Spent 50,000 yuan on "Imperial Purple" jadeite, only to find it was fake - the aunt was so furious she drank pesticide to kill herself
This happened a while ago. An aunt spent 50,000 yuan and bought a jadeite necklace that was said to be "Imperial Purple"! This aunt thought that spending only 50,000 yuan to get jadeite of such good quality was a huge bargain, so she showed it off to everyone she met!
△This is the necklace. What do you jade lovers think of it?
Who would have thought that before she had been happy for even a few days, a veteran jadeite player told her: "Jadeite only has Imperial Green, where would Imperial Purple come from? You'd better not have been scammed!"
Later, after expert appraisal, this so-calledImperial Purple jadeite was actually just purple chalcedony in disguise! After learning she had been scammed, the aunt was so distressed that she actually grabbed pesticide and drank it! Fortunately, her family discovered it in time and she was successfully rescued, otherwise it really would have been another tragedy!
In the end, all of this is the fault of that black-hearted merchant selling fakes. Who knows how many people who love jadeite but don't understand it he has scammed with this same trick!
Today, regarding this incident, Sister Bao has decided to properly teach everyone some knowledge about jadeite, to prevent everyone from being scammed by black-hearted merchants again!
1. "Imperial Purple"? Riding on the coattails of "Imperial Green"!
That jadeite player who woke the aunt up with one sentence put it very well. We have always heard of Imperial Green jadeite, so when did an Imperial Purple suddenly appear? I'm afraid some merchants saw the price of "Imperial Green" jadeite soaring, so they fabricated this "commercial scam"!
1 "Imperial Green", the king of jadeite
Although the jadeite family has quite a few colors, green has always been the most prized, and Imperial Green is the most valuable and rarest of all green jadeites. The title "King of Jadeite" is well deserved!
But not all green jadeite can be called Imperial Green. It must meet thefour standards of "intense, bright, pure, and harmonious", not one less, and allfour standards must reach the highest level!
Precisely because the conditions are so strict, encountering an Imperial Green jadeite is truly harder than reaching the sky! At present, there is no such thing as a cheap Imperial Green jadeite on the market. Even a tiny ring face is worth millions of RMB! And even if you really have money, you may not necessarily be able to buy one. Trying your luck at auction is the biggest shortcut to buying one!
△Imperial Green jadeite combined with a diamond necklace, worth 60 million Hong Kong dollars
△Old pit glass-type Imperial Green bracelet, worth 217.25 million RMB!
It is also because it is too famous and too rare thatmerchants always want to use the word "Imperial" to latch onto the hype! Isn't "Imperial Purple" jadeite a living example?!
2 What is the true face of "Imperial Purple"?
At present, "Imperial Purple" mainly refers to two things, namely purple jadeite and purple chalcedony!
As mentioned above, jadeite is rich in color, with green being the most prized. And besides green jadeite,purple jadeite is also a very popular variety. There is even a folk saying that "red jadeite, green jadeite, purple is the most precious". I think this is probably because purple has always been regarded as a color of wealth and honor in everyone's eyes!
△The famous purple jadeite "Zhaoyi Star"
Of course, purple jadeite also has its top-grade color, but it is not "Imperial Purple", rather "Royal Purple"!
Royal Purple is a rich, vivid, and pure purple, with relatively high saturation, and Royal Purple is also very rare, with great collectible value!
But purple chalcedony is far inferior to jadeite! As a relatively cheap jade stone, chalcedony has the same hardness as jadeite, 6.5-7. Among them, green chalcedony and purple chalcedony are often used by unscrupulous merchants to impersonate high-priced jadeite because they look very similar to jadeite! The aunt at the beginning fell for exactly this trick!
△The pictures show purple chalcedony and green chalcedony respectively. Don't they look very much like jadeite?
Sister Bao teaches you how to identify:
① Listen to the sound: When jadeite is lightly tapped, the sound it makes is very crisp, while the sound of purple chalcedony is relatively dull;
② Weigh it: The density of jadeite is much greater than that of purple chalcedony. If the volume is the same, jadeite will be heavier than chalcedony;
③ Look at the appearance: Jadeite is brittle. Through the surface of jadeite, you can see the reflection from internal cleavage planes, but purple chalcedony absolutely does not have this feature.
3 Why would top-grade chalcedony need to ride on anyone's coattails?
Of course, there are also top-grade stones in the chalcedony family! Although top-grade chalcedony cannot match the price of jadeite, compared with ordinary chalcedony, its value is much greater!
For example, ocean chalcedony, white material, and grass-flower material from Madagascar are quite valuable, and the water-washed raw material among them is the best in the world!
