A brief introduction to turquoise

Turquoise, as one of the four famous ancient jades in the East, has an important historical position. With more and more people playing and collecting in recent years, its mineral resources have been depleted day by day, and the price has also risen in recent years. There are several beautiful turquoises in their hands that have become a trend in the mysterious art world.

However, with the popularity of turquoise, illegal profiteers such as counterfeiting and shoddy products emerge in an endless stream, which makes many novices daunted. Today, the editor made a big summary of the types, quality, origin, and counterfeiting methods of turquoise, so as to help novices grow into expert appraisal experts as soon as possible. Then go to the mysterious art market together, use professional knowledge to make profiteers have nowhere to hide, and scare them into a cold sweat~

Classification and identification of raw ore grades of turquoise:

In recent years, turquoise has entered the public’s field of vision because of its unique and beautiful color and shape. As a colorful gemstone, it has a good decorative effect. Since the quality of turquoise varies, let’s take a look at it from the turquoise raw ore. Classification and identification of grades.

What does turquoise good for?

Turquoise ore is divided from density and hardness (from low to high):

Chalk type (foam pine) – gypsum type – coarse ceramic type – fine ceramic type – enamel type

The turquoise color corresponding to these levels is also increasingly saturated. Note that it is “saturated” rather than “deep”, such as the best sky blue (high blue) and slightly inferior to his dark blue-green, the “K” value in the color spectrum is lower, that is, there is less black. According to the combination of density and color, it is more accurate to judge the grade of turquoise, and then supplemented by a simple method to judge whether the turquoise has been optimized. The specific methods are as follows:

Several ways of judging

• Color: Under normal circumstances, the color of chalk-type, gypsum-type and pottery-like turquoise is relatively light. In the absence of wet water, it only presents light green and light blue, and it feels powdery; The green and blue of the enamel will only appear in the fine porcelain body type, and the high green and high blue will only appear in the enamel type.
• Stickiness: Chalk-type, gypsum-type and pottery-like turquoise, if they have not been glued, they cannot scratch the glass, but they will stick to hands if they are sweaty. It’s like the “stickiness” of licking ice cubes with your tongue in winter, but it’s not cold. This is the feeling caused by the pores on the surface of the lower density turquoise absorbing the hand; however, the density of the turquoise type and the enamel type is absolutely no such feeling.
• Wet: If chalk-type, gypsum-type and pottery-like turquoise are not optimized, the reaction in the water test will be very fast and very obvious: that is to say, light green or blue color is only dipped in water for a few times. A very obvious water line will appear in seconds, and the color of the water entry will be much deeper. Therefore, this type of turquoise may only need to be played for a few months before there will be obvious color changes, but at the same time pay attention to wash hands when playing, because it is easier for dirty things to go in; fine porcelain tires are in water After soaking for more than ten minutes, the color will become darker, but it is not so obvious, and the turquoise of the enamel type is more difficult. Therefore, this determines that the two densities of turquoise disks may change in color or lustre when playing. There is no sense of achievement in the pulping effect.
• Engraving: If the texture of the turquoise reaches the fine porcelain body type and the enamel type, then the glass can be easily scratched, and obvious nicks are left, and the turquoise itself will not be injured. This is an important feature of how to distinguish whether the turquoise polished like porcelain has been soaked with glue. If it is because the glue has been soaked and the color is dark and the turquoise has a good luster, the scratch marks are still relatively shallow when scratching glass, and there are residues; If the color is only very light green and light blue, but it can scratch the glass, and if there is residue, it is almost certain that it has been glued.
• Scraping: This is easy and simple, and difficult to say. Use a knife to scrape the turquoise, if the turquoise has a enamel luster, and if it is pure natural, it is difficult to scrape something off, and it is also stone powder; but if the turquoise you have has a enamel luster, but not pure. Naturally, then the knife will not only scrape things, but probably roll them too.
• Burning: Combined with the fifth method, try burning the scraped things. Of course, the pure natural ones will not have any taste. At most, it is a bit earthy, but if it is not pure natural, it will smell loose. Fragrance, serious smell or smell of burning plastic.
• Jian: The final lore is over, send it for identification. But it is said that only the Wuhan University of Geosciences Identification Center and the Beijing National Inspection Center have issued certificates. Of course, there are other authoritative organizations that have issued certificates.

Turquoise resources, origin identification:

Ancient famous jade/resource/origin

At present, the main producing areas of turquoise in the world are China, Iran, Egypt, the United States and Chile. my country’s Hubei, Shaanxi, Yunnan and Xinjiang all produce turquoise. It is famous all over the world for Hubei turquoise, the best quality and the most famous, known as the hometown of oriental turquoise.

Turquoise in Hubei is distributed in Yun County, Zhushan County, and Yunxi County in the northwest of Hubei, and has been rich in turquoise since ancient times.

Liao Shuxun of the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce of China stated in the report “Turquoise on Xiangyang Road” [1916] that the turquoise raw materials here were not only used domestically, but also sold to India, Turkey and other countries until the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty.

Turquoise deposits can be produced in different countries and regions on all continents on the earth, but they are basically similar in geological occurrence and ore type. They are all weathering crust deposits of exogenous leaching origin. The linear weathering crust of mineralized rock is related to and produced in it.

