Is crystal a crystal structure?

Crystal is a rare mineral, a kind of gem, and a timely crystal, which belongs to the timely family in mineralogy. The main chemical composition is silicon dioxide, and the chemical formula is SiO2.

When pure, colorless and transparent crystals are formed. When containing trace elements such as aluminum and iron, it is pink, purple, yellow and brown. After irradiation, trace elements form different types of color centers and produce different colors, such as purple, yellow, brown and pink. Minerals containing associated inclusions are called inclusion crystals, such as hair crystal, green ghost, red rabbit hair and so on. Inclusions include rutile, tourmaline, actinolite, mica and chlorite. [ 1]

Chinese name

transparent

Foreign name

Crystal, crystal

Another name

Water mirror water valley, timely water wall

kind

Silica mineral

chemical formula

silicon dioxide

quick

navigate by water/air

Introduction to other properties of growing crystals: the formation of crystal occurrence, classification and evaluation criteria of production technology, identification of causes, extended reading of crystal ornamental stones, guide to the purchase of crystal kings, and classification of varieties

Definition of words?

Crystal refers to colorless and transparent silicon dioxide crystal, which belongs to precious minerals. At present, it ranks with chalcedony and tourmaline in the category of colored gems, with less output. It was called "water jade" and "water essence" in ancient times.

Quote "Zi Tong Zhi Jian Han Gao Zufu Two Years at the End of Jin Dynasty": "The Lord of Fujian built Wei Zi Palace, decorated with crystals." "The ancient and modern novel Li Gongzi was satisfied with saving the snake": "The utensils are all made of glass, crystal, amber and agate, which are unique and not owned by the world." Preface to < Selected Poems of Ai Qing >: "Meditate on the shape of flower dew and love the quality of crystal."

Refers to a transparent object

"All Tang Poems" Volume Bai Xuege in 785: "Birds peck at the jade mirror in the ice pond, and the wind knocks on the eaves to slip the crystal." Wei's poem "Night Banquet in the Western Suburb" reads: "Cold and cold contain ice brains, and cherries fall into crystals."

Yu "Bright Moonlight"

Hong Sheng's Song of the Immortal Palace in the Qing Dynasty: "The cold toad has just risen to the high shelf, and the curtain rolls to smell the wind and reflect the crystal." The words in Chen Weisong's "The Heritage Atlas of Bodhisattva Man Titing Qingxi" in the Qing Dynasty: "I still remember to hide and seek, and the crystal courtyard is cool."

Introduction?

Crystal stone is a timely crystal mineral. Its main chemical composition is silicon dioxide, and its chemical formula is SiO2. Western countries think that everything that is transparent is crystal, so the word crystal includes colorless transparent glass (K9, ordinary glass is blue) and rock crystal ore. There are more than ten kinds of names of ancient crystals in China, such as water mirror, aquamarine, aquamarine and crystal. Therefore, in order to facilitate the distinction, Rockcrystal is usually referred to as (rock crystal) in the world. The well-developed single crystal is a hexagonal cone, so it is usually a block or granular aggregate, generally colorless, gray and milky white, and purple, red, smoky, brown and so on when it contains other mineral elements [2].

When the silicon dioxide crystal is perfect, it is a crystal; Incomplete crystallization is the appropriate time: silica becomes agate after gelatinization and dehydration; Water-containing silica gel becomes opal after solidification; When the particle size of silica is less than several microns, chalcedony, flint and secondary quartzite are formed.

Chemical composition: silica, containing 46.7% silicon and 53.3% oxygen. Because it contains different trace elements or color centers, it presents a variety of colors.

Mineral composition: goethite, hematite, rutile, magnetite, tourmaline, garnet, mica, chlorite, etc. Form inclusion crystals, such as hair crystals, titanium crystals, green ghosts and so on. And the hair crystal contains the inclusions of hairy needle-like minerals visible to the naked eye. Containing manganese and iron is called amethyst; Iron-bearing (; Gold or lemon) is called topaz; Rose color containing manganese and titanium is called rose time, that is, pink crystal; Smoke color is called smoke crystal; Brown is called tea crystal; Black and transparent are called ink crystals.

