Those sparkling earth crystals
Where did they come from? What are the stories behind it?
654.38+0.4 billion years ago
A big bang in the universe gave birth to a nebula in the sky.
The attitude of the nebula is ever-changing
It's a rose, a butterfly, a flame and a cat's eye. ...
And the most beautiful fireworks in the universe have also formed the elements that make up the earth.
Elements produce nuclear fusion inside stars.
In the whole process, matter will not increase or decrease.
Just constantly changing the combination, scattered in various places to reorganize.
Minerals are the most wonderful relics in this reorganization.
For millions of years, they have condensed into gems on the earth.
Romantic as a nebula.
They are a gift from the universe to mankind.
What is the most prominent one?
Gem "the heads of the five giants"
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In the international jewelry industry
Diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds.
Known as "high-grade gem"
In China, high-grade gemstones should be matched with an opal.
diamond
Diamond is also called Jin Gangzuan, and the mineral name is diamond.
India was the first country in the world to find diamonds.
The largest diamond in the world is190565438+1February 2 1
Cullinan diamond found in Pretoria, South Africa
It weighs 3 106 carat, which is about the size of a man's fist.
Later, it was polished into 105 diamonds of different sizes.
The largest one, the African Star, weighs 530.2 carats.
Embedded in the scepter of King Edward VII of England.
Gemstone diamonds are mostly rich in
In placer or kimberlite and lamprophyre cones.
The world-famous diamond producing areas are Australia, South Africa,
Zaire, Botswana, Russia and other countries
China's Liaoning, Shandong, Hunan and other provinces also have output.
ruby
The mineral name of ruby is corundum.
Its hardness is 9.
The hardness of ordinary glass is 6, second only to that of diamond (10).
Ruby is red to pink because it contains chromium.
The higher the content, the brighter the color.
Blood-red ruby is most cherished by people, commonly known as "pigeon blood red"
Ruby is easy to crack due to crystal structure defects.
Natural fine particles rarely exceed 4 carats.
Anything over 20 carats is very rare.
The world's largest ruby was found in Myanmar.
Carmen Lucia ruby, weighing 23.6438+0 carats.
sapphire
Sapphire is not necessarily a blue sapphire.
Corundum with quality meeting the requirements of gemstones
All colors except red are called rubies, and all colors can be called sapphires.
So sapphire is not always blue.
The name corresponding to the color should be "colored sapphire"
For example, if the color is yellow, it is called yellow sapphire.
Sapphire was born in a volcano and crystallized from high-temperature lava.
18 million years ago, a violent volcanic eruption.
Make Shandong Changle one of the largest sapphire mines in China.
The reserve is about 200 tons.
In ancient times, sapphire beads were worn on the crown of officials.
Used to show the identity and doctrine of officials.
Blue gem ring is popular as a wedding ring in modern European and American countries.
For example, when Princess Diana of England married Prince Charles.
The main stone of the wedding ring is a sapphire.
emerald
Emerald is also called "green palm" and "emerald"
The English name Emerald comes from Zumurud, an ancient Persian language.
Emerald and pure emerald
In the tradition of the Middle East and the West, it is considered as a symbol.
Green plants, thriving youthful vitality.
It is often made into jewelry for aristocratic girls to wear.
High quality emeralds are produced in Colombia, South America.
When the Andes formed,
Mineral-rich magma flows into the rock stratum through fault gaps.
When it comes into contact with sedimentary rocks, it is possible to form emeralds
Due to the harsh and complicated formation conditions, almost all emeralds are in it.
They generally have "inclusions" visible to the naked eye.
Observe these contents with a microscope.
Gemmologists can determine under what geological conditions gems were formed.
I even know which country this emerald is produced in.
cat's eye
Cat's eye is a kind of beryllium-containing alumina, which belongs to a kind of golden emerald.
In China, opal is also called lion's eye, cat's eye, cat's eye and so on.
Because opal presents the same light phenomenon as cat's eye.
Flexible and bright, can change with the intensity of light.
The eyeliner is sharpest in the strong sunlight at noon.
When the light is dark in the morning and evening, the eyeliner will be much softer and softer.
This optical effect is also called "cat's eye effect"
Tourmaline, aquamarine and many other gems have cat's eye effect.
But when addressing, be sure to add the name of the gem before the cat's eye.
Only the cat's eye of expensive olivine can be called "cat's eye"
The most famous opal producing area in the world is southwest Sri Lanka.
Opals are also found in Brazil and Russia, but they are very rare.
It is not difficult to see that due to geological structure and crustal movement
Some special gems are only produced in certain areas.
At present, nearly 40 countries in the world have chosen their own national stone.
What is the national stone of each country?
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generally speaking
National stone usually refers to the fraternity of the people of a country.
Has excellent characteristics and precious value,
As far as the country's resource richness and development and utilization are concerned.
