As an internationally recognized precious gemstone, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, gold emeralds and diamonds are among the world's five rare gems. But in China, the popularity of rubies and sapphires is far less than that of diamonds. Although the prices of the former two have risen sharply in recent years, the pace of price increases is far behind that of jade, Hetian jade and tourmaline. Especially the relatively large sapphire, the price is only 1/3 of the same quality ruby, the price is very high.
As red sapphire has received more and more attention in the investment collection market, some people in the industry recently said that China will introduce the national standards of "Ruby Grading" and "Sapphire Grading". Currently, these two standards have been formulated and submitted to relevant departments for consideration. It will be issued at the end of this year. It is foreseeable that a red sapphire consumption boom will be promoted by then.
Many industry insiders have repeatedly stressed in the interview of the Yangcheng Evening News "Famous Words Collection" column: traditional gems are the eternal protagonists of the market.
How red sapphire defines disputes
Moderator: Internationally, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, gold emeralds and diamonds are called five rare precious stones. Rubies and sapphires are two kinds of "separable and inseparable" gemstones. They have many characteristics and characteristics that are similar. Please tell us in detail.
Liu Fen: Red sapphires are corundum gemstones, and the chemical formula is aluminum oxide. The crystallization habits and optical properties are similar, except that the coloring elements contained in the two are different, resulting in different colors. Ruby contains more chrome; sapphire can contain iron, titanium, vanadium, nickel and other elements. When sapphire contains iron and titanium, the color is blue, and when it contains nickel, it is yellow.
The traditional gemological classification is to refer to medium to deep red corundum gemstones as rubies. In addition to rubies, corundum gemstones of other colors are collectively called sapphire.
Moderator: Does the inclusion of chromium are the most important basis for distinguishing red sapphires?
Liu Fen: Internationally, it has been controversial about how to distinguish red sapphires. In general, corundum gemstones with red hue are ruby, rubies can be pure red, or fuchsia or maroon; while sapphires are jadeite gemstones other than rubies. General name. Therefore, the color of sapphire can be not only blue, but also yellow, green, orange, brown or even colorless. Chromium mainly causes red, but it does not only exist in rubies, but purple and yellow sapphires may also contain a very small amount of chromium.
Huang Dejin: Some people think that sapphire is blue, but it can be seen from its English name sapphire, sapphire is actually no color. There is also a jewel called pink sapphire pinksapphire, which is darker in color, so the boundaries of red sapphires are now blurred. When the gem identification agency GRS judges whether a corundum is ruby ​​or sapphire, there will be a reference color scale and an instrument to measure the content of various elements. Only the chrome content is up to standard, and the color code is matched, so that it can be called ruby, otherwise it will be sapphire.
Because of the blurring of the red sapphire boundary, there have been cases where the same gemstone, the certificate given by one institution after inspection is sapphire, and the other institution is considered to be ruby.
Moderator: The prices of red sapphires are very different. Their boundaries are vague. When you purchase in the international market, you mainly rely on certificates to judge?
Huang Dejin: When we buy goods, there is no certificate. We can only rely on experience and eyesight to judge. Even if you have a certificate, you can't superstitiously call the so-called color ruler on the certificate. For example, there are some so-called Sri Lankan cornflower sapphire. In fact, the color does not reach the standard of cornflower blue, so the key is to look at the real thing.
Red sapphire price is transparent, tourism shopping is impossible to leak
Moderator: In the market, the price of red sapphires is very different. Why is ruby ​​so much more expensive than sapphire? Just because there are fewer gemstones containing chromium?
Liu Fen: In fact, there are many gems containing chromium in nature, such as emeralds and rubies, which are expensive. The price of ruby ​​is so expensive because its particles are relatively small, about one carat is relatively common, and less than three carats, five carats or even ten carats are even less.
