1. Introduction of origin? Qinghai nephrite is produced in the plateau and hilly area along the Qinghai-Tibet Highway in the southwest of Golmud City, Qinghai Province. So far, there are about three mining sites. Although the local altitude is high, the relative height difference is not large and the transportation is convenient. The jade materials produced in this area are mainly mined mountain materials, with a small amount of landscape (Gobi) materials and no secondary materials. The origin belongs to the part of Kunlun Mountain that enters Qinghai Province on the eastern edge, and it is about 300 kilometers away from Ruoqiang in Xinjiang in the west, which is closely related to Hetian jade produced by Qiemo and Ruoqiang. ?
Second, the main commercial varieties and appearance characteristics? In the early stage of nephrite production in Qinghai, there were some nonstandard names such as Kunlun white jade, Kunlun jade, Golmud jade and Qinghai jade (emerald variety). According to the naming principles and terminology of the national standard "Jewelry and Jade Name", combined with the convention of classification and naming of nephrite, Qinghai nephrite is divided into white jade, blue white jade, sapphire and other varieties according to its color characteristics. Commercial products are basically the same as Hetian jade, but the color characteristics are richer. For example, the emerald green and gray purple varieties in Qinghai nephrite are rare or unknown in traditional Hetian jade products. The varieties and characteristics are described as follows:
White jade: the main variety of nephrite in Qinghai, which is also the largest variety, is sometimes customarily called "Qinghai white" in the industry. It is grayish white-waxy white, translucent, and its transparency is obviously better than that of Hetian jade. The texture is fine and moist, and the yield is large, and a small amount reaches the quality of "sheep fat white jade". According to their different appearance characteristics, people in the industry vividly describe them as: milky white jade, transparent white jade, pear white, rice soup white and other varieties. Qinghai white jade is fine, moist and even in texture, with a large block size, which belongs to the first-class good material, but it has high transparency and insufficient dignified texture, especially when it is thin. ?
Blue white jade: light gray blue gray, light yellow gray, etc. , elegant and refreshing color, translucent, delicate and even texture. The transparency is obviously greater than that of Hetian jade, with sufficient water head and good uniformity, which is very popular among people in the industry. It is often vividly called: transparent white green, light blue white, duck egg green and so on. ? Sapphire: celadon-dark gray-green, dull and translucent, superior in texture to Hotan sapphire, and good in head and foot, suitable for making large and medium-sized ornaments and utensils. After thinning, the color tone turns sunny, solemn and elegant, and the voice is sonorous and full of charm. It is a high-quality sapphire. ?
Smoke sapphire: light to medium gray purple to smoke gray, with a slight gray tone in smoke gray. Translucent, delicate and moist, some people call it violet, lotus root jade, sapphire and so on. It is rare in traditional hetian jade varieties. Because of its remarkable color characteristics, it can be said that it is a symbolic variety of nephrite in Qinghai. This variety is produced by independent thin layer, and there are also white jade materials with black edges and black leather materials with local characteristics. It is more appropriate to classify it as sapphire, which can be called smoky sapphire and purple jade can be called purple sapphire. Smoke sapphire enriches the pretty varieties of nephrite, such as "green shrimp", pigeon (gray raindrop), black and white double happiness (badger) and so on. ?
Emerald: light emerald green, with green characteristics similar to tender green jade, which is obviously different from the green of sapphire and jasper. This kind of green nephrite is rarely produced alone, but adheres to one side of white jade and aquamarine raw materials or forms a sandwich. The distribution of lumps is often related to sandy and mottled stones. Some of its finished products are all green, and some form beautiful colors on white jade and blue-and-white jade carvings, which is rare in Hetian jade products in the past. All green and beautiful products have become hot spots in jade collection for a period of time. According to its color characteristics, the name emerald is more in line with the naming standard. ?
Tang Yu: There are also varieties of sugar-colored jade in Qinghai nephrite, mainly light yellow-brown uniform sugar-colored disseminated and spotted dark brown-yellow-brown sugar-colored. Its sugar color is either concentrated to form dark brown spots, or its color is too light, which makes little contribution to pretty color, destroys a lot of jade and has low utilization value. ? ：
Qinghai nephrite production is an important event in jade market since 1990s. Among them, Qinghai white jade has shaken the market of Hetian jade with its huge output and excellent texture. Based on the above research results:?
(1) Qinghai nephrite and Hetian jade are basically the same in material combination, occurrence and structural characteristics. It is slightly different from nephrite produced in the field only in some aspects such as output characteristics, structure and physical properties. ?
(2) Qinghai nephrite has the remarkable characteristics formed by its origin:
(1) Good transparency;
(2) The characteristic varieties of grayish white, waxy and yellowish gray white jade, turquoise and smoky gray jade;
(3) Contrast characteristics of inclusions such as stone flowers, flocs, "waterline" and spots;
(4) The raw materials are mainly mountain materials, with no distribution, and the shape and skin color of raw materials related to the geographical environment of the place of origin. ?
(3) Qinghai nephrite, especially white jade, has been rising all the way in the adversity of the downturn in the jewelry market in recent years, with an increase of 300% to 500% in the past four years, which has high investment and collection value. ?
(4) nephrite produced in Qinghai completely conforms to the meaning of Hetian jade naming.