How to identify the authenticity of South Red Agate?

South Red Agate is a kind of agate with very good texture. Generally speaking, its authenticity can be identified by its color. The most common color is orange-red, but there are also bright red and pink. As for purple-red, it is very rare. It can also be identified by its texture. Some have a gelatinous feel. If you can't see from the inside to the outside, it means the quality is very poor. Finally, look at the weathering patterns. Almost every piece of red agate has this phenomenon.

1. Color: The most common color is persimmon yellow in Gansu. (Orange-red), red agate raw stone bright red, pink. There are also uncommon purple-red, as well as transparent or translucent variations of these colors, including nearly transparent colorless, which are roughly defined as the color range of Nanhong. The amount of patterns on the white animal head agate cup depends on the situation. Some have ribbon-like textures, while others are half white and half red. Please note that the lines of Nanhong are very sharp, and all the lines have obvious angles when they turn (one of the important criteria for judgment), giving people a clean and neat feeling. (That is to say, the red and white are distinct!) Except for the white color lines and the gradual change from red to transparent, there will be no other changes in Nanhong (sometimes some associated minerals will be mixed in, which are black or turquoise).

2. Texture: In terms of texture, Nanhong has a gelatinous feel. Even the completely red beads are not unweathered and translucent. You can see that the color is transparent and consistent from the inside to the outside. On the contrary, even colorless beads have a hazy feeling. Please note that this texture cannot be faked for the time being, unless the material is old and the workmanship is new. Therefore, fake Nanhong is basically made of pure red.

3. Weathering lines: On the surface of beads, most of the old beads, especially the old chalcedony/agate beads will have crescent-shaped weathering lines. This kind of lines is mainly due to long-term use. Dzi beads and other valuable old beads have new imitation weathering lines caused by hammering, but it can be obviously seen that it is inconsistent with the slurry made of surface powder and water fermentation, and it is uniform in size, rigid, and the depth of the lines is dull (the inside of the crescent, the inside of the old weathering line crescent is shiny). But please note here that no large-scale produced dyed Nanhong has weathering lines. Most of them are cracks on the agate surface caused by direct high-temperature firing.