Turquoise, that is, turquoise, is a high-quality jade material, also known as turquoise. China called it "Bidianzi" and "Qinglang Stem" in ancient times. In Europe, it is called "Turkish jade" or "Turkic jade". In China, it was called the jewel in the sky in the Qing Dynasty, and was regarded as a sacred object of good luck and happiness.
Turquoise is a phosphate of copper and aluminum, which belongs to phosphate minerals. This is a mineral precipitated by water flow. The colors of turquoise range from blue and green to light green and light yellow. Turquoise is regarded as a gem, and blue is a precious variety.
Turquoise is one of the ancient gems, with a glorious history of thousands of years, which is deeply loved by people at home and abroad. As early as in ancient Egypt, Mexico and Persia, turquoise was regarded as a mysterious thing to ward off evil spirits, as amulets and funerary objects.
Two 28-cm-long fish-shaped turquoise ornaments were unearthed at Yangshao Cultural Site in Dahe Village, Zhengzhou, Henan Province (6500-4400 years ago).
The oldest and most precious turquoise is the mummy of the Queen of Egypt (Queen Zell) who wore four gold bracelets made of turquoise on her arm more than 5,000 years ago. 1900 When excavated, the ornaments are still dazzling and can be called world treasures.
Turquoise is simple and elegant, and has been loved by people in many countries for thousands of years, even reaching the level of superstition. Egyptians carved the goddess of love with turquoise to protect their treasures; Indians believe that wearing turquoise ornaments can ward off evil spirits and get the blessing of the gods; Tibetan compatriots in China believe that turquoise is the embodiment of God, a symbol of power and status, and the most popular sacred ornament. It was used as the crown of the first Tibetan king as an altar offering. Turquoise is recognized as the "stone of birth in December" at home and abroad, representing victory and success, and has the reputation of "stone of success".
Turquoise is often embedded in gold, silver and bronze, and the colors reflect each other, which is beautiful and full of national characteristics. Tibetan and Mongolian compatriots especially like precious swords and ornaments inlaid with turquoise. In addition, turquoise chips can be used as pigments. Tibetan doctors also use turquoise as medicine.
The evaluation and purchase of turquoise are based on color, texture and fragmentation. Its varieties are divided into: blue turquoise, light blue turquoise, blue-green turquoise, green turquoise and foam. It is blue and dark blue opaque or slightly transparent, with glassy surface, uniform color, soft luster and no brown iron wire. Turquoise is divided into transparent turquoise, massive turquoise, blue turquoise, linear turquoise, magnetic turquoise and spotted turquoise according to texture. Transparent turquoise is extremely rare and of high value. Magnetic turquoise is as bright as porcelain with high quality and high price. The international gem circle divides turquoise into four grades: Grade I (Persian), Grade II (American), Grade III (Egyptian) and Grade IV (Afghan). The first class is the best quality turquoise.
Maintenance of turquoise. When wearing turquoise jewelry, it is best to keep a distance from cosmetics, perfume and other items to avoid damaging the gem jewelry. Because turquoise is porous, we should pay attention to avoid using heavy liquid to measure density, because tribromomethane and diiodomethane will discolor turquoise. Turquoise is delicate in color and afraid of pollution. Contact with tea, soapy water, oil stain, rust and alcohol should be avoided to prevent them from infiltrating into pores and discoloring gems. Turquoise is afraid of high temperature, so it can't be baked directly and exposed to direct sunlight to avoid fading, cracking and drying. Turquoise is hard and brittle, so don't bump against other hard objects, and pay attention when wearing it.
Turquoise is a phosphate minerals aggregate of copper and aluminum, and its opaque blue color is the most distinctive. There are also light blue, blue-green, green, light green, yellow-green, grayish green and light color. Generally, the hardness is 5~6, the density is 2.6~2.9 and the refractive index is about 1.62. Under long-wave ultraviolet light, it can emit light green to blue fluorescence. Turquoise has uneven texture and different shades of color, and even contains light stripes, spots and brown-black iron wires. The degree of tightness also varies greatly, with more loose pores and less dense and hard pores. After polishing, it has a soft glass luster to waxy luster. High-quality products are like glazed porcelain after polishing, so they are called "porcelain turquoise". Turquoise also has disadvantages, that is, turquoise is easy to fade when heated, and it is also easy to be corroded by strong acid. In addition, the pores of turquoise with lower hardness are more developed, and turquoise has the defects of water absorption and fragility, so oil stains, stains, sweat stains, cosmetics, tea, rust and so on. May enter along the pores, resulting in color changes that are difficult to remove. Turquoise is a delicate jade. Both the processing process and the use process need to be taken into account. But there should be no problem as long as it is kept clean and free from high temperature and strong collision.
Turquoise has different colors because it contains different elements. Oxides are blue when they contain copper and green when they contain iron. Among them, blue and dark blue are opaque or slightly transparent, with uniform color and soft luster, and those without brown iron wire have the best quality. Turquoise is divided into four grades in the international gem circle: the first grade is Persian grade; The second category is the American category; The third level is the Egyptian level; The fourth level is the Afghan level. The first class is the best quality turquoise.
Turquoise is delicate and soft in texture, moderate in hardness and charming in color, but quite different in color, hardness and quality. Usually divided into four varieties, namely porcelain pine, pine, bubble (surface) pine and iron pine.
Porcelain pine: it is the hardest turquoise with a hardness of 5.5~6. Because the fracture is shell-like, the luster and texture after polishing are very similar to porcelain, hence the name. Usually the color is pure sky blue, which is the top grade of turquoise.
Pine: the color varies from blue-green to bean green, and the hardness is 4.5~5.5, which is slightly lower than that of porcelain pine. This is medium quality turquoise.
Bubble pine: also known as face pine, light blue to moon white, hardness below 4.5, can be scored with a knife. Because this kind of turquoise is soft and loose, only the larger pieces have use value, and it is the lowest quality turquoise. However, in today's increasingly scarce turquoise raw materials, manual treatment methods such as injection molding, wax injection and dyeing are often used to improve its quality and appearance, so it can also be "recycled".
Iron pine: a variety of turquoise, with black limonite veinlets distributed in a net shape, which makes blue or green turquoise appear black turtle back lines, net lines or veins, and is called iron pine. The limonite veinlets above are called "iron wires". The iron wire is slender, firmly bonded and hard, and it blends with turquoise, making turquoise look like a natural pattern outlined with ink lines, which is beautiful and unique. Turquoise with beautiful cobwebs can also be a good product. However, if the reticulate pattern is composed of clay veinlets, it is called mud line turquoise. Mud line turquoise is not cemented firmly, and its texture is soft, which is basically useless.
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