Crystallization habit: the crystal with perfect crystallization belongs to the tripartite system, which is often hexagonal prism with horizontal stripes on the column. One end of a cylinder is pointed or two ends are pointed, and many long cylinders are connected together, collectively called crystal clusters. They are beautiful and spectacular, and their shapes can be described as varied. In addition to the common long columns, there are sword-shaped, plate-shaped, short-column and double-cone. Some are as small as fingers, and some are as big as boulders; Some are less than half a second, and some weigh more than 300 kilograms. President Mao Zedong's crystal coffin was finally made of high-quality natural white crystal in Donghai County 105 Mine. At present, the largest crystal is also from Donghai County, Lianyungang.

Natural?

optical characteristics

Color: colorless, light to dark purple, light yellow, medium to dark yellow, light to dark brown, brown, green to yellowish green, light to medium pink.

Amethyst: light purple to deep purple.

Topaz: light yellow, medium to dark yellow.

Blue crystal: light blue, dark blue. Almost all blue crystals are synthetic.

Smoke crystal: light to dark brown, brown. When Al3+ in the composition replaces Si4+, [AlO4]4- color center is generated after irradiation.

Green crystal: green to yellowish green. The formation of color is related to Fe2+, and there are almost no natural green crystals on the market, which are usually the intermediate products formed during the heating of amethyst to topaz.

Hibiscus stone: light to medium pink, light tone. It is usually pink because it contains a small amount of titanium (Ti). May have a transmitted starlight effect.

Hair crystal: colorless, light yellow, light brown, etc. However, because rutile is often golden yellow, brownish red and other colors, tourmaline is often grayish black; Contains actinolite, grayish green.

Gloss: glass luster. The fracture is oily luster. Gloss refers to the optical characteristics of reflected light on the surface of a gem. To observe the luster of the crystal, you can hold it in your hand and look at the surface reflection with the light of a lamp or a window. The brightness of transparent crystal is related to its luster.

Transparency: The transparency of a crystal is related to the quality and quantity of light passing through it. When light passes through crystal fragments or slices with a thickness greater than 1 cm, the reflected image can be clearly seen. If the bottom image is not clear enough and only the outline is seen, it is translucent.

Refractive index (RI): 1.544- 1.553, which hardly exceeds this range. (Refractive index is the ratio of sine of incident angle to sine of refraction angle when light penetrates into gem crystal from air and produces refraction phenomenon. )

Double folding rate (DR): 0.009 (maximum), which is very stable.

Deviation value: 0.0 13. Dispersion means that the refractive index of a gem changes with the change of illumination light. For example, the refraction of red light by diamonds is 2.405; 2.427 is the green light; Purple light is 2.449.

Optical properties: Positive optical properties of uniaxial crystals. The interference pattern of uniaxial crystal seen under orthogonal polarization is unique, and its black cross arm does not reach the center, forming a hollow pattern, commonly known as bull's-eye interference pattern. The central part is usually light green or light pink.

Polychromaticity: Colorless crystals are not polychromatic. Colored crystals have a variety of colors from weak to strong, showing different shades of body color.

mechanical character

Cleavage: There is no cleavage. Cleavage refers to the property that minerals crack regularly in a certain direction to form a smooth plane when they are hit. According to cleavage degree, it can be divided into five categories: extreme perfect cleavage, perfect cleavage, moderate cleavage, imperfect cleavage and no cleavage, and crystal belongs to no cleavage.

Fracture: Shell-shaped. Fracture is also called fracture. It refers to the irregular fracture of minerals after being hit, and the irregular fracture surface is called fracture. According to the fracture shape, it can be divided into shell-shaped and serrated.