Huang Dejin: Ruby meets all the characteristics of precious gems, such as high hardness and beautiful color. Pigeon blood red is the most pure color in nature. Moreover, the grain production is small and rare, so the ruby ​​has always been respected by the princes and nobles. It has a history of more than a thousand years in Europe, symbolizing the wealth, the sacrament of power or the crown and the scepter will be set with rubies. And for many years the ruby ​​has not fallen, and its price trend is a slash upward.
It should be said that red sapphire is a blue chip, and their value-preserving function is unquestionable.
Liu Fen: In the Ming and Qing Dynasties of China, red sapphires were also a symbol of power. The Qing Dynasty one to nine official officials of the "top wearing flower pots", one product is ruby, the second product is coral, and the third product is sapphire. However, after liberation, red sapphires have been low in consumption because of their lack of understanding.
Huang Dejin: Chinese people's understanding of red sapphires has never been enough.
Liu Fen: I think it may be that red sapphires are not promoted in China by a specialized institution. Unlike the diamonds that have been promoted by De Beers for many years, they are not as profound as the jade and Hetian jade.
Moderator: Many people like to buy red sapphires to go abroad, thinking that they are cheaper to buy at the place of production, so many people are deceived, is it possible to really miss it?
Liu Fen: The ruby ​​bought by foreign tourists is either synthetic or optimized. Natural rubies are never particularly clean.
Huang Dejin: Red sapphires are impossible to miss in the market, because the market is too mature, always the market price, so the profit of this industry is not high, but buying goods is particularly difficult. Unless it is a thief, it can't be cheap.
Is the origin of red sapphire important?
Moderator: At present, the dispute over the origin of red sapphires is fierce. Some people think that the origin is not important, and the quality of the gem is mainly based on quality. However, the price of gemstones in different places on the market varies greatly. What do you think about the origin of red sapphire?
Huang Dejin: For gems, the origin is very important. Valuable gemstones like red sapphires and emeralds have high requirements for the place of origin, which represents the pedigree of gemstones. For example, the most advanced sapphire is now recognized as a Kashmiri sapphire.
Liu Fen: The main producing areas of sapphire are: Myanmar, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, India Kashmir, Australia, Shandong, China. The main producing areas of rubies are: Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Australia, Kenya, Tanzania, Vietnam, etc. Kashmir sapphire is now basically extinct from the market, and it is currently more common in Myanmar.
Huang Dejin: Kashmir sapphire is indeed gone, and now only some of the high-end products are transferred between auction houses like Christie's. It can still be shipped now, when the quality of Myanmar is the highest, but the sapphire in Myanmar is not much now.
It is the sapphire of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is a famous place of red sapphire. It has a long history, but the color concentration and saturation of Sri Lankan sapphire are not as good as those of Myanmar. Sri Lanka's production is now very small. Many local wholesalers actually go to Madagascar to buy the goods and then bring them back to Sri Lanka as local gems. It should be noted that the gemstones of any place of origin have a good quality difference.
The quality of sapphire produced in Madagascar has reached the standard, but this place of origin has not yet been recognized. West Africa also has a sapphire mine, but the sapphire produced is a bit like Thailand's, darker in color, and occasionally good.
The red sapphire mine in Madagascar is not long, there is a certain amount, and the quality is very good.
Moderator: Mr. Huang, you just went to Sri Lanka to purchase goods last month. Is the local mining still manual?
Huang Dejin: The gem mining area in Sri Lanka is very scattered. One mine is almost the same size as an ordinary wellhead. There are more than ten meters in shallow layers and tens of meters in depth. Local mining is also done by artificial sinking, and then manually Sand and gravel are shipped up.
Moderator: How do you know there are gems in the mine?
Huang Dejin: The distribution of red sapphires is regular and has rock formation characteristics. However, no matter how many quality gemstones can be produced in each new mining area, no one can say that the mining risk is high.
Moderator: Is there a small amount of red sapphire reserves in Sri Lanka?
