightly transparent.
⑤ white jade: it is a kind of white quartzite that appeared in the market in recent two years, and it is said that it is produced in Xinjiang. Rice white jade is uniform white, fine in texture, glassy and oily, slightly transparent to translucent, and better in quality than Beijing white jade.
B, aphanitic:
① chalcedony: it is an aggregate of microscopic aphanitic Shi Ying, and the monomers are fibrous, disordered or slightly oriented, and the pores between grains are often filled with water and bubbles, and most of them are produced in blocks. According to the color, it can be subdivided into several varieties: white chalcedony, red chalcedony, green chalcedony (the famous "Australian jade" in the market is the green chalcedony containing Ni), blue chalcedony and black chalcedony.
② agate: chalcedony with annular or banded structure. According to the color, band stripes and the characteristics of impurities or inclusions, many varieties can be subdivided: white agate, red agate, green agate, blue agate, purple agate, black agate, onyx, wrapped agate, moss agate, water bile agate and so on.
③ Jasper: It is a chalcedony with many impurities, opaque, and its color is mostly dark red, green or variegated. According to the color, it can be called ruby, green jasper and so on. Sometimes it can also be named according to special patterns and spots, such as landscape jasper and blood drop stone.
C. Explain the illusion of Shi Ying jade
① Wood-changed stone: it is a kind of silicified asbestos. Usually, according to the characteristics of color and fiber arrangement, woody stones are divided into three varieties, namely, woody stones, tiger eye stones and eagle eye stones.
② Silicified wood: Silicified wood is a real wood fossil, which was made by SiO2 _ 2 in groundwater after the trees were quickly buried underground millions of years ago. It retains the wood structure and texture of trees. The color is khaki, light yellow, yellowish brown, reddish brown, grayish white, grayish black, etc. The polished surface can be glassy, opaque or slightly transparent.
7. Lapis lazuli: Lapis lazuli jade is a multi-mineral aggregate mainly containing lapis lazuli, calcite and pyrite, also known as "lapis lazuli".
According to the distribution of constituent minerals and colors, it is usually divided into four varieties:
(1) Lapis lazuli: lapis lazuli contains more than 99% minerals, and does not contain pyrite and calcite, so it belongs to "lapis lazuli without gold". Pure and delicate texture, rich and uniform color, with dark blue and dark sky blue as the best varieties.
(2) lapis lazuli: lapis lazuli mineral with a density of 2.38~2.45g/cm3. Small pyrite crystals are disseminated or scattered in jade, and there is no white spot calcite. The texture is pure, dense and delicate, and the color is rich and even, with dark blue and deep sky blue as the top grade.
(3) Jinkelang (Jingelang, Jinguanglang): a dense block containing a lot of pyrite. Usually, the content of pyrite is more than lapis lazuli, and pyrite is not scattered, but aggregated. White spots or white flowers containing calcite, with uneven texture. After polishing, it is as golden as a scarab shell. The density of this variety is relatively high, which can reach more than 4 g/cm3.
(4) Procreating stone: Lapis lazuli mineral and calcite are mixed together, and generally do not contain pyrite. It is a mixture of blue and white. It is said that it is called "the birthstone" because it was used as medicine in ancient times to help pregnant women "give birth". White calcite as the main ingredient and lapis lazuli as the auxiliary ingredient, which is called "snowflake-induced stone", is more common in China.
8. Malachite: It is different with its bright green, beautiful bands, concentric ring patterns and delicate texture. Because its color and pattern are very similar to peacock tail feathers, malachite has such a beautiful name. The varieties of malachite are divided into: common malachite, malachite cat's eye, malachite and so on.
9. chrysocolla: It is a silicate mineral of copper. chrysocolla is often opal-shaped or enamel-shaped, and some are earthy or grape-shaped, but it is rare to see banded structure. It is also green jade, but the color is not exactly the same as malachite, and it is more blue, that is, blue-green or sky-blue, which is closer to turquoise. When there is much iron and manganese in the composition, it can appear brown or black. Opaque, glassy when silicified, usually waxy or earthy, more brittle than malachite.
1. rhodonite: High-quality rhodonite is a very beautiful mineral, and it is also a jade material for making cambered gems, beads and carvings. Its texture is as hard as jadeite and its color is peach pink, so it is also called "Pink Jade", "Peach Blossom Stone" and "peach blossom jade" in the jewelry industry. Because the famous origin of rhodonite in China is in the suburbs of Beijing, it is also known as "Beijing Powder Cuisine". Its English Rhodonite comes from the Greek word "rose".
11. rhodochrosite: refers to rhodochrosite that can be used as jade. The colors are rose red, pink and so on, which are very beautiful. Parallel stripes with different shades are common, and fine stripes such as white, gray, yellow or brown can also appear on the pink background, which has low hardness.
12. Carbonate jade refers to jade mainly composed of calcite (Ca[CO3]) or/and dolomite (CaMg[CO3]2). Geologically, it usually belongs to marble, limestone or dolomite. There are many varieties, such as afghanistan jade, white marble, aragonite jade, lantian jade, Lingbi jade and chrysanthemum stone, all of which are carbonate jade.
13. Plum blossom jade: it is jade condensed from magma ejected from a volcano. During the condensation process of this volcanic rock, a large amount of gas forms many peculiar pores in the rock, which are filled with various minerals generated later, thus forming the so-called almond-shaped andesite in geology. These "almonds" (pores) are red if they are filled with iron-containing agate; For epidote filling, it is yellow-green; For chlorite filling, it is dark green; When it is filled with calcite or Shi Ying, it is white or colorless and transparent. When the jade is polished, these pores filled with various minerals form "flowers" like plum blossoms. There are often tortuous fine cracks between stomata, and when they are filled with minerals, they form branches of "plum blossom". In the black or gray-black background of andesite, the wonderful pictures with numerous branches and flowers are even more obvious, which is amazing. Meihuayu got its name. Also because it is produced exclusively in Ruyang, Henan, it is also called Ruyu.
14. Lilac purple jade (lepidolite): It is a jade variety composed of lepidolite aggregates (lepidolite) with a small amount of Shi Ying and albite. It is a new jade variety discovered in recent years. It is named "Lilac Purple" because of its lilac color. The colors of lilac are rose, lilac, violet, lavender gray and gray. High-quality translucent, pearl to silk luster. The hardness of lilac is 3~4, the density is 2.8~2.9g/cm3, and the refractive index is 1.55~1.57.
15. Obsidian jade: also known as Ten Victory Stone, is a naturally occurring glass. Main composition: silica, hardness: 5, specific gravity: 2.339-2.527, refractive index: 1.48-1.51, containing 1-2% water. It is an amorphous gem with a shell-like fracture. Obsidian may be all monochrome, striped or spotted. It is an identification feature to contain small crystals. Some inclusions of obsidian have nonmetallic luster, while some internal bubbles or crystals produce a "snowflake" effect (that is, snowflake obsidian) or are regarded as flashing rainbow colors.
16. Coal essence (Meiyu): also known as jet, coal essence and black amber. Coal jade is a variety of lignite, which is carbonized from lower plants and some higher plants with the geological changes of vicissitudes of life. Warm hand, brown streaks, coal smoke smell from hot needles, and low hardness.
17. sodalite: usually blue, and a few are white, green, red, purple or gray. Generally glassy