Hardness: Mohs Hardness 7 is Mohs Hardness, which is equivalent to the hardness of a steel file. 1824, an Austrian mineralogist named Frish Moss extracted 10 varieties from many minerals, and determined their relative hardness through scientific experiments, from which the crystal hardness was Mohs 7. Although the American National Bureau of Standards later used and popularized the more scientific Knoop hardness tester, jewelers in many countries in the world are still used to using Mohs hardness tester.

Density (specific gravity SG): 2.66 (0.03, 0.02) g/cm3. This means that the weight of a certain volume of crystals is 2.56-2.66 times that of the same volume of water. Bulk crystals may have a slightly higher density.

Piezoelectricity: when the crystal is under pressure, it will produce charge; On the contrary, when the crystal is subjected to voltage, it will produce high-frequency vibration. Crystals have the property that pressure and charge can be transferred to each other, which is called piezoelectricity.

Stripe color: colorless. The color of mineral powder is called stripes. It can eliminate false colors, weaken other colors and keep its own color, which is one of the more reliable identification features than mineral colors.

Melting point: The melting point of the crystal is 17 13℃. In the experiment, it was found that it was brittle when heated. The crystal is baked in the flame of a flame burner. Unless it is well protected and cooled slowly, the crystal is easily broken. This kind of temperament has been thoroughly understood by the ancients.

Other attributes?

(1) Piezoelectric effect: Under the action of mechanical force (pressure or tension), charges will be generated at both ends of the single crystal, with the same amount but opposite signs. In industry, colorless, defect-free and twin-free crystals are often used as piezoelectric time-sensitive films.

② Thermal conductivity: better than glass, but worse than most minerals, and directional.

③ Hot-melt property: the crystal is not easy to melt, and it will only melt when the temperature reaches about 17 15℃, and the melting point can be reduced when inclusions exist.

④ Boiling point: 2477℃

⑤ Chemical stability: Very good, only soluble in hydrofluoric acid at room temperature, insoluble in other acids and bases. Soluble in sodium carbonate solution at high temperature and high pressure.

⑥ Solubility: Under normal temperature and pressure, the crystal is insoluble in water.

Grow up?

Most of them are underground and caves, which need abundant underground water sources, and most of them contain saturated silicon dioxide. At the same time, the pressure inside them needs to be about 2 to 3 times of atmospheric pressure, and the temperature needs to be between 550 and 600℃. If given proper time, the crystal will crystallize into hexagonal columnar crystals according to the natural law of "hexagonal system"

Usually, in the ideal environment controlled by human beings, that is, when the physical and chemical conditions meet the above conditions, the growth rate of crystals is about 0.8 mm per day. This is also the standard production speed of many intraocular lenses in laboratories and factories. The crystal thus cultivated is the so-called "synthetic Shi Ying", which is usually cut into chips and used in electronics, computer and communication industries. Some people call it "breeding Shi Ying". Although they use different words, they actually mean the same thing. Generally, the thickness of industrial intraocular lens is about 3 cm, that is, 30mm, and it takes about 40 days to grow. It generally takes about180 days for jewelry industry to grind a crystal ball with a size above 10 cm (100mm). However, this speed is only possible in the most ideal environment controlled by human beings. In nature, the situation is not so optimistic because of raw materials, water quality, temperature, pressure and other conditions. Are constantly changing, it is difficult to achieve the ideal situation. It usually takes tens of thousands or millions of times to achieve the same growth. This is the reason why the "geological age" movement takes "million years" as the calculation base, and it is also the precious place of "crystal rock".

When a normal crystal grows, it is often found that the growth line is parallel to the edge line of the cylindrical tip. Because of the small growth space in underground and caves, especially in the event of earthquakes or crustal changes, they are even easily squeezed by other minerals, and different "crystal planes" often appear. Also, when crystals are still in liquid state, they are often wrapped by other minerals and marls and grow together, such as rutile (which will become crystals later), volcanic marls (which will become phantom crystals later) and so on. These are "part of nature", please don't treat them as "flaws".

