Old jade and new jade can be distinguished from two aspects. There is an oxidized jade skin on the surface of the old jade, commonly known as "patina", which is similar to the skin of autumn pear and obviously different from the natural color of jade, while the new jade does not. Judging from the theme of sculpture, ancient jade is a symbol of rank and power, and there are many mythical flowers, birds and figures, such as dragons and phoenixes. New ones are generally auspicious themes.
Jade has been closely related to China culture since ancient times.
In the eyes of China people, jade is a symbol of good fortune, so China people like to use jade to protect themselves, keep peace, ward off evil spirits, and even bury them with jade; Westerners mainly appreciate the elegance, grace, mystery and romance of jade.
Classification of jade:
Jade can be divided into nephrite and jadeite, which are two different minerals. The colors of nephrite are translucent white, yellow, green and black, and the colors are evenly distributed. As for jadeite, there are mainly white, purple, yellow and green, and the uniformity of color distribution among different germplasm will be different.
The vast majority of jades produced in China are nephrite, and "sheep fat white jade" is a treasure in nephrite, with delicate texture and white color. Many exquisite jade works of art are carved from nephrite.
Jadeite is mainly produced in Myanmar and is even rarer than nephrite. Because jade is superior to nephrite in quality, color and price, jade ornaments on the market are mainly jade, and the demand of consumers is very great, so we focus on jadeite.
Appreciate jade:
The appreciation of jadeite should pay attention to color and germplasm, which can be subdivided into color, transparency, clarity, cutting and cracking, generally starting with its color.
colour
Color is the most important factor affecting the value of jadeite, and the color of jadeite can be evaluated from the following four areas:
Purity: Purity refers to the ratio of primary color to secondary color of jadeite. Take green jadeite as an example, pure green is the best, followed by yellow or blue, and gray is the worst.
Appropriate shade: when it comes to the depth of color, of course, the thicker the better. But if the color is too thick, it will have the opposite effect and reduce the quality of jade.
Be bright: the brighter the color of jade, the more attractive it is. The more gray or black it contains, the darker the color.
Uniform: The more uniform the color distribution, the better, and the higher the value.
transparency
The transparency of jadeite affects the refraction of light, thus affecting the overall aesthetic feeling. When the light enters the transparent and delicate jade, it will reflect beautiful light, which will make people feel the crystal clear of jade and greatly increase its aesthetic feeling. On the contrary, if light meets jadeite with low transparency and rough texture, it will reflect dark light, which will greatly reduce the attractiveness of jadeite.
clean
Cleanliness refers to the defects contained in jadeite, mainly white and black, which are caused by other minerals contained in jadeite. Relatively speaking, black defects are more ugly than white ones. The less impurities in jadeite, the better.
incision
The processing of jadeite products can be divided into two categories: light body and carving. Because the surface of the bare finished product is not covered, the requirements for raw materials are high. In addition to no cracks, the proportion of cutting work, the thickness of the product and whether it is symmetrical are also very important, which can affect the appearance of the finished jade. For example, the sliced "egg noodles" should not be too thick or too thin, and the position of the "pot" should be in the middle and the proportion should be moderate.
The evaluation of flowers mainly measures their aesthetic feeling and the fineness of carving. Usually, jadeite with cracks will be carved to cover up its defects.
crack
Cracks will greatly reduce the value of jadeite. If there is a crack in the jadeite jewelry, it may crack along the crack if it is slightly collided. Therefore, you need to be extra careful when buying jade ornaments. Generally speaking, with a flashlight, it is easy to detect the existence of cracks.
High-quality jadeite can be sold at a considerable price, but the supply in the market is limited. In order to get better profits, some businessmen do not hesitate to manually treat jadeite. So commodities A, B and C appeared in the market.
Artificial jadeite
C goods
C goods refer to fake colored jade that has been artificially colored. The method is to infiltrate the dye into the colorless jadeite at high temperature and high pressure, so that all or part of it is dyed into emerald green or purple, but its color will fade and become dim with time.