△Madagascar ocean chalcedony
△White material chalcedony
△Grass-flower material chalcedony
2. Mislabeling happens with more than just "Imperial Purple"
Of course, in the gem world, "Imperial Purple" is not the only one that likes to mislabel things. In the jadeite world, common imitations we see include: shuimizi, golden Tianhuang, Malay jade, ice jade, Dongling jade, and so on. Sister Bao has exposed them more than once!
☟Click the image below to learn about common jadeite counterfeit methods and identification
Today Sister Bao will mainly talk to everyone about some relatively obscure imitations!
1 Fake gemstones you can buy for just 100 yuan
① Cubic zirconia
Cubic zirconia is actually what we often call synthetic zircon, and it is often used to impersonate diamonds! In addition, it comes in many different colors and is also used to imitate semi-precious stones such as tanzanite and tourmaline.
△The jewelry above is all made of zircon
Identification: Cubic zirconia is very difficult to distinguish with the naked eye. If you really want to buy gemstones, you mustremember to check the certificate, check the certificate, check the certificate!
② Kyanite
Kyanite is a very special gemstone because it has two hardness values! Its hardness has obvious anisotropy: parallel to the direction, the Mohs hardness is 4-5, while perpendicular to the direction it is 6-7, so it is extremely difficult to process.
The greatest function of a gemstone is to be made into jewelry or carved pieces, but kyanite finds it very hard to fulfill this function, so its value is not high! However, because its blue is very deep, it is often used to impersonate tanzanite.
Identification: Kyanite and tanzanite are very easy to distinguish, because kyanite has very obvious tubular striations that can be seen with the naked eye.
③ Synthetic corundum
Corundum is what we often call ruby and sapphire, and synthetic corundum is naturally corundum made by artificial methods. To put it plainly, it is a fake!
△Synthetic ruby & synthetic sapphire
Identification: The characteristic of synthetic corundum is that its color is bright and uniform, and it looks very good! But most natural corundum sold on the market contains some inclusions. To be completely free of impurities is basically impossible;
If the ruby or sapphire you see has a bright and clean color, large grains, and is still cheap, then you should raise your vigilance!
2 Jade stones passed off as superior
What was mentioned above are all colored gemstones. Now let's talk about the cheap goods in the jade family!
① Marble
When you say marble, everyone may not know what you mean, but when you say Afghan jade, everyone definitely knows. Part of the Afghan jade on the market is actually marble in disguise, but the essence of these two is different, so they cannot be lumped together entirely.
△Afghan jade made from marble
Afghan jade made from marble is abundantly produced, so its price is extremely low, and it often appears in the mixed and chaotic jade market under the identity of Hetian jade!
Identification: Afghan jade has relatively large grains. Compared with Hetian jade, its feel is rather rough; in addition, the hardness of Afghan jade is much lower than that of Hetian jade. Just gently scratch the surface of the jade with a knife, and Afghan jade will show marks or powder, while Hetian jade will remain completely unharmed.
② Imperial stone
Imperial stone, also called emperor stone, is produced in Yunnan. You must not be intimidated by its domineering name! Its raw stone is mostly gray and easy to dye, and its texture is somewhat similar to turquoise. Also because of the huge popularity of turquoise, people also call it imperial turquoise, and it is often used to impersonate turquoise!
△Imperial stone
Identification: Imperial stone is dyed, so its color is very unnatural, and the surface of imperial stone is relatively dry, far less oily and moist than turquoise!
③ Lantian jade
Lantian jade is even one of China's four famous jades, but in fact its essence is marble containing serpentine jade, with the main components being serpentine and marble.
The price of Lantian jade is very low, making it a capable assistant for unscrupulous merchants to impersonate dark green jadeite or dark jade!
Identification: The hardness of Lantian jade is only 3-4; Lantian jade will bubble when it encounters hydrochloric acid, which is its characteristic; the transparency of Lantian jade is not high, and it is often slightly transparent or semi-transparent.
Sister Bao's private words:Although so many imitations have been mentioned, there are still plenty of fish that slip through the net! So when jade lovers buy gemstones or jade,you must remember to buy through legitimate channels, and you must make sure to look for the certificate!
If any of you have something on hand that you need the editor to help authenticate, you can privately message the editor. The editor is very willing to help everyone assess authenticity. If you are worried that you bought something too expensively and need some valuation, the editor will do her best to provide a price evaluation for everyone. If you are interested in colored gemstones, beeswax amber, turquoise, and so on, you can also click the avatar above to enter the homepage and privately message the editor to get a copy of the cultural play treasure handbook ~