Crystal formation?

The conditions of crystal formation are more severe than the corresponding conditions. First of all, there needs to be enough stable growth space; Secondly, there should be hydrothermal solution rich in siliceous minerals, slightly alkaline and low salinity; Thirdly, it needs low temperature (160 C-400 C) and medium pressure (2-3 atmospheres); Fourthly, it takes a certain growth time to meet these four conditions to generate crystals. In nature, developed joints, cracks and faults are good spaces for crystal growth. Granite has strong development or metamorphism, which can provide sufficient hydrothermal solution and has good temperature and pressure. The time factor is easier to obtain, so the output of crystals on the earth is more extensive [3].

Crystals are often produced in the form of clusters and caves, among which caves generally exist in igneous rocks and basalts, with very thick lava flow layer formed by volcanic eruption. The dissolution of gas or hot water during volcanic eruption leads to a large number of pores in rocks. When the fluid rich in siliceous minerals enters the thin lava pores and the temperature and pressure conditions are suitable, crystals and other minerals will be precipitated.

What is the origin of crystal?

Endogenous deposits of crystals include pegmatite, hydrothermal solution and skarn. Exogenous deposits are common in placer mines. Gem-grade crystals are mainly produced in crystal caves or pegmatite veins, and are produced almost all over the world. Such as Madagascar, Zambia, Brazil, Germany, Russia, Myanmar and Afghanistan [4].

China's crystal mineral deposits are also widely distributed, with crystal output in more than 25 provinces and regions. The genetic types of crystal deposits in China are mainly divided into four types: ① granite pegmatite crystal deposits, such as Chasitai crystal deposits in Urad Zhongqi, Inner Mongolia; ② Time-pulse crystal deposits, such as the crystal deposits in Donghai County, Jiangsu Province, the most famous "hometown of crystals" in China; ③ Skarn-type crystal deposits, such as Chaoyangwan crystal deposit in Bahrain Right Banner, Inner Mongolia; (4) Crystal placer, with high crystal hardness and difficult weathering, often forms residual, slope and alluvial crystal placer.

Craft?

working procedure

Cutting, pressing, rough polishing, fine polishing, punching, carving, sandblasting, gluing, quality inspection and packaging [5].

Facet, plane, facet plus plane and hand carving.

process

(1) Cutting: sawing the whole material with a large saw blade at high speed to obtain the required shape and size of the compact.

(2) green pressing: the required size and shape of the finished product are made by a mold, then the raw materials are heated to above 900 DEG C for melting, and then flow into the mold for die casting.

(3) Rough polishing: the blank extruded by the die is directly polished into a finished product with a diamond disc. ④ Fine polishing: the finished product after rough polishing is polished with polishing powder until it is crystal clear.

⑤ Punching: Before the crystal product is finished, according to the size and position of the required punching, use a drill to process, such as tabulation, pen container, bottle hole, etc.

⑥ Screen printing: different pigments are attached to the crystal surface for effect treatment, and the color layer is thick, which can fall off after being forced.

⑦ Color electroplating: The crystal surface is plated with different colors by similar electroplating method, and the layer is thin and can be scratched by friction. Scratches appear because the painted color is often at the bottom, so other objects are often attached to the bottom of the painted color, such as Wen Zhen, a Chinese zodiac animal.

8. Sculpture: strong three-dimensional sense, high technology content, fine workmanship and high cost. Divided into hand-carved graphics and machine-carved characters.

Pet-name ruby, sandblasting: three-dimensional sense is weak, relatively flat, no concave and convex feeling. This machine carves characters, figures, etc. And then effect processing is carried out. Low cost and fast production speed.

