On May 1, 2018, the national standard GB/T 16552-2017 "Names of Jewelry and Jade" came into force, which clearly defines and names jewelry and jade. commercial names. Market attractiveness increases, but this also leads to confusion or misunderstanding among customers. Today we will get acquainted with the "glass" with different fancy names.

When it comes to "glass", everyone thinks it's mostly artificial and useless stuff, probably like this

Such

Also available

In fact, the glass is crystal clear, it can be used as gems, it has a high value, and there are even natural ones! !

What is glass? Glass refers to a mixture of silica and other substances, amorphous, amorphous, and does not have a fixed melting point. By this definition, there is a natural glass commonly found in gemstones, which is volcanic glass (obsidian/stone). Obsidian is a condensation product of acidic volcanic lava, and its main chemical composition is silicon dioxide, due to the rapid cooling rate and lack of time for crystallization, it becomes amorphous.

Obsidian

Rainbow Obsidian (heart-shaped pendant)

Snow Obsidian

The word "natural" must be added to the glass of natural origin. The word "glass", which is usually mentioned without indicating natural origin, refers to artificially synthesized glass. The well-known "Swarovski crystal/diamond", ice jade, blue sandstone and Venus stone are all glass, while the "outer coating material" that has emerged in recent years is glass imitating jade.

Swarovski is famous for its exquisite and unique cuts. In fact, the "imitation crystal" used by the brand is glass with a relatively high refractive index that is brighter and shinier than normal glass. Due to the unique cut, it can display an appearance comparable to diamonds.

Swarovski SWAN LAKE Ring (Crystal)

Diamond

During the synthesis of an artificial Swarovski crystal, various elements can be added to display different colors, which are used to simulate different gemstones.

Swarovski ATTRACT Earrings (Crystals)

Tourmaline

The difference between clear glass of various colors and natural gemstones is relatively large, so they are easier to identify. Glass usually has a sense of temperature, while natural gemstones feel cool to the touch; natural gemstones often have various defects and impurities inside, while the glass is usually very clear and small bubbles can sometimes be seen; gemstones can be divided into birefringent and single refraction, while glass is single refraction. When the particle size is large, it can be determined by the double refraction method. This method is especially suitable for identifying glass balls and crystal balls: if you look at a straight line through a gemstone, if there is a double image, it is a crystal. there is no double image in any direction., then it is glass.

Ghost (Icelandic Stone)

Blue Sandstone is a glass that mimics Aventurine Quartz or Sunstone, with a blue tint and small inclusions of triangular/hexagonal metal plates that show the effect of gold scattering.

Blue sandstone (glass)

Aventurine glass is also available in a variety of colors, the most common of which is gold (simulating a sunstone).

Venus Stone (glass)

Sunstone (feldspar)

Identification of this type of glass requires inspection under magnification.Natural placer gold quartz or feldspar, internal inclusions are irregularly shaped, and there will be signs of natural growth, such as quartz chipping or other inclusions, double inclusions Feldspar Crystalline lines, glass does not have growth phenomena, and the shape of the inclusions is very regular, triangular or hexagonal.

Ice jade is not an abbreviation for "ice jade", but a varietygreen glass. It has a uniform green color, good transparency and vitreous luster, and can be distinguished from jadeite by more scratches, low luster, and lack of structural features.

Ice green (glass)

Ice Emerald

Ice studded with green emeralds

There are many "Outer Mongolia materials" in the jade wholesale market. Due to the categories of Hetian jade "Russian Materials" and "Korean Materials", the name "Outer Mongolian Materials" seems to have the characteristics of the place of origin, which is very confusing. But after careful observation, we can see that such things are not natural jade: the color of the whole piece of jade is very uniform and bright, and the color of several "jades" has no difference, and the light is transparent without jade structure, hazy and uniform.

Outer coating (glass)

Jasper (Hetian jade)

The best way to identify glass is to ask the seller for a certificate. If the answer is "certificate could not be issued", then something is wrong.

The name "glass" may not refer to natural gemstone, and all kinds of high quality gemstones may not refer to synthetic glass. You need to be careful when buying and you should ask what ingredients are included before making a purchase decision. ~