The most common fake material of old agate is glass. Look carefully, there will be a small amount of bubbles in the glass products.
Old agate has bright color and good surface gloss, but the real old agate will be dull because of air oxidation, similar to matte effect.
Fake fake agate is soft, so jade can mark fake agate, but real agate can't.
Real agate is warm in winter and cool in summer, and synthetic agate changes with the external temperature. It gets hot when it's hot and cool when it's cold.
Real agate can see banded or filamentous "clouds" in it, which is not as transparent as synthetic agate, while fake agate is more transparent like a glass ball.
In ancient documents before the Han Dynasty, agate was called "ruby". The name "Ruby" explains at least two problems: 1. Ancient China people thought agate was similar to jade and was a very rare treasure. 2. The agate used in ancient China was mostly red, and agate red was the most important concept. It has existed since ancient times and lasted for thousands of years, which is not the specialty of modern China people.
People who have a little contact with agate have generally heard of "Nanhong". Nanhong is the abbreviation of Nanhong Agate, which is a common saying. Generally speaking, Nanhong in Wan Wen market now refers to the red agate produced in Baoshan, Yunnan and Liangshan, Sichuan. However, in the category of old agate, there is actually a kind of red agate produced in Longnan and Aba, Sichuan Province, which is also classified as Nanhongke, collectively known as Gannan Nanhong. South red agate was very popular in Qing Dynasty. As we all know, in the Qing Dynasty, all prominent figures had to wear beads, and the most important thing for beads was to be separated from clouds. So, what kind of beads and dark clouds should Zhu Chao in Qing Dynasty match? Judging from the existing beads of the Qing Dynasty, South Red Agate is the most widely used. The research shows that Nanhong used in Qing Dynasty was originally Gannan Nanhong, but it was gradually changed to Baoshan Nanhong after the middle of Qing Dynasty because the raw materials of Gannan Nanhong were almost extinct.
Nanhong is a bit general, so in order to make a difference, players will add a supplementary note in front of Nanhong to accurately describe the difference, such as Liangshan Nanhong, Baoshan Nanhong and Gannan Nanhong. In the red agate family, besides Nanhong, there are three other common red agates, namely Xihong, Donghong and Zhanguo Red.
China Wan Wen pays attention to details, which determines the value and price of the collection. East Red, South Red, West Red and Warring States Red are all red agates, but there are differences in details, which directly lead to huge price differences. Therefore, to play agate, we must first understand this red and that red. Otherwise, Dongfanghong was bought by Nanhong, and Hebei Red was bought by Beipiao Warring States Red. Even if the wallet is bulging again, there will only be two layers of cowhide left after repeated tossing.
Nanhong is particularly hot now, so let's focus on Nanhong first. If you go to Wan Wen market, you will find that Huang Longyu, which was a flash in the pan a few years ago, has been quietly removed from the counter by the shops that keep pace with the times and replaced by South Red Agate. Anxious people look at a large piece of red inside the counter, all of which are south red beads, and ask the price with their mouths open. The store quoted this 300 yuan and that 200 yuan. So you choose two pieces of everything, take out 1000 yuan and want to pay the bill and leave, only to find that there is a trace of contempt in the store's eyes. You explain: this is Liangshan Lianliao Nanhong and 300 yuan; That's Baoshan Nanhong and 200 yuan one gram. You were so embarrassed that you were sweating. You should know that Baoshan Nanhongzhu was originally sold by the gram, not by the star.
Then, why is there such a big price gap between Baoshan Nanhong and Liangshan Nanhong? There are two reasons. The first is the difference in perception. Generally speaking, the red color of Baoshan South is relatively uniform and transparent, with a translucent jelly feeling, which looks very thin and waxy, and the surface is moist as jade. Although Liangshan Lianliao Nanhong is translucent, it looks dull, and its surface gloss is the kind of glassy light that shakes eyes, unlike Baoshan Nanhong, which is introverted. This is the difference in appearance. The second reason is that the raw materials of Baoshan Nanhong are scarce, which comes from the recorded old mines in the Qing Dynasty, with a history of hundreds of years and cultural precipitation, while Liangshan Nanhong is a new material that has only been discovered in recent years, and it is far from natural in terms of seniority. In addition, there is a more important reason, that is, the high-quality raw materials of Baoshan Nanhong are scarce. Most of Baoshan Nanhong new materials on the market now come from tailings abandoned by the Qing Dynasty and new mines developed later, with many cracks, and the discharge rate of processable concentrate is particularly low. Baoshan Nanhong often has a lot of raw materials, but few concentrates can be processed and utilized. Therefore, there is a jargon in the literary world called "no crack and no treasure", which is how it came about.