Attending, laser engraving: using computer-aided laser equipment to shape three-dimensional patterns on crystal objects, the artistic effect is good, and various patterns and figures can be expressed at will to achieve realistic effects.

Classification?

After introducing the scientific analysis and verification of crystals, let's look at the classification of crystals. There are various classifications of crystals, which can usually be roughly divided into three categories:

Crystal type

Usually, we watch clusters of crystals generated by multiple hexagonal crystal columns (hexagonal crystal system), which belong to the category of crystal varieties, such as white crystal, amethyst, topaz, powder crystal, hair crystal, tiger eye stone and so on.

Cryptomeric variety

The appearance of aphanitic crystals is fragments, not hexagonal clusters, but also belongs to hexagonal system. However, we can't observe their hexagonal crystals with naked eyes, because the crystals are very small, and they can only be seen with the help of a microscope. Moreover, this kind of crystal is very smooth, because there is "hydrated silica" between the crystals, and agate belongs to this kind.

Special varieties and special categories

This kind of crystal is very different from ordinary crystal, and it is difficult to classify it as obvious crystal or invisible crystal, so it is classified as a special type, such as Skelton crystal with strange uneven crystals and phantom crystal with landscape stars.

Evaluation criteria?

The evaluation standard of crystal is different from that of high-end gemstones. Most high-end gemstones put color first when evaluating. For crystals, color and clarity (called crystals in the crystal industry) are almost equally important factors:

colour

Color is very important for any gem, and crystal is no exception. If the crystal is colored, such as pink crystal, topaz, amethyst, etc. The highest standard of color evaluation is bright and moving, and there are no other shades such as gray, black and brown. Such as pink crystal, the color is better with pink; Amethyst, bright purple in color, pure but not black; Topaz, the required color does not contain green and lemon tones, and golden orange is preferred. For hair crystal, the color of crystal is also very important. Golden hair crystal hair, crystal completely colorless (white crystal) slightly brown, the visual experience of the naked eye is also different, so the price of the former will be higher than the latter.

clean

The clarity requirements of crystals and high-grade gemstones are quite different. High-grade gems are scarce, so people generally don't ask too much for the purity of high-grade gems. However, the output of crystal is really amazing, so people usually require the higher the purity of crystal, the better, and try to avoid crystals with obvious inclusions.

impurity

If there are legendary figures in the impurities in the crystal, such as Buddha, constellation, zodiac, etc., its value may be higher than that of the crystal with the same color and clarity.

The state has not provided a specific grading standard for crystals. There are many kinds of crystals, and each variety has its own different standards.

Why?

crystal

Crystal is formed under natural conditions and grows deep in the earth's crust. Usually go through violent crustal movements such as volcanoes and earthquakes. Rock crystal belongs to mineral resources, which is very rare and precious, and belongs to one of the precious stones [3].

ynthetic quartz

Synthetic crystals, also called regenerative crystals, are single crystals, also called synthetic crystals and piezoelectric crystals. Regenerated crystals are made by hydrothermal crystallization "imitating the growth process of rock crystals". Put natural silica ore and some chemicals into an autoclave and gradually cultivate for 1-3 months (for different crystals). The chemical composition, molecular structure, optical properties, mechanical and electrical properties are completely the same as those of rock crystals, while the regenerated crystals are purer and have better color than rock crystals in birefringence and polarization. After processing (cutting, grinding and polishing), particles of various shapes are crystal clear, dazzling, wear-resistant and corrosion-resistant.

Molten crystal

Many people in the market call molten crystals synthetic crystals, which is inaccurate. Generally, it is made of crystal waste at high temperature and high pressure, which has no crystallization and does not have the crystal characteristics of crystals, so molten crystals cannot be confused with synthetic crystals. The molten crystal is resistant to high temperature and can be made into practical products such as crystal cups, baking trays and tea sets. In fact, the crystal coffin of the great President Mao Zedong is made of high-quality crystal from the East Sea of China.

