Teach you how to identify lapis lazuli

Lapis lazuli, also known as Qing Jinyu, is an ancient and sacred jade. The best green jade produced in the world is produced in Afghanistan. At present, Qing Jinyu, which we can see in the market, is almost entirely from Afghanistan.

Our country began to use lapis lazuli during the Western Han Dynasty. At that time, the names were called "blue red," "points," and "golden cymbals." Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the emperors have attached great importance to lapis lazuli. However, due to the limited source of materials, the number of carved works of art is very small. It is now preserved in the Palace Museum for more than 20,000 pieces of jade in the Qing Dynasty. The lapis lazuli sculpture is less than 100 items. Due to the small number of people, the reputation of Qing Jinyu in folk is far inferior to the traditional white jade and jadeite, and its cultural and artistic value is even less known. However, lapis lazuli is equivalent to gold in ancient times and is one of the high-grade jades. According to the "Qinghui Code Exam" in China, "The emperor's Chaozhu miscellaneous ornaments; the Temple of Heaven uses lapis lazuli, the altar uses the topaz, and the altar uses white jade," and "all are provided in jade to symbolize heaven, earth, day, and month. As the heavens are above, so the patriarch is particularly important. The ministers of the four ministers of the Qing dynasty wear their hats and wear them at the top.

The lapis lazuli is dignified and easy to sculpt. It can be used as jade carving and jewelry. At present, due to the strict restrictions on the outskirts of lapis lazuli in Afghanistan, the raw material of lapis lazuli is very scarce, and the gold and jade carvings in the collection market are also rare.

So how to identify the grade of Qing Jin Yu material? The author believes that we should understand from the three aspects of color, quality, and body.

Color is the color, green jade is generally blue, the color is determined by the content of the lapis lazuli mineral content contained in the blue tone, rich, pure, uniform is the best, you can make jewelry. If white stone lines or white spots are interwoven, the density, purity and evenness of the colors will be reduced, and the quality of the jewelry will be reduced.

The quality is the texture, the texture of the Qing Jinyu should be dense, delicate, no cracks, and the distribution of the pyrite like the sparkling stars is the top grade. Partial distribution of pyrite will affect the texture of lapis lazuli jade, and the more obvious the cracks are, the lower the quality grade.

The volume is the volume, that is, the size of the jadeite block. Under the same quality conditions, the larger the volume of the green jade stone, the higher its value.