Huang Dejin: The local minerals are indeed less and less, and there is nothing to dig. Experienced Sri Lankan gems have been developed in Madagascar to cope with market demand and the depletion of the original mining area. The demand for red sapphires in the international market has been very large. If the demand in the Chinese market becomes larger, the price of red sapphires will be even worse. But there are not many opportunities to discover new mines in the future.
Moderator: It is said that Shandong, China has dug out the red sapphire monolith, but the quality is relatively low?
Liu Fen: The sapphire in Shandong is relatively low in transparency, dark in color, and black in black. Heat treatment is generally performed to oxidize its ferrous iron to ferric iron to reduce its blue tone. Although the black color will fade after heat treatment, the color is not as strong as the sapphire produced in Thailand and Sri Lanka.
Moderator: It is said that Thailand has purchased a large number of Shandong sapphire, and then sold it back to China at a high price. Many of our domestic sapphire are purchased from Thailand. Will we buy this modified Shandong sapphire?
Huang Dejin: I have heard about this incident, but I don’t know if it is conclusive. The main reason for the production and sales in Thailand is the ruby ​​of Mozambique. Mozambique Ruby is now dominated by a European company, and shipments are generally auctioned.
In the past, ruby ​​was recognized as the best in Myanmar. Its pigeon blood red is like the blood of the arteries. It is very bright, thick and bright, especially beautiful, but the particles are small, the impurities are too much, the output is relatively small, and it often only appears in the auction.
Mozambique ruby ​​particles are not very large, but the clarity is better, the color is more pure, 3 carat Mozambique ruby, the quality is better at about 300,000 yuan.
Because the number of rubies in Myanmar is getting smaller and smaller, the market is beginning to pay attention to Mozambique. At the auction of Hong Kong's Tiancheng International in June this year, a 20.09-carat pillow-shaped natural Mozambique untreated ruby ​​ring shot HK$ 15.93 million, indicating that Mozambique rubies are gradually being recognized by high-end collectors.
Moderator: Can the origin of red sapphire be detected?
Liu Fen: Our current test is mainly to judge whether the red sapphire is natural, whether it has been optimized, etc. At present, the domestic testing institutions have not carried out the work of producing the land. International certificates such as GRS have proof of origin, and I believe that domestic certificates will gradually be aligned with international certificates.
Pigeon blood red has been abused, and now the pigeon blood red is not necessarily the best
Moderator: Top sapphire, in addition to Kashmir's cornflower sapphire, the more famous is the "Royal Blue", it is said that the British royal family prefers this deep blue. How are the different levels of color distinguished?
Huang Dejin: Royal Blue is a commercial name. It has nothing to do with the place of origin. As long as the color of the sapphire is strong enough, it can be called Royal Blue. It is the best and most expensive among the blue sapphires.
The cornflower blue was originally referred to only the Kashmir blue sapphire, but the sapphire disappeared, so now the blue purple and especially bright color is set as the cornflower blue, which can be used to describe A variety of gems with this color.
Moderator: The best color in ruby ​​is the pigeon blood red, how is the pigeon blood red?
Liu Fen: The pigeon blood red in Myanmar is the most famous. The pigeon's blood red color is bright because it contains more chromium. The higher the chromium content, the stronger the color.
Huang Dejin: The pigeon blood red was originally referred to the most beautiful ruby ​​found in Myanmar. Later, because of the trading needs, it is now possible to reach a certain red concentration. Pigeon blood red has also become a commercial name, that is, the color is very rich, the pigeon blood red.
Liu Fen: But this name is controversial. Many scholars believe that pigeon blood red is the gems of Myanmar.
Huang Dejin: Nowadays, everything on the market dares to call the pigeons blood red, some reddish black or some beautiful colors are called pigeon blood red. Because if you don't call the pigeon blood red, the merchant can't do business, and the consumer will recognize this.
Moderator: Is there a color ruler that can be used to determine the color to be called pigeon blood red?
Huang Dejin: The color stone of each laboratory is different.
Liu Fen: The domestic testing organization is bloody red, and only gives you the identification of ruby. But the next step may be to develop in this aspect, which can be determined by detecting the chromium content.