K9 glass imitation crystal

Others call it K9 glass synthetic crystal, which is even more wrong. Although K9 glass is mainly made of silicon dioxide, 3~4% lead is added in the melting process, which is actually crystal glass. Why add lead? Generally, glass is blue or green and doesn't look like crystal. But after adding lead, the whiteness of the glass is very high, and it looks like crystal. In particular, K9 glass containing 3~4% is the most crystal-like, so it is more appropriate to call K9 glass imitation crystal.

Identification?

Touch the crystal with your hand The temperature of crystal stone is usually much lower than that of artificial crystal. To the naked eye, crystal stone usually has cotton wool-like inclusions, which artificial crystals do not have.

For monochromatic crystals such as amethyst and topaz, it is usually necessary to observe their dichroism. Even the top amethyst and topaz have chromatic aberration, and whether or not to add color can be identified by this method.

Natural crystals generally have flocs (flocs), commonly known as defects. This is a small hole for liquid to come out and carbon dioxide, but synthetic crystals have no such characteristics.

The fineness of crystal has different grades, and there are many factors that affect the price of crystal, unlike diamonds, which can be judged by 4C. Therefore, it is necessary to listen more, see more and compare more to truly distinguish. The general standard is that the larger the crystal stone, the more transparent it is, the more delicate its color and the more typical its shape. However, the most important thing is that you like it. When buying, there are roughly the following methods to identify the authenticity:

(1) At first glance, rock crystals are often influenced by the environment and always contain some impurities. When you look at the sun, you can see faint even tiny streaks or catkins, commonly known as (ice crack, cotton wool). Fake crystals are mostly made of inferior crystal slag and glass slag. After polishing, coloring and imitation, there are no uniform stripes and catkin-like substances.

(2) Check with dichroism: natural amethyst has dichroism, while fake amethyst has no dichroism.

(3) Examining with a magnifying glass: When examined with a magnifying glass of ten times under the transmitted light, the bubbles that can be found can basically be classified as pseudocrystals.

(4) Of course, the most authoritative way is to send it to a professional institution for appraisal.

Different from similar gems.

Although the birefringence of amethyst is similar to cordierite (0.008 ~ 0.0 12), there are obvious differences in color and polychromatic. The color of lapis lazuli is purple-blue, and the purple of amethyst rarely appears. Leather bluestone is obviously multicolored and visible to the naked eye, and different colors can be seen from different directions. Amethyst is the same color with different shades (blue and purple to purple shades are different). In addition, amethyst is a uniaxial crystal with a bull's eye interference pattern, while Dong Qingshi is a biaxial crystal.

Crystalline feldspar

Colorless crystal and colorless feldspar are very close in refractive index and density, so it is difficult to distinguish them. The main method is to enlarge the inspection. Feldspar has two sets of perfect cleavage. Under the microscope, it can be seen that the two sets of cleavage intersect to form an "entertaining clam-like" inclusion or a thin and straight structure, while the crystal has no cleavage development and can only see intermittent and irregular cleavage.

The difference between crystal and artificial crystal

Crystals are divided into rock crystals and artificial crystals. China is rich in crystal resources, but the crystal craze in China started with artificial crystals. The value of crystal stone mainly lies in the effect of its ore magnetic field on human body [6].

(1) The color distribution of natural purple crystals is uneven, with irregular flake distribution and gas-liquid inclusions; Synthetic purple crystals are uniform in color and have a daughter nucleus in the center.

(2) There are topaz and smoky crystals in rock crystals. If it is blue and orange, it is artificially changed. The difference between color-changing crystal and rock crystal is that the color of color-changing crystal is bright and uniform, and there is no irregular flake color group. Artificially colored crystal printed matter will fade slowly after being used for a long time, losing its decoration and appreciation value.

