[Latest report] Tomorrow is 515, the anniversary of Qidian, the day with the most benefits.●⌒,. In addition to gift bags and school bags, you must watch this 515 red envelope craze. There is no reason not to grab the red envelopes. Set your alarm clock~
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, foreign culture, especially Western culture, was increasingly spreading eastward. This was the main reason why Mrs. Cixi became a true tourmaline fan in Chinese history.
Most of the tourmalines in the Qing Palace were imported from the United States. According to historical records of the Forbidden City, in the eight years from 1900, the year of the Gengzi Incident, to 1908, the year of Cixi's death, the Empress Dowager Cixi asked the Palace Building Office to purchase several tons of tourmalines of various colors in San Diego, USA, almost every year.
Especially pink tourmaline.
Therefore, it can be said that the huge amount of tourmaline used by the Empress Dowager Cixi was almost entirely imported from California, USA.
The Ibaraya Mine located in the Grand Mesa Plains of California, USA, is a high-quality tourmaline mine that became world-famous in the late 19th century.
From the late 19th century to the early 20th century, most of the tourmalines mined in the Ibaraya mine were exported to China for use as jewelry and carvings in the Qing court.
The output of this mine is very large and the quality is very good. It is said that one of the veins can mine more than 6 tons of tourmaline crystals.
However, the prosperous Manchu dynasty was overthrown in the 1911 Revolution in 1911, and the dynasty's luxurious life came to an end. As a result, the tourmaline products from the Ibaraya mine were unsaleable, and the Chinese market failed, forcing the company to
Mine closed.
It was not until recently that the Ibaraya mine was redeveloped. Although the output of the reopened mine was still good, the quality of the tourmaline crystals was not as good as before, and the economic benefits were also greatly reduced.
The American owner of the mine may still miss the rich woman who was obsessed with tourmalines in China a hundred years ago - the Empress Dowager Cixi.
Now, although there is no Empress Dowager Cixi, there is a Korean Peacock, so some tourmaline mine owners in California are excited.
There is an interesting story about the origin of tourmaline.
Legend has it that on a warm summer day in 1703, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, several children were playing with stones brought back by Dutch voyagers.
Suddenly, a child discovered that these stones sucked up dust and grass clippings nearby.
The children were very surprised and asked their parents to take a look. Sure enough, they found that this stone could attract or repel light objects, such as dust and grass clippings.
Therefore, the Dutch called it "limestone". It was not until 1768, when the famous Swedish scientist Linnes discovered tourmaline, that people gradually accepted and adopted the current name - tourmaline.
According to legend, whoever can find the ending point of a rainbow will be able to find eternal happiness and wealth. Although rainbows often appear, they can never find their starting point.
It wasn't until 1500 that a Portuguese exploration team discovered a kind of gemstone in Brazil. It actually shone with colorful neon lights, like a rainbow shooting from the sky to the center of the earth. Ordinary stones bathed in the rainbow acquired all kinds of gems in the world along the way.
A variety of colors, refined and crystal clear.
Not all stones are so lucky. This gem hidden at the foot of the rainbow is called "Bixi" by later generations. It is also known as "the rainbow falling into the world".
Cixi had a special liking for tourmalines both before and after her death. A large part of the treasures buried with her after her death fell into the hands of Han Peacock, so he knew it very well. Han Peacock also knew a little about some of the treasures that escaped from the Qing palace.
For example, the tourmalines from the Forbidden City Treasures Museum are collected by the Qing Palace.
After a few people communicated for a while, they all knew what tourmaline was, and Han Kongque also learned from Zhou Meiren the main origin of tourmaline.
"Is the tourmaline here in the United States still the cheapest?" Han Peacock knew that Brazil was an important source of tourmaline, but he didn't expect that the tourmaline in the United States was still the cheapest.
Chen Jiayi said: "Our company also needs some tourmalines. But we all import them from Thailand."
Zhou Meiren said with a smile: "Even if it is cheap, I will not go to the United States to buy it. Nowadays, many tourmalines are sent to Thailand for processing. After processing, they will be wholesaled and then inlaid.
There are relatively few tourmalines in China, and regional differences have little impact on prices. Most of the better tourmalines in the world now come from Brazil. Brazil has many non-ferrous metals and colored gemstones are also world-famous. Brazilian tourmalines are generally bought!"
"What's the price of tourmaline?" Han Peacock asked.
Zhou Meiren said: "No matter where the tourmaline is, it is priced according to its fineness. The price of high-quality tourmaline from poor production areas is also very high, and the price of poor-quality tourmaline from good production areas is still very low, so
There is no need to pay special attention to the production area and price.”
"Atmosphere." That's all Cheng Jun could say. Look at how well they do business, they don't even ask about the price.
Other Korean peacocks don't know much about it, but he knows about speculation. In today's market, everything is subject to speculation. As long as it becomes hot, the price will rise steadily.
From being little known in the past to doubling in value today, colored gemstones have become increasingly eye-catching in the collection and consumption field of Chinese people. Among them, tourmaline, known as the "rainbow on earth", is even more popular.
As the value of tourmaline doubled, high-quality tourmaline, like diamonds, began to be calculated on a carat basis, but this did not affect the increasingly strong market demand for tourmaline and its great appreciation potential.