Class b goods
B refers to the chemical removal of jadeite with defects, impurities and yellow parts on the surface, leaving only the original green and white elements, and then injecting epoxy resin glue into jadeite as consolidation, so that the whole jadeite looks more transparent and the color is more vivid. Because the interior of jade has been destroyed in the process of chemical treatment, the structure has become loose, so B goods are prone to cracks on the surface. In addition, if dyes are added during the treatment, it is called B+C goods.
natural jadeite
A goods
A goods refer to natural jadeite that has not been artificially treated at all.
-
In the long-term practice of jade processing and production, the predecessors of China's jewelry industry have summarized a lot of experience about jade, and expressed these characteristics of jade in the form of concise aphorisms. Remembering these maxims and being able to understand and appreciate their profound connotations will benefit you for life.
Don't look at the color under the lamp.
In fact, any jewelry should not be evaluated under the lamp. This is especially important for jadeite. This is because the color of jadeite, especially the color of jadeite such as flashing gray, flashing blue and oil blue, has a much better visual effect under light than under natural light. Therefore, under the light, we can only look at the cracks, water head length, reflection degree or other characteristics of jadeite. But to investigate and evaluate the green color of jadeite under natural light.
The color difference is first-class, and the price difference is ten times.
For high-grade jadeite, the price difference is more than ten times. For example: a 500,000 yuan jade ring face and a 5 million yuan jade ring face, what is the quality of jade? Style, size, planting moisture and defects are all first-class and impeccable, and the key to the price difference between them lies in the level of green. How to recognize and distinguish the differences between emerald green is extremely important, at least we have seen and experienced it. "Look more and buy less" For the purchase of jadeite original stone, "look more" is a selection process; It is a comparative process; It is also a process of experience accumulation and verification; It is the premise of "buying". "Buy less" does not mean not buying, but reminding you to "look" before buying. "It is better to buy a large film than to buy a thread". For the green shape feature in the jadeite original stone, "a line"? Green belt and "a large area" of skin green are two manifestations of the same green form. Are they "lines"? Standing and "patting" The difference between lying and lying. The thickness of "line" is known, but the depth is unknown; The area of the "sheet" is known, but the thickness is unknown. The key to the motto is to remind people not to be confused by the green "more" and "less" on the surface of jadeite, but to recognize the essence of green "standing" and "lying". So, I don't really buy a large piece of green jade, but I remind you not to expect too much from the thickness of green.
There is water all over the dragon.
The so-called "dragon" actually refers to the green color in jade. That is to say, in general, whether in the thickness or transparency of the texture, the green part is stronger than the part without green? Di Zi, everything is getting better. Of course, sometimes the difference between emerald and the earth is too strong, just like the next proverb.
The stool grows tall and green.
Emerald land and emerald green are interdependent and closely related. Generally speaking, when the green water is good, the land is usually not too bad, and vice versa. The motto is mainly to remind people not to ignore the particularity of emerald green. Although not every "shit place" will have advanced green. But the first-class youth can appear in the "shit land".
No locks and no flowers.
"Book of Rites" said: "Da Gui is not coarse, but also beautiful." In fact, high-grade emerald green usually expresses its natural essence in the form of "elements". For example, the fingers and feather tubes in second-hand goods belong to "plain life". If there is a pattern on the sculpture, there must be something fishy under its beautiful pattern. Therefore, there is a saying in the industry that "no locks and no flowers". The same is true of modern jadeite products.
Look at the green with cold eyes
The so-called "green" refers to a colorful "fake jade", which is an old trick. At present, there are "bathing", "bathing" and "coating". Of course, any fraud is likely to succeed for a while, but it will never give away the clues. The old adage is for people in the industry, reminding people to pay attention to the feeling at first sight and don't let go of any doubts. Therefore, it is better for consumers to "look on coldly". Be sure to go to a store with good reputation and guaranteed quality to buy jade.