(3) Looking at the sun, no matter how high-grade rock crystal ornaments are, you can see faint, uniform and tiny horizontal stripes or catkin-like textures, while fake crystal ornaments are generally forged with inferior crystal slag or glass through polishing and coloring, but you can't see even stripes and catkin-like textures in the sun.

(4) In the sun, the rock crystal ornaments can emit beautiful luster from any angle, while the fake water ornaments do not have such brilliance.

(5) The refractive index of rock crystal is1.54; The refractive index of pseudocrystals is generally less than 1, (there is an error here, but none with refractive index less than 1. Refractive index refers to the ratio of the propagation speed of light in vacuum to that in a certain medium (the ratio must be greater than 1). Moreover, the refractive index of glass is between 1.5- 1.9, and it cannot be inferred that it is true or false) or it has a great relationship with the refractive index of rock crystals. Crystal is an excellent seasonal crystal, most of which are colorless and transparent, and a few of them show different colors because they contain many trace elements. It is transparent, high hardness and good refraction. Necklaces and glasses made of high-quality crystals have become high-grade decorations and practical products for beautifying life and eliminating diseases and health care.

natural synthesis

Fashion collectors like to collect rock crystals, but they are often blinded by a large number of synthetic crystals on the market. Crystals on the market:

Fused crystal (synthetic crystal): quartz powder, glass slag, crystal waste, etc. are mostly used. The hardness of molten crystals is generally between 5.5 and 6, so its hardness is lower than that of crystals. (Crystal is 7)

Aquaculture crystal: Aquaculture crystal refers to taking stone crystal as seed, and then applying high pressure to the stone crystal to make it grow. There are molecules rich in silica in the incubator. Then silicon dioxide molecules grow around the rock crystal, and the crystal composition (molecular formula) is exactly the same as that of the rock crystal. The only difference is that the magnetic field of this crystal is not as strong as that of rock crystal.

PS: The so-called Austrian crystal is actually leaded glass. Generally, when lead is added to glass, the refractive index of glass will be high, the dispersion will be enhanced, but the hardness will be reduced. The higher the lead content, the lower the hardness.

Artificial crystals can be divided into molten crystals and cultured crystals. According to Wang Yi, a crystal expert, with the increase of the value of crystal, more and more people like it, and crystal has also attracted the interest of counterfeiters. At this stage, the common methods of counterfeiting in China crystal market are as follows:

Pictographic crystals: Some crystals have vivid scenery. Don't patronize the pictographic scenery in the crystal. Many people have been able to apply AB glue to the extreme, cut the crystal, add a landscape (mostly small trees and animals) in the middle, and then stick it together. When I held it in my hand, it was beautiful. When I bought it, I thought it was very valuable for investment and collection. Unfortunately, this is artificial.

Titanium crystal tree: Titanium crystal is the most expensive crystal, and counterfeiters will certainly not let go of such a good product. It is entirely possible to grow tree-like titanium crystals in natural environment, but there are few such products. How did our counterfeiters do it? Make a hole under the white crystal and spot it into a plate-shaped titanium crystal with a laser, so that the value of this crystal can soar dozens of times. Usually, some titanium crystal torus will be formed by cutting titanium crystal parts into plates and bonding them with round crystals.

Crystal products

Look at the raw materials: crystal products with excellent materials should not see the glue mouth and cotton wool; The texture is pure, smooth and crystal clear.

Look at the workmanship: there are two kinds of processing techniques for crystal products, namely grinding and carving. Such as crystal necklaces, bracelets, earrings, etc. Belonging to abrasive products; Guanyin statue, painted snuff bottle, etc. It belongs to sculpture.

Look at polishing: the quality of polishing directly affects the value of crystal products. Polishing is divided into soft polishing and hard polishing.

Look at the eye hole: for crystal products (such as necklaces, bracelets and beads), it depends on whether the eye hole is straight, whether the thickness of the hole is uniform and whether there are small cracks. The hole wall must be clear and transparent without "white spots".