"The processing industry in Southeast Asia has developed rapidly in recent years. Of course, it is not just processing. The manufacturing industry is also very powerful. The price of tourmaline has increased by half compared with last year, and the price is getting higher and higher. As a
International gem varieties and tourmaline prices will also be affected by international market conditions.
Thailand is the world's largest tourmaline processing and distribution center. The biannual Thailand Jewelry Show has always been considered a market benchmark. At the Thailand Jewelry Show that just ended last month, many jewelers who went shopping said that the better the goods, the better.
There are fewer and fewer mines, and the price is getting more and more expensive, so if there is an opportunity, it is naturally the most cost-effective to control a mine."
Zhou Meiren is very excited about the development of tourmalines. Her family has been engaged in jewelry for generations, so she is familiar with all kinds of jewelry. Tourmalines have the potential to be collected, are beautiful, and have high recognition in countries around the world, so no matter
Whether it is for speculation or for genuine collection, tourmaline is a very good variety. Everyone likes jewelry with value-added potential, so in recent years, the price of tourmaline has continued to rise.
If it were not for this reason, Zhou Meiren would not come up with this tourmaline prospecting cooperation agreement.
Nowadays, the price of relatively good diamond fabrics has increased from US$2,300 per carat to US$7,800 or even thousands of US dollars. The price changes at the source will inevitably affect the domestic consumer market. It is certain that a new round of price storm will come in the future.
of.
Faced with a sharp increase in prices, ordinary consumers, collectors, and industry insiders all want to obtain a batch of cheap, high-quality tourmalines.
Collectible tourmalines like Paraiba and Watermelon Tourmalines are rare nowadays. The more common ones are rubellite and green tourmaline. In recent years, ruby tourmaline has become a more popular variety. Generally, there are more oval rings or pendants.
The price of the ring surface will be different according to carat, fineness, size, color, fire color, etc. The fire color and clarity are good, and the inlay will be more expensive. Egg noodles are generally worth more than 100,000, which has collection value.
In addition, the price of relatively ordinary beads, bracelets, etc. is relatively affordable, and tourmaline can be heat-treated to improve the clarity. Such finished products are calculated on a piece-by-piece basis, with prices ranging from 100 to several thousand, and are suitable for ordinary wearing decorations.
Good choice.
From a certain perspective, tourmaline collection is also a form of luxury consumption. Nowadays, many well-known jewelry brands have launched tourmaline series of jewelry.
With the increasing public awareness of tourmalines, the demand for jewelry and the huge collection and consumption potential of the Chinese market, the future appreciation potential of tourmalines cannot be underestimated.
The development of tourmaline this time was initiated by the world-famous Tiffany & Co. Tourmaline is their traditional industry, but now, this part of the business has shrunk significantly.
Now they met Han Kongque. They wanted to use tourmaline to open up the Chinese market again, so they proposed this plan. Of course, they wanted to obtain top-quality diamonds. Han Kongque also saw it very clearly.
Tiffany is the world's top luxury brand. It is an American jewelry and silverware company founded in 1837. In 1853, Charles Tiffany took control of the company and simplified the company's name to "Tiffany & Co.". The company has since established its
Focusing on the jewelry industry.
Tiffany formulated its own set of gemstone and platinum standards, which were adopted by the U.S. government as official standards. Today, Tiffany is one of the world's most well-known luxury goods companies, and its Tiffany blue gift box has become a symbol of the United States' refined fashion and unique style.
logo.
Tiffany was just a small stationery and accessories store at first, but Charles had great ideals and ambitions. He hoped that Tiffany would become a world-class brand.
No one would have thought that Charles Louis Tiffany, the son of a miller in Connecticut, USA, came to Broadway in New York in 1837 and opened a humble shop selling stationery and fabrics. The total sales on the first day were
$4.89.
Every item in Tiffany's Tiany was marked with the "iron price" mark, which became major news at the time.
Later, he switched to jewelry business. Unexpectedly, after many years, the ugly duckling turned into a white swan. After several changes, the simple small store finally became the leading high-end jewelry store in the United States - Tiffany Jewelry Company. Its strength can compete with the European jewelry dynasties.
Its reputation surpassed that of Cartier, a famous brand in Paris at that time.
At that time, the royal jewels of European courts were of high quality and were the best in the jewelry industry. Americans who were becoming increasingly wealthy were eager to own royal jewels that symbolized the upper class as an affirmation of their own value and to demonstrate their new economic and social status.
status.
After that, Tiffany & Co. opened its doors to collect royal treasures of European nobility.
In 1848, when King Louis Philippe of France was forced to abdicate, Tiffany purchased many precious gems from the fleeing royal family and became the first batch of top-notch diamonds to be released in the United States. Charles Louis Tiffany was called "Charles Louis Tiffany" by the New York City media
"King of Diamonds".
What made Tiffany famous was that in 1878, Charles Louis Tiffany purchased the Tiffany Yellow Diamond. This was one of the largest and finest yellow diamonds in the world, and it was also the legendary diamond that was later called the Tiffany Legend Yellow Diamond.
precious.
ps. It’s raining red envelopes at the starting point on 5.15! Grab one round every hour starting from 12 noon, and a big wave of 515 red envelopes depends on your luck. You all go and grab it, and continue to subscribe to my chapter with the starting points you grabbed! (To be completed)