-
Aesthetics of Jade Articles in China
In the eyes of China people, jade symbolizes brilliance, nobility, loyalty and sacredness. For thousands of years, people respect, love, admire, wear, play and hide jade. People have a special feeling for jade. The fundamental reason is the beauty of jade. It is reasonable to think that jade aesthetics is the foundation and premise of jade culture. It is because of the beauty of jade and the differentiation of stone. Xu Shen in the Eastern Han Dynasty said in Shuo Wen Jie Zi: "Jade is the beauty of stone." Mr Yang Boda called it "a beautiful stone, a jade". The discovery of jade's rich aesthetic elements and the cooperation of related myths and legends have enabled jade to achieve the second differentiation, from decoration to utensils and ritual vessels. Therefore, jade aesthetics has been widely valued and fully developed. Our country paid attention to the beauty of jade texture before the Han Dynasty. The beauty of jade color is gradually known in the cultural debate of a hundred schools of thought. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Wang Yi put forward the aesthetic standards of four colors: red, yellow, white and black, which developed Confucius' color proposition of "Yin Fu is huge" and thus provoked the debate on the relationship between virtue and symbol in jade aesthetics (jade symbol-jade color also). Liu Xiang proposed that jade has six beauties in the Western Han Dynasty. Due to the influence of Confucianism, the aesthetic policy of jade in history is "virtue first, then image". With the development of jade culture, more and more people attach importance to jade color. According to the principle of paying equal attention to implication and symbol, this paper puts forward a superficial understanding of the six beauties of jade, and discusses the learning experience of jade aesthetics from the aspects of jade aesthetic characteristics, aesthetic elements and their controlling factors. Please correct me if there is anything wrong.
Chinese jade has a broad concept since ancient times-"Jade is the beauty of stone" (Xu Shen in the Eastern Han Dynasty). Jade materials that meet the technological requirements (Luan Bingdun 1985) and only nephrite and jadeite are recognized among modern western gems. Jade culture involves a wide range of jade. But we have to admit that the beauty of ancient jade is based on nephrite (and hetian jade). Emerald-Emerald was exhibited in China in Ming and Qing Dynasties and later.
First, the beauty of jade.
Nephrite is characterized by fine, dense and pure texture. The beauty of texture was recognized for the first time in history. For example, before the Han Dynasty, the beauty of texture was emphasized, and the beauty of jade proposed by Confucius was mostly the result of anthropomorphizing the texture characteristics of jade. As the old saying goes, "beautiful jade is flawless, white jade is flawless", which shows that jade is delicate, pure and flawless. Can be summarized as follows.
1, "hard and fine" jade material is hard, fine and moist, and the surface of fine-grained dense rock is smooth after abrasion. Therefore, it is called the beauty of "combining rigidity with softness". The hardness here is the result of comparison between jade and colored stone.
2. "Moist and shiny" jade and pebbles are dense and massive, and the mineral fracture shows a strong oily luster. In addition, they are ground into a smooth surface, so they are "moist and shiny".
3. "Innocent beauty" and white jade are composed of a single tremolite mineral and contain no impurities, so they present the beauty of "flawless jade, flawless white jade".
Nephrite is a fibrous microcrystal aggregate interwoven with tremolite or actinolite into a felt-like structure. This structure determines that it has many excellent properties, but the quality of texture varies with grain size, distribution uniformity, types and quantities of impurities. See table 1 for details.
Looking at the texture of Hetian jade, it is delicate, hard, meticulous, moist and beautiful, which can give people a warm and dignified feeling and enjoy beauty.
The beauty of jadeite is not only related to the uniformity of particle size, but also directly related to transparency and polishing degree. That is, the finer the texture, the higher the transparency, the better the polishing performance and the stronger the surface reflectivity, which not only increases the aesthetic feeling of jade, but also improves the quality of jade.
Second, the beauty of jade color
Wang Yi's aesthetic view of four colors in the Eastern Han Dynasty developed Confucius' thought of color beauty. Created a historical precedent for the evaluation of jade color beauty. According to the principle of modern aesthetics, the author discusses the characteristics of jade color beauty from three principles: unity, harmonious contrast and rhythm.
1. One of the beautiful monochromatic colors, such as blue sky, blue lake, clear spring water and bright sunshine. Simplicity can make people have a clear and pure aesthetic feeling. Hetian jade is very rich in color, as white as cut fat, as green as jade, as yellow as steamed chestnut, as red as cockscomb and as black as pure lacquer.
According to the colors appearing in jadeite, it can be divided into five color systems.