Craft/History/Culture/Legend

The most beautiful and attractive thing about turquoise is its unique blue color, blue like the sky over the rain, pure and cool, soft and beautiful, giving people a feeling of freshness, calmness and seclusion.

So much so that “turquoise” becomes a standard concentration of blue, which itself is a white gemstone, which is blue due to its basic component copper, and greenish turquoise due to iron-containing oxides.

Turquoise is an opaque high-quality jade material. In the Qing Dynasty in my country, it was called the gem of the kingdom of heaven. Only the crowns of emperors and queens can be inlaid with turquoise.

The oldest known precious handicraft is the four gold-clad bracelets made of turquoise on the arms of the mummy of the ancient Egyptian Queen Zer unearthed from the three tombs of Egypt more than 5,000 years ago. Archaeologists excavated in 1900 When it came out, it was still dazzling, without losing the style of ancient famous jade.

The special color and texture of turquoise can decorate a specific part of the artwork, so it is usually cut into large round, round, oval, square, multi-faceted cabochon jewelry rings in processing technology, and ground into a circle. Shaped, oval, and multi-faceted beads, large pieces of turquoise can be carved into various exquisite handicrafts, such as vases, snuff bottles, animal sculptures, and human figures. Gaisi’s high-quality turquoise was carefully designed and carved by Wuhan Jade Carving Factory, a national treasure-level artwork statue of “Li Shizhen Wudang Collecting Herbs”.

Turquoise prices are generally based on grams. The sky blue, dense, hard, delicate, and good-colored porcelain pine is like glazed porcelain. It has the highest value, generally more than 100 yuan per gram.

Light and dark yellow-green, light green, rough, soft, and poor color (foam pine) are of low value, generally only a few hundred yuan per kilogram. The smaller the block degree, the lower its price.

From the cultural relics unearthed by archaeology for half a century, it is known that among the ancient traditional jade varieties in China, the beautiful jade favored by prehistoric ancestors, except for Hetian jade, is undoubtedly turquoise.

From ancient times to the present day, turquoise has remained a fashionable and sacred ornament in the region and has remained ever-present.

Some countries in the Middle East regard turquoise as a lucky stone, and believe that wearing it will bring good luck to the whole family.

Turquoise’s Persian meaning is “the invincible benefactor”.

Turquoise is the lucky zodiac stone for people with tiger, rabbit and rat. It is used as the birthstone for December in the United States and Western countries, symbolizing success and victory.

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, in the mountainous area of ​​northwest Hubei, at an altitude of 1,200 meters, a farmer surnamed Wang in Yunxi discovered turquoise when digging a hole in the Jiangjiang River in the county.

From then on, I would often go up the mountain to dig turquoise at night. I could always hear the crowing of the golden rooster in the middle of the night, so I gathered the turquoise I dug up and carried it home before dawn.

After that, he sent them to Beijing many times in exchange for gold, silver, satin, and daily necessities, and he made a fortune from then on. After becoming rich, a peasant surnamed Wang believed that if there were treasures and jade on the mountain, there must be a god, so he paid local villagers to build a temple of wealth on the mountain, which later people called Yungai Temple.

Since then, the Yungaisi turquoise mine has become famous all over the world, and has now become the hometown of oriental turquoise that represents China’s high-quality turquoise deposits and is well-known both at home and abroad.

Quality/assessment/appreciation/collection

China’s turquoise is the best and most precious turquoise produced from the Yungaisi deposit in Yunxian County, Hubei Province.

The evaluation of turquoise quality depends on color, texture, wire, and bulk.

The international gem and jade industry divides turquoise into four grades: the first grade is the Persian grade, the second grade is the American grade, the third grade is the Egyptian grade, and the fourth grade is the Afghan grade. The first grade is the best quality turquoise.

official grading

The first grade [I] (Persian grade) turquoise has a medium-to-strong sky blue color, soft and uniform color, dense structure, fine texture, and porcelain-like shape. No brown-black iron wire, strong luster, slightly transparent, like glazed porcelain, with a glassy surface. This grade is extremely rare, and known are Chinese turquoise, Persian turquoise, and American high-quality turquoise. In the international jewelry market, it is commercially known as Persian-grade turquoise.

The second grade [II] (Persian grade) turquoise has a spider web-like pattern on its surface, which is called Persian spider web turquoise.

The third grade [Ⅲ] (Persian grade) turquoise contains part of the parent rock material, in the form of iron wires in different forms. Known as Persian iron wire turquoise.

The first grade [Ⅰ] (American grade) turquoise is light blue, blue-green, with many pores, not strong luster, opaque, with plaque structure, no iron lines.

The second grade [Ⅱ] (American grade) turquoise is greenish blue with fine spider web pattern on the surface.

The third grade [Ⅲ] (American grade) turquoise is light blue-green, and there are different numbers and forms of iron wires on the surface.

The fourth grade (Egyptian grade) turquoise is blue-green or green-blue, with dark blue spots on a light-colored base, finer texture, less pores, and varying numbers of iron wires.

The fifth grade (Afghanistan grade) turquoise is light yellow-green, dark yellow-green, has a large number of iron wires, and has a loose texture.