Huang Dejin: The range of pigeon blood red has been broadened. Now GRS can give the pigeon blood certificate, only to see if the color is deep enough, so some red and black certificates also write pigeon blood red. So now the pigeon blood is not necessarily the best.
Liu Fen: The pigeon blood is getting less and less. I heard that there is another kind called "Emperor Red".
Huang Dejin: Emperor Red appeared at the end of last year. Some certificates read Emperor Red, but no one called it in a few months.
The purchase of red sapphire is best to have international certificates such as GRS, GIA, etc., but the current certificate is getting more and more unconcerned. In the past, the good ruby ​​could not produce the pigeon blood red, and now it is very bad to get the pigeon blood red. So in addition to the certificate, the most important thing is to look at the real thing.
Moderator: Why are there even more international exercises for international certificates?
Huang Dejin: This is the result of a multi-party strength contest. The market is pushing the testing institutions to relax the scale. Because the competition between testing institutions is very fierce now, in order to attract more customers, they can only follow the business.
Moderator: Some time ago, it is rumored that the country will introduce the national standards of "Ruby Grading" and "Sapphire Grading". Are there any color grading standards?
Huang Dejin: I guess it is unlikely, because the color of colored gemstones is too complicated. Just a red color system does not know how many colors can be separated. In addition, the gems are also pleochroic and have different colors from different angles. So colored gems have so far not had an internationally recognized grading standard like diamonds.
Buying red sapphires must pursue "no burning"?
Moderator: As far as I know, there are very few red sapphire in the market, except for the antique jewels left hundreds of years ago, or when it is mined, it is not beautiful. So some people say that all the rubies on the market are almost heat treated, and most of the sapphire is also treated. Is this true? Burned red sapphires, will the heat treatment be indicated on the certificate?
Liu Fen: According to domestic standards, heat treatment is optimized, and the certificate may not be specified. The international certificate generally indicates that the auction will generally mark "no burning", and the price without heat treatment will be much higher.
Huang Dejin: We go to purchase, the quality depends on our own judgment, but whether it has been burned can only be guaranteed by the merchant, or gambling, this is more risky.
Liu Fen: Personally, it seems that many consumers are blindly pursuing no burning. It seems that it is not necessary.
Huang Dejin: If the economic strength allows, the pursuit of no burning is definitely better, and the appreciation and preservation function is more obvious. And there are several kinds of burning, the certificate says "H", which means that after heat treatment, but no other substances exist, if it is "H (A / B / C / D)" (different laboratory labels are different) , indicating that there are additives remaining. Therefore, if you choose to burn at the time of purchase, it is the best choice to have burnt stones without additives.
Liu Fen: If you add other substances, it is "handling" rather than "optimization". The certificate must be marked.
Moderator: Will the hardness of red sapphire be affected after burning?
Liu Fen: No. Burning just changes color or inclusions. For example, the dark blue Shandong sapphire can be lightened and turned into a more beautiful blue. If the color is not deep enough, it can be burnt in a reducing environment, and the trivalent iron ions become divalent iron ions, making the color darker.
Huang Dejin: There are some heat treatment technologies that are very powerful now, and the tests are not detected. For example, low temperature burning in Sri Lanka can not be detected.
Liu Fen: Heat treatment is a relatively common treatment method for jewelry, and it is recognized in China.
Moderator: Is it difficult to detect synthetic red sapphire?
Liu Fen: There are several methods for synthesizing red sapphire: flame melting method, flux method, hydrothermal method. The ruby ​​synthesized by the flame fusion method is relatively clean, and there are not as many inclusions as natural rubies, but sometimes there are curved growth lines or unmelted powders; the flux synthesized by the flux method may have flux remaining therein. Synthetic rubies and natural rubies are difficult to distinguish without experience; hydrothermally synthesized red sapphires have a wavy feeling, natural red sapphires do not have such water ripples, we can all They are distinguished from natural red sapphires.
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