(1) There are also many varieties of white jade in the white series Hetian jade: sheep fat white; Snow white, pear white, ivory white, fish-belly white, brown rice white, chicken bone white and so on. Among them, the fine white sheep fat is the best, also known as sheep fat jade. Historically, it was called "essence of white jade", "jade jade" and "jade king".
Nephrite belongs to amphibole family, which is the solid melt of tremolite and actinolite in this kind of minerals. When the composition is pure and contains no pigment impurities, it should be white. Sheep fat jade is 99.5% tremolite, so its color is pure white. White as fat is an appropriate adjective.
(2) The green series is usually light green white, light green and grayish green in blue-white jadeite and sapphire, green to dark green in jasper, and dark green is a common jade material with large output.
From the order of sapphire, sapphire and jasper, the iron oxide content increases with the deepening of color (from 1.77% to 3. 12% to 5.84%), and jasper generally contains elements unique to ultrabasic rocks such as chromium, nickel and diamond. In addition to tremolite, actinolite or tremolite with more iron began to appear in jasper. Therefore, there are different shades of green, with different shades. Black spots and jade tendons are obvious. A mineral containing a small amount of impurities. Such as garnet, chrome spinel, magnetite, chlorite, etc.
(3) Yellow series topaz includes yellow, beige, beeswax yellow, chestnut yellow, okra yellow, sunflower yellow, egg yolk, semi-color yellow and boxwood yellow. Chestnut yellow and beeswax yellow are the best, followed by other yellows. Yimen Guangdu pointed out: "Topaz is as expensive as chestnut, which is called sweet topaz, followed by banana yellow." Topaz yellow is delicate, the brighter the more precious it is. Its precious value is not lower than that of suet jade, even rarer than that of suet jade. Most of them are caused by iron oxide.
(4) The jet and jadeite in the black series are grayish black, black, F black, and sometimes uneven disseminated, black spots, clouds), pure black and other colors. The quality is "black as pure paint".
Because it is rare and precious. Black jade is also called black jade, or there is sapphire in black jade, and there is black jade in black jade and white jade. The color is mainly caused by the existence of flake graphite impurities between tremolite particles. The degree of black is strong or weak, and the distribution of depth is different.
(5) In the chestnut series and other colors, jade is called sugar jade because it looks like brown sugar. Most of them are purplish red, chestnut and blood red (rare). Limonite is distributed among tremolite particles of some sugar jade, indicating that sugar jade is red or brownish yellow because of iron oxide pollution of tremolite. Manganese oxide can be purplish red.
2. The harmony and contrast of two colors reflect two contradictory states. Harmony tends to be "identical" (consistent) in differences, while contrast tends to be "different" (opposite) in differences. According to this aesthetic principle, two colors of jade can be appreciated separately.
(1) Red and orange, orange and yellow, yellow and green, green and blue, blue and blue, blue and purple, purple and red are all adjacent colors in jade tone and beautiful color. The level change of the same color (such as depth, depth) also belongs to harmony, and it is consistent in the change. For example, the dark blue glazed tiles in the Temple of Heaven are in harmony with the light blue sky and the surrounding green trees. In Du Fu's poem, there is a saying: "Peach blossoms are in full bloom, and they are lovely, crimson and light red." The same is true of the color coordination of jadeite. F2) The contrast of jadeite color is to juxtapose two completely different things, which makes people feel bright, eye-catching, exciting and active. For example, black and white, red and green, yellow and purple, blue and orange are all contrasting colors. "The next day, the lotus leaf is infinitely blue, and the lotus reflects the sun in a different color" (Yang Wanli). "A little red among all greens" is the contrast between red and green. Black and white are also a strong contrast. "White urges rotten bones to die, and men in black fall into a thunderstorm" (Du Fu): "Dark clouds turn over ink and don't press mountains, while white rain jumps over boats" (Su Shi). For example, there are black jade stripes on suet jade, the horns, hooves and plums of suet jade deer are red, and the deer's body is white or in contrast.
3. Multicolor beauty Various colors are colorful. For example, the Qin color on an unearthed ancient jade is colorful. On the same piece of jade, through different color change rules, the following kinds of multicolor beauty can be produced:
(1) Beautiful color bars and blocks can also show a certain sense of rhythm. As for how to judge the rhythm of jadeite discoloration, what is 2/4, what is 4/4 and so on. , remains to be expressed.