Featured gems and jade
Amber-Germany
Amber is called "turpentine fossil"
Compared with other precious stones, amber is soft and as hard as nails.
The difference is that amber is the only gem with fragrance.
Ancient Roman women had the habit of holding amber.
The reason is that at the temperature of the palm,
Amber can give off a faint and elegant fragrance when heated.
The ancients also used amber as incense to ignite and release the fragrance.
The Baltic coast has always been the main producing area of amber.
Among them, Germany is deeply loved by Chinese people because of its large amber production.
So amber is regarded as a national stone.
Coral-Italy
Coral is one of the earliest gems recognized and utilized by human beings.
Sailors in ancient Rome believed that corals came from the sea.
It can prevent lightning and hurricanes when sailing and bless a pleasant journey.
So ancient Rome called coral "red gold"
Corals grow in warm seas.
Usually it grows most vigorously 30 meters above the water surface.
Sardinia, Italy, is one of the main producing areas of corals.
The oldest coral fishing ground has a mining history of more than 2000 years.
The local species is called Sardinia fruit.
Because most of them are run by Italians, they are also called "Italian corals"
So Italy should regard coral as a national stone.
Pearl-France
Pearls are produced in mollusks such as pearl mussels.
Mineral particles containing organic matter formed by endocrine.
Chemical components are mainly calcium carbonate, water and organic matter.
Pearls are delicate in texture and soft in luster.
White is the most common, which is in line with the French tradition of liking white.
Therefore, pearls are regarded as national stones by the French.
In addition to white, the colors of pearls are
Black, cream, bright yellow, bright rose, pink, etc.
Black is the most precious because it is rare.
At present, 95% of the natural black pearls in the world.
Produced in Tahiti, French Polynesia.
Obsidian-Mexico
Obsidian is a common volcanic mineral.
After the lava from the volcanic lava suddenly cooled down.
The natural glass formed consists of silica.
But because magma condenses rapidly after eruption
So there is no crystal like crystal.
It is precisely because of its unique formation process.
Therefore, the crystal of obsidian also contains 1%~2% water.
Obsidian is widely distributed on the earth.
There used to be a lot of volcanic activity in North America.
Mexico is the largest and most famous producer of obsidian.
Therefore, the locals also regard Obsidian as the national stone of Mexico.
From the geological point of view, I have finished the popular science of gemstones.
Finally, let me talk about a question that everyone is curious about.
They are all stone heads. Why is it so expensive?
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As mentioned above, a silica crystal is a crystal when it is perfect.
Imperfect is called seasonality, which is the most common particle in sand.
Everyone is a crystal of silicon dioxide.
Why is the price difference between crystal and sand so big?
Generally speaking, the value of gems.
Mainly determined by the following three attributes * * *:
Good looking
Humans have loved beautiful stones since ancient times, especially jade in ancient China.
And often compare the pure and moist natural characteristics of jade to people.
For example, men are described as "moist as jade"
in addition
From many unearthed cultural relics, we can also see the ancient people's love for beautiful stones.
Located at the site of Houhaiyin Tomb in Nanchang.
In addition to a large number of unearthed gold cakes and jade articles,
Archaeologists also found two crystal ornaments.
One is hexagonal crystal bead and the other is long cylindrical crystal.
These two crystal ornaments and a dysprosium pendant
A set of connected decorations.
Maybe when Liu He was kicked out of the palace.
One of the few personal belongings.
Be endowed with very little.
Every gem is a small miracle created by geological movement.
The molding conditions are very harsh, such as:
Finally, a 1 carat (0.2g) loose diamond was produced.
Collect the equivalent of 250 tons of ore
And usually only in the drill blank.
About 8% can reach the gem level, and 92% belong to industrial diamonds.
Hard and durable
Hardness refers to the mechanical strength of minerals against external forces.
Mohs hardness is the most commonly used hardness in mineralogy.
By comparing with minerals with standard hardness, a conclusion is drawn.
10 minerals with standard hardness constitute the Mohs scale of mineral hardness.
They are from 1 degree to1degree respectively.
Talc, gypsum, calcite, fluorite, apatite, apatite
Orthoclase, timely, topaz, corundum, diamond.
Generally speaking, the Mohs hardness of gemstones should be above 7.
Will not be easily "disfigured"
For example, fluorite is beautiful, but its Mohs hardness is only 4.
So it is not easy to be processed into jewelry.
In addition, post-processing such as mining, design and processing of gems.
It also increased the price of gems to a certain extent.
Longevity of human beings
For gems, it takes tens of millions of years to form.
Just for a moment.
When it finally appears in perfect form before your eyes.
It is a long history of geological structure for thousands of years.
References:
Why are gems so expensive? Natural history 20 19 08
China popularization of science Expo-mineral museum
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What other gems do you know?