Chalcedony is a mineral, also known as "chalcedony". It is actually a kind of quartz, a variant of quartz.
To make it clearer, it is actually silica, um, it has the same chemical name as sand.
Chalcedony and agate are the same mineral, but there are differences.
One of the remarkable characteristics of chalcedony is that it is as transparent as ice. The transparency of good chalcedony can reach that of jade glass. This is also the biggest difference between chalcedony and agate.
Cryptocrystalline quartz with banded structure is agate, while cryptocrystalline quartz without banded structure and uniform color is chalcedony.
Of course, as long as chalcedony is natural and relatively beautiful, it has a certain value.
For example, carnelian, chrysoprase, etc., as long as they are beautiful, they are generally valuable.
However, there are more chalcedony that are not very valuable and are very beautiful. If you encounter such things, you should pay attention.
A few varieties of chalcedony have halo effects and cat-eye effects, which are naturally very beautiful and worth some money.
In order to seek huge profits, some unscrupulous businessmen artificially improve the color of chalcedony containing iron factors through heat treatment.
Although there are no chemical additions, it is not a natural color product after all.
This kind of thing is easy to identify as long as you pay careful attention.
The colors of heat-treated products are mostly bright and bright due to changes in their internal structure, but compared to natural products, they are not transparent enough.
On the contrary, natural products are darker in color.
"Young man, help me see, this is white chalcedony!"
"And here I am, this is blue chalcedony!"
"Mine is blood chalcedony!"
Finally it was their turn as a group of women, and they were obviously very excited.
But Chen Wenzhe couldn't get excited, so these beautiful chalcedony fell into their hands casually?
The chalcedony in their hands looked very beautiful, and this grade of jade was also very popular in ancient times.
Let's take carnelian, which is a kind of translucent chalcedony with fine texture, crystal clear, pure and thick color, and high hardness.
The sound of carnelian when lightly tapped is crisp and melodious. Compared with the expensive jadeite, carnelian is a natural gemstone with an affordable price, but this thing is not Chinese cabbage.
Natural carnelian can be found in almost every great civilization.
From the civilization of Ur, the capital of Mesopotamia before biblical times.
In the Napoleonic era, Napoleon brought back a huge eight-sided carnelian when he returned from a military campaign in Egypt.
In the Tibetan Buddhist civilization, carnelian has been preserved for its excellent medicinal, spiritual and creative qualities.
Carnelian is a gemstone with strong religious color. The longevity stone of the Egyptian goddess Isis in her later years was carnelian.
The ancient Greeks and Romans used carnelian as intaglio signet rings. The ancient Romans also symbolically associated dark carnelian with men and light carnelian with women.
The Jade Seal of Muhammad of the Arab Empire is a carved carnelian framed by a silver ring.
Such a thing, no matter how much it is produced, can't be bought casually for dozens or at most hundreds of dollars, right?
"I have also heard that chalcedony is cheap, but it is really beautiful. Can you help me see if this is chalcedony? As long as it is, no matter how large the output is, it will only affect the price. It is beautiful, but it is real.
.”
Looking at the triumphant young woman in front of him, holding up the blood chalcedony in his hand, Chen Wenzhe was speechless.
"Your carnelian must have been heat-treated."
"What?"
"There are many colors of chalcedony. According to the color, it can be divided into carnelian, blue chalcedony, white chalcedony, chrysoprase and so on."
"But don't think that they are the green/yellow we imagine, because there are many colors in nature."
"The color is mainly due to the elements in the stone, so pure colors are very rare in nature."
"We all know that rare things are valuable, so there are many fake products on the market that are rare."
“Fake chalcedony is cheap to manufacture and has bright colors, but one thing everyone must know is that fake chalcedony is chemically treated at high temperatures. Frequent wearing of this type of chalcedony containing chemical agents will reduce our body’s immunity and increase
Chances of causing cancer.”
I didn't want to say more, after all, it would cut off many people's financial resources.
However, things that have been processed are harmful. If such things are not explained clearly, Chen Wenzhe will still feel uneasy.
It is actually very simple to identify the authenticity of chalcedony. First, look at the overall color. The overall color of the fake chalcedony bracelet is single and uniform, with almost no impurities.
Then look at the color of a single piece. The color of a single piece of fake chalcedony is very uniform, with almost no color depth and very few impurities.
The last thing is to look at the price. Fake goods are often beautiful and cheap. Of course, this is not absolute. The most effective way is to look at the color.
Depending on the color, it is not recommended to choose blue chalcedony and purple chalcedony, because these two types are basically dyed on the market.
If you really want to buy it and really like it, then it is best to choose white ice or yellow-red chalcedony, as these natural ones are often more abundant.
Also, the red color of carnelian is actually [orange], so it is not recommended to buy anything that is too red or deep red.
After saying that, Chen Wenzhe looked at the young woman's blood chalcedony. Needless to say, it was dark red.
"Are you saying this is fake?"
"I have said before that some people use chemical heat treatment to make chalcedony more beautiful."
"It's still fake!"
"If it's fake, just fake it. Look at me. This chrysoprase of mine is very rare, I heard."
At this time, someone behind her couldn't help it anymore. She thought her piece must be good.
After a brief look, Chen Wenzhe discovered that this piece was not even chalcedony, but a piece of green glass.
Although chalcedony is the most common jade variety in nature, it is also one of the oldest jade varieties in human history.
The colors of chalcedony are rich and colorful, and some varieties have unique patterns and beautiful patterns that are amazing.
Among the color types, the rare ones are blue and green chalcedony, which are also more valuable for collection.
It's a pity that those unscrupulous traders who are cheating in the market, how could they not know the value of blue and chrysoprase?
Therefore, buying expensive things in the market is not necessarily a good thing, but buying cheap things is definitely not a good thing.
After much effort, the group of women were finally sent away. This time it was an old man who came over.
I was finally able to take a look at the things he brought.
This is a piece of white jade Ruyi. The carving looks pretty good, but it feels a bit stiff.
"Cang Long's godson?"
Looking at this piece of jade Ruyi from a distance, it seemed okay, but when he took it into his hands, Chen Wenzhe found that it was made by modern machine workers, and the carving was also relatively random, and even the carving was wrong.
You should know from the name that Canglong's godson must have carved two dragons.
One big and one small, an old dragon and a little dragon.