(2) The beauty of rhythm endows an emotional appeal on the basis of rhythm.
Identification of true and false jade articles
Jade can be divided into nephrite and jadeite, also known as jadeite. From the chemical composition, nephrite is a silicate containing calcium, magnesium and iron, while jadeite is a silicate containing sodium and aluminum.
Here are several common methods to identify true and false jade articles:
Identification method of (1) water
Drop a drop of water on the jade. If it becomes dew, it will be real jade if it persists for a long time.
(2) Touch by hand
If it is real jade, it feels cold and lubricated by hand.
(3) Observation method
Looking at jade under the light, it is a real jade with clear color and even green distribution.
(4) tip identification method
The real jade on the tip of the tongue is astringent, but the fake jade is not.
In addition, you can also observe with a magnifying glass, mainly to see if there are cracks, and the value of cracks is greatly reduced.
Jade quality appraisal
There are six criteria to identify the quality of jade, namely "color, transparency, uniformity, shape, percussion and luster".
(1) color
Green is the best jade, and the value of red and purple jade is only 1/5 of green jade. If jade contains red, purple, green and white, it is called "Fulu Xi Shou"; If it only contains red, green and white, it is "Fu Lushou". The dull and yellow ones are inferior. If it is monochrome jade, the color is better.
(2) Pass
Transparent and crystal clear as glass, no dirty spots, no chaff and no astringency is the top grade. Translucent and opaque jade are called intermediate jade and ordinary jade respectively. Before and during the Qing Dynasty, jade with red, green and white colors was called jadeite. In modern times, jadeite refers to generally transparent jade. At present, jadeite is transparent and green.
(3) uniforms
The color of jade is uniform. Although it contains white and green, the color is uneven, so the value is very low.
(4) Shape
The shape of jade can be processed into different styles according to different aesthetic requirements, and there is no special standard. Generally speaking, the bigger the jade, the better.
(5) Knock on the door
Jadeite often has cracks and cuts, which are generally not easy to observe. If you knock with a metal bar or gently throw jade on the counter, you can tell whether there is a crack from the clear voice. The louder, the better.
(6) according to
Emerald has black spots and flaws that are not easy to find with the naked eye. As long as you take pictures with a magnifying glass of 10 times, you can have a panoramic view.
The quality of jade can be divided into 10 grades, and each grade can be subdivided into three grades: upper, middle and lower. Among them, white jade has the lowest value regardless of color and transparency.
Natural jadeite is characterized by slight light color, without light blue (commonly known as evil color). There is also a synthetic jade, which is made of jade powder, crystal and salt water, and looks like a dark "old pit jade". The identification method is very simple, because it is different from natural jade in proportion. It can be said by hand or with a balance, and the heaviest one is the real jade.
At present, some exquisite fake jade is often mixed in the market. The general methods to identify fake jade are watching, listening and testing.
(1) Look
Mainly depends on the crystal transparency, internal structure, luster and so on. Real jade is transparent, oily and shiny, with natural patterns, and the internal fiber state is not easy to imitate.
2. Listen
Real jade sounds crisp, while fake jade sounds dull.
(3) measurement
Mainly to measure hardness. With the glass plate (friction hardness of 5.5) as the standard, except jadeite and turquoise, stripes can generally be drawn on the glass plate, and jadeite itself is complete. Fake jade is generally soft and can't scrape the glass.
Common fake jade is generally made of plastic and glass. They are all amorphous materials with low hardness and low density, and they are also the essential characteristics of materials. Plastic, for example, can be picked with a steel needle or floated gently in your hand. Glass is bubble-like under light or sunlight, and amorphous under polarizer (there is no periodic change of light and shade when rotating), and there are raw materials for making spiral stripes.
Quality identification of jadeite jade
Among many members of the jade family, jade is the most precious. It is a natural ore with extremely high hardness and little output. Its colors are mainly green and red. Red is scarlet and green is emerald, hence the name jade.