Look at the color: even the same crystal, the texture and color of different parts are different. It belongs to monochrome, and the chromaticity should be uniform; If there are tones on the same crystal, it is required that the tone lines are beautiful and generous.

Look at culture: if the hieroglyphics of the contents in the crystal can be linked with culture, religion and history, the price will often be several times or even hundreds of times higher than the value of the crystal itself.

Extended reading?

Documentary record

Crystal culture has a long history, and the ancients once gave it a series of beautiful nicknames: water jade, water mirror, water blue, timely and so on.

Shuiyu: The oldest name in China is Shuiyu, which means jade like water, and it is also said that it has been "melted by the ice for thousands of years". In the Stone Living Room, the Tang Dynasty poet Wen wrote: "The water jade hairpin is wearing a white scarf, and the lyre brushes the dust lightly." The word "water jade" was first used frequently in Shan Hai Jing: "Three hundred miles to the east, the Temple of Sunlight is full of water jade"; "Danshan comes out and flows into Luoshui in the southeast, among which there are many water jade"; "Out of the water, it flows into the Weihe River in the north, and there are many water jade in it." Sima Xiangru's Shang Lin Fu says: "Water and Yulei River". Crystal was named Shuiyu, and the ancients valued the texture of "bright as water and firm as jade".

Shuibi: In The Classic of Mountains and Seas, the crystal is also called Shuibi: "Three hundred miles south is a sunrise mountain with no vegetation and lush water", and Guo Pu notes: "It is also a kind of water jade". This title is often quoted by scholars. Guo Jingchun's Pu Fu Jiang in the Jin Dynasty said: "Ghosts are green and dive." Crystal is called Yu Ying by some people. "Furuitu" contains "the beautiful stone is like jade, and the water essence is called yuying."

Water essence: Why is crystal called water essence? "Guangya" has a clever solution: "the spirit of water is also"; Li Shizhen said: "Yingjie Jingguang is like an elite in the water". After careful study, the name also contains a strong religious meaning! A watery spirit was first seen in Buddhist books. Later, Han Zhiyao translated Ming Guo Jue Jing and said, "Its Taoist color is as fine as water."

Timely: In Guangya, crystal is called timely, and white is also called white. It is a heteronym. There is a saying in Sima Xiangru's Zi Xufu that "orpiment is white". Su Lin explained: "White people, Bai Shiying also".

Other descriptions: "Common Things with Different Names" said: "Water makes a great Qin State, a Li Nan". The crystallization of complete crystals is like staggered horse teeth, so people call it horse teeth stone. Ancestors first used it to grind glasses, so they nicknamed it glasses stone. Crystal has both common and common names. Guangzhou area is called crystal jade, also called fish brain jelly; Villagers in Donghai County, Jiangsu Province found that this crystal would "catch fire", so they gave it a common name-Flash Stone. It is not surprising that there are many names for a thing in the world, but it is rare for a crystal to have so many nicknames. Look, from Shuiyu, Shuibi, White, Yu Ying, Shuijing Yingshi, Li Nan and Jingyu to Bodhisattva Stone, Moye Stone, Glasses Stone, coloured glaze stone, Millennium Ice, Alpine Frozen, Fish Brain Frozen, etc. It simply constitutes a history of appreciating strange stones.

Natural blue crystal

Shiyuan

Li Shangyin, Du Mu, Bai Juyi, Ouyang Xiu, Su Shi, Cheng Dachang, Xin Qiji, Yang Wanli, Wu Wenying, Yang Ji, Wei Yuan and other poets all have excellent poems about crystal.

Climbing Kunlun Mountain to eat jade, I live with heaven and earth, and share the same light with the sun and the moon.

This is Qu Yuan, the earliest great poet in China, and also the earliest poem that mentioned crystal in history.

Yu Ying and Shuiyu are nicknames for early crystals. Legend has it that ancient times were red.