When you go to Wan Wen market to find South Red Agate, you will find a problem: the merchants selling Liangshan South Red generally emphasize the place of origin, such as Lian Liao, Jiu Kou Liao and Wa Xi Liao, but Baoshan South Red is often called Baoshan Liao, and there is no breakdown. It is easy to misunderstand that there is only one kind of Baoshan Nanhong. In fact, Baoshan Nanhong is the same as Liangshan Nanhong. Different mines have different raw materials and their appearance is quite different. This is what we need to know when purchasing Baoshan Nanhong.
Baoshan Nanhong is produced in a mountain range in the suburb of Baoshan City, Yunnan Province. Locals call it Agate Mountain. The mountain stretches for hundreds of miles, covering many surrounding towns and villages. Judging from the current excavation situation, agate is produced throughout Agate Mountain. The earliest recorded mining in Nanhong, Baoshan is the No.1 pit, which is called Dishuidong by local people and is said to have a mining history of 500 years. During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, when the mine was excavated to a depth of 80 meters, the output of Nanhong was poor and the product was difficult to complete, so it was once abandoned. It is widely rumored in literary circles that the raw materials of Baoshan Nanhong are exhausted, which is also the reason. But this is not the case. A few years ago, the local people tried to dig down to the depth of 100 meters in the drip cave and found a large number of high-quality agates again. However, Dishuidong Mine has indeed been closed, but the real reason is not that there is no agate in it, but that the pit of Dishuidong Mine is close to the dam foundation of a local reservoir. The local government worried that the exploitation of agate would affect the stability of dam foundation, so it decided to stop mining completely, and sealed the mine mouth with cement several years ago.
After the Dishuidong mine was closed, a new Baoshan Nanhong mine mouth was discovered in the surrounding areas of Liu Yang, Dongshan, Mangkuan and Xiaba. The quality of Baoshan Nanhong produced by these different mines is quite different. So accurately, the raw materials of Baoshan Nanhong are divided into three or six grades because of different mines, which should have been different for a long time. The reason why merchants are vague is because Baoshan Nanhong series calls it. First, the color difference of raw materials in different mines in Baoshan Nanhong is not obvious. The main difference lies in the number of cracks and impurities, which are generally difficult for non-experts to identify. Unlike Lianliao and Jiuliao in Hongli, Liangshan, even a novice can see the difference in color at a glance. Another reason is that merchants try to fish in troubled waters. Because the price of Baoshan Nanhong is high in the market, everyone pursues Baoshan Nanhong. As soon as they heard that it was Baoshan Nanhong, they were willing to pay more money. Therefore, in order to confuse the audience, the merchants deliberately don't let the buyers understand too well, so even if you buy the inferior products of Baoshan Nanhong at a high price, you can only eat Huanglian Yabakui, and there is no reason to return them when you go home.
So, which is the better raw material for different mines in Baoshan Nanhong? The secret is here, and the order is roughly the same: it is best to use drip hole material with full color, few cracks and high oil lubrication. However, due to the fact that the pit of Dishuidong has been closed for many years, Baoshan Nanhong, which really belongs to the material of Dishuidong, is very rare on the market. After the drip cave, Baoshan Nanhong with good appearance is willow, Dongshan, Xiaba and Mangkuan in turn. At present, the persimmon red Baoshan Nanhong we see in the market mainly comes from mines in Liu Yang and Dongshan. In contrast, the color of Baoshan Nanhong produced by Xiaba and Mangkuan is far from that of Liushu and Dongshan.
In addition to the difference between different mines, Baoshan Nanhong is also a big problem for beginners, which is easy to be confused with the joint material Nanhong in Liangshan Nanhong. Here are some methods for your reference.
First, see if it is polished or not. Generally speaking, the finished products of Baoshan Nanhong are not polished very much or only lightly polished by hand. Why? The reason is that Baoshan Nanhong raw material itself has cracks and is fragile, so it must be handled with special care. Generally speaking, it is not easy to mold Baoshan Nanhong raw materials. If the machine is used for repeated fine grinding and polishing, the finished product that has been formed will be completely cracked and broken, resulting in dead damage.
The working principle of mechanical polishing of high-hardness jewelry such as agate and jadeite is to add large abrasive and diamond sand with different mesh numbers into a basin, then put the polished object into the polishing basin, and use a motor to drive the abrasive and the polished object to be fully mixed, then repeatedly vibrate and roll, rinse several times in the middle, and then add finer emery in turn, which usually lasts for more than 48 hours, so that the surface of the object can be completely bright and have a glass-like luster. This kind of polishing machine is powered by the vibration of the motor, which looks soft, but it is actually very lethal due to the principle of physical vibration. Baoshan Nanhong is brittle, with internal cracks criss-crossing, which often can't withstand several tossing and turning. Liangshan mixture Nanhong has few cracks, even if there are cracks, it is often short and impenetrable, so its toughness is higher than Baoshan Nanhong's and it can withstand polishing. Of course, the polishing method can only be used as a reference, and it must be combined with other methods for comprehensive identification. If you look for this reason to die and meet a deliberate merchant, the beads made of joint materials just don't polish, waiting for you to bite, who don't you bite?