Classification of (1) jadeite
(1) Super grade: bright green (emerald), apple green, glass floor (translucent, fine texture), even and bright, without impurities and cracks.
Commodity grade: green, oily green land, slightly transparent, translucent grandmother green veinlets and mottled green.
③ Ordinary grade: lotus root powder mill, bean green, light green, fine white and slightly transparent. Opaque jadeite is generally only used as jade ornaments.
(2) Quality identification of jadeite jade
1 texture. Natural jadeite is transparent or translucent in texture, and its surface is bright and shiny. If you look closely, you can see the nearly round and slightly transparent "salt particles" and the fibrous substances around them.
② Hardness. Natural jadeite is jadeite, and its Mohs hardness is 7 degrees. It will be carved by a sharp knife without leaving any trace. The hardness of fake jade is low, so a sharp knife can draw it out.
3 Emerald. When natural jadeite is observed under strong light, emeralds with other mineral particles can be seen, which are called Cui Hua or emeralds. Fakes made of glass, plastic and porcelain have no such "emerald" characteristics.
④ Relative density (specific gravity). Natural jadeite has a hard and dense structure, no bubbles, high density, and clear sound when knocking; Fake products have loose structure or bubbles, low density and hoarse knocking sound.
⑤ color. The real product is rich and pure emerald color. Some fakes are made of white jade, serpentine, Australian jade, Han Guoyu, marble and even various stones. After decoloring, it is filled with high-hardness plastic slurry and colored, or soaked in green liquid to make "colorful jade". Observing under strong light, you can see green lines, which are messy and small; Some do not show lines, but they are not clear, with poor gloss and lighter weight than the real thing.
Put the fake into the melted wax liquid, and the injected pigment will slowly separate out. In this way, the detected sample will not be destroyed, and the authenticity can also be identified.
Celsi filter observation, the added emerald is purple under the mirror, and the natural genuine color remains unchanged.
Some fake jadeites are artificially melted by glass, with loose structure, uniform and dark green color, some with bubbles, and hoarse when struck with hard instruments.
(3) the choice of jadeite
1 Look at the color. See if the color is pure, rich and uniform, and use a spotlight flashlight to check whether there are hidden variegated colors. Rich, pure and uniform color, less impurities. Emerald green has a higher price, followed by red and purple. Among the greens, Mabel Miao, which is tender and yellowish, is the best, followed by ruby green, river green and oil green, and the green is evenly distributed.
② Observe the transparency. Observing under strong light, the higher the transparency, the better.
3 Listen to the sound. The knock on the door is crisp and pleasant.
④ Observe emeralds and stone flowers. According to light observation, jadeite has the flash of other mineral particles (namely emerald), and there are often massive white flowers called stone flowers. Both of them get twice the result with half the effort.
⑤ Look at cracks and dark spots. Some cracks exist in the raw ore, and some are caused by processing, so the less the better; Black spots are everywhere in jadeite, so it is better to have fewer and smaller ones.
⑥ Look at the processing level. Smooth surface, good polishing and good shape are preferred.
How to distinguish real agate from fake agate?
The most striking sign that natural agate is different from fake agate is that its cross section has concentric layered structure. With this logo, the whole agate is easier to identify, and the cut finished product is easy to admit mistakes because there is no neat and obvious pattern. But generally speaking, natural agate feels cool, its surface looks like a layer of wax, and it has the luster of wax, translucency and hardness of Mohs 7, so it can't be carved with a knife, because the crystals formed in the molten state are mostly spherical, so it is particularly dense; After polishing, the surface is more delicate. After rubbing on the hard miscellaneous board for more than ten times, the agate was not scalded, but the board was scalded. Colors are often mixed together to form beautiful patterns, layers, tapestries and other colorful patterns.
In addition to artificial synthesis, some fake agates are made of high-quality stones. Its basic characteristics are: it feels cool, but it has no waxy feeling and luster, and some of it has low hardness and can be carved with a knife; Breaking the observation section, except agate has a layered feeling, the particles are thicker and even cracked; Opaque, with clear boundaries between colors. Some unscrupulous traders stick a thin layer of organic matter on the surface of fake agate, giving people the illusion of waxy luster and feel. Pay special attention to identification.