Second, look at the distribution of vermilion spots. South red agate is red because there are many tiny vermilion spots in it. The cinnabar spots in Baoshan Nanhong and mixed Nanhong are sparse, so they are translucent. However, the distribution of cinnabar spots between them is quite different, and the main differences are in two aspects: 1, the distribution of cinnabar spots in Baoshan South Red is relatively uniform and the density is consistent; However, the distribution of cinnabar spots in Nanhong mixture is uneven, some places are dense and some places are sparse. Because cinnabar points are uniform, Baoshan Nanhong generally has no obvious color difference, so it looks like a crystal jelly. The distribution of cinnabar spots in the binder Nanhong is often not uniform enough, so it seems to have color difference. Some places are red and some places are shallow. 2. The cinnabar spots of Nanhong will harden, but the cinnabar spots of Baoshan Nanhong will never harden. When cinnabar spots agglomerate, thick red color blocks will be formed, and the red flame and red ice cubes in the mixture are the phenomena of cinnabar spots red color blocks. Therefore, as long as there are hardened cinnabar spots inside Nanhong under the magnifying glass, no matter how much it looks like Baoshan Nanhong as a whole, it can be judged that it is Lianliao Nanhong.
Although many new mines have been discovered in Nanhong, Baoshan, overall, its output is far less than that of Nanhong produced in Liangshan, Sichuan. After 2008, the large-scale development of Liangshan Nanhong was very short, so it was also called the new material Nanhong. Liangshan Nanhong is concentrated in meigu county, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province. In addition to the joint material Nanhong mentioned above, Jiukou Township and Waxi Township in meigu county are also the main producing areas of Sichuan material Nanhong. Of course, neighboring farming townships, Lama townships, and Wupo townships. All produce red agate, but the output is not large, and the raw materials have no distinctive characteristics. They belong to the role of Mr. Nanguo, and often mix in the big team of Sichuan Nanhong, and the merchants do not emphasize the origin of their raw materials.
The largest output of Nanhong is in Jiukou Township and Waxi Township. The raw material is a typical volcanic egg agate, wrapped in a thick brown or black skin. After breaking the skin, the colors are colorful. At present, the south red agate on the market, the best and the worst in appearance, comes from nine ingredients. The nine ingredients of Nanhong Boutique include Golden Red, Persimmon Red and Rose Purple. Among the nine kinds of ingredients, there are also some ugly goods, especially stony, with mottled brown color, commonly known as "excrement yellow". The biggest feature of Jiukou concentrated solution is special oil, and the materials used are very delicate. Therefore, among the nine ingredients, whether it is golden red, persimmon red, persimmon yellow and rose purple, the surface gloss is very close to that of Hetian jade, giving us a warm and waxy texture, which some players call glue texture. Bright and beautiful
Red is the best in Liangshan Nanhong, and the price is also the highest. The so-called brocade red is actually a kind of extremely rich scarlet, gorgeous but not vulgar, quite a bit of China red flavor. South red agate with bright red grade has the same color, no cracks and impurities, and the whole body is red and fine. Judging from the existing old south red agate artifacts, whether it is rich in color or oily in texture, there has never been a south red product similar to Jiukoujin in history. Therefore, Jiukou Brocade must be born, and it should be the representative of Liangshan Nanhong.
South red agate is particularly rich in color, and the lighter color is what players call persimmon red. Persimmon red is an image metaphor. Persimmons here refer to tomatoes that we are most familiar with. Persimmon red means that its color is very close to that of tomatoes, that is, there is a little pink in red. If the persimmon red color becomes lighter, the color will turn yellow. This kind of red with yellow is also commonly known as persimmon yellow. But the persimmon here refers to the fruit persimmon we eat, not the tomato.
Rose purple is a unique and rare color in Liangshan Nanhong. It's a dark red, really like the dark red of a rose. This purple is based on red. When we see it, we will think of an idiom, the so-called "red is purple", which is probably the realm. Rose purple is an associated color in the southern red agate of Liangshan, which generally does not appear alone, but is usually mixed with persimmon red and persimmon yellow. Often persimmon is red and yellow outside, but rose purple inside. Therefore, the raw material of rose purple is often used to make exquisite sculptures.
In addition to the above-mentioned oily and delicate, another remarkable feature of Jiukou Nanhong is that it is basically opaque. With a strong flashlight, the depth of light you can eat is not large. Among the nine components, rose purple is the most translucent, followed by brocade red and persimmon red, while persimmon yellow is completely opaque even under strong light. There is a saying that playing South Red Agate is "full of color, fragrance and taste". The full color is easy to understand, that is to say, a south red agate ornament, sculpture or Buddha bead, it seems that the whole object should be full and of the same color. Full meat is a guide. There should be no sundries, crystals and other associated substances on the red agate. A south red agate, if full of meat, is of course the best. Reference: http://www.cmsacc.org/yishujiangtang/19041.html