Miao Yinyin, Tibetan Silver, Snowflake Silver, Macarthur Silver?

Summer vacation is coming, and many people are heading for their dream tourist attractions, Tibet and Yunnan.

When I arrived at the place, I looked at the dazzling array of Tibetan silver seedlings, silver snowflakes and Yintai silver, and listened to the cries one after another. The power of wanting to buy things immediately occupied my head and tickled my heart, but in the end, a trace of reason kept asking again and again:

Is this thing made of silver?

summer

Dream back to the scene

It smells like that.

We have written about "gold" with different names in the market before. Here (please click on the blue link to jump to see things in a blur? What you need is this.

This time, sharpen the knife to "silver"!

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long

no

look

Makasit, Tibet Silver, Miao Yin and Snowflake Silver are all brand names! All business names! All business names! There has never been such a name in the national standard (silver quality standard GB/T4 135-20 16 (national standard)).

Precious metals such as gold and silver are imprinted to show the purity of the metal. Only "if the weight is less than 0.5g or it is really difficult to label, the labeling content can be exempted" (see the Management Regulations on Labeling of Gold and Silver Jewelry for details). The so-called silver products I met are basically traceless.

Therefore, many silver ornaments encountered in tourism are likely to be copper-based alloy products rather than silver products ~

Let's start with Miao Yin. Our first impression of Miao people may be the scene of singing and dancing with dazzling silver crowns, bling bling necklaces and jewelry:

Miao people advocate silver, and there is a proverb "No silver, no flower, no girl". For a long time, Miao people believe that silver ornaments can ward off evil spirits, detoxify and prevent plague. At grand festivals and weddings, girls will also dress themselves up with Miao Yin, "for more, bigger and more beautiful". Different decorative patterns represent different beautiful meanings.

The big silver horn in Miao silver ornaments reflects the important position of buffalo in Miao social life. In important sacrificial activities, Miao people often slaughter cattle to worship their ancestors.

Miao Yin is hand-made by Miao people, originally made of silver. Since the 1980s, silversmiths in southeastern Guizhou have used cheaper zinc-white copper or nickel-white copper silver plating instead of pure silver. In Yunnan, Miao silver is mainly brass. Therefore, the Miao silver jewelry on the market at present is an alloy product mainly made of copper, which is moonlight white.

In addition to the white appearance of the moon, Miao Yin jewelry has the following characteristics: bells are hung on pendants; More chiseling and filigree techniques are used.

summer

Miao Yin headdress

Miao neck ornaments

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Miaoyinhuan

Miaoyincui ornaments

Let's talk about Tibetan silver again Traditional Tibetan silver is an alloy product made of 30% silver and 70% copper. Up to now, the essence of Tibetan silver may be basically similar to that of modern Miao Yin, and it is a copper alloy product with little or no silver content.

Tibetan silver is often associated with turquoise, coral, agate and other "seven treasures of Buddhism", with a strong religious flavor (soaring prices), which can also be seen in Nepal, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand and some Southeast Asian countries.

However, according to my own travel experience, many turquoise and coral sold in stalls are also imitations (such as plastics). Sure, a bracelet is fifteen yuan. What kind of bike is that?

Marcasite seems to have its name from Thailand? I can't prove it, and I can't talk nonsense. Its most remarkable feature is that on the basis of silver jewelry, the mixture of silver and sulfur is heated and melted to form a coating with glass, showing a black appearance, also called "black silver", which is a special aging process.

Under the blessing of this process, the hardness of the jewelry surface is greatly enhanced, and the oxidation resistance is also stronger, which can not change color for a long time.

If it is inlaid with Thai silver jewelry, choose garnet.

Snowflake silver is synonymous with silver. For example, "three years of Qing dynasty magistrate, 100 thousand snowflakes and silver" describes the chaos of corruption in ancient officialdom. At present, in Lijiang, Yunnan, we can see many cultural relics called "Snow Silver" for sale, which is the product of Naxi culture.

Snowflake silver

This kind of silverware has a high silver content and is silvery white. There are several explanations for the name of "Snowflake Silver": ① The silverware made by Naxi nationality absorbed the essence of Yulong Snow Mountain (metaphysics), and the silverware made was as white as snow; ② There are snowflake patterns on the surface of the object; (3) Because it is doped with a small amount of platinum, it presents a brighter luster like snowflake.

But no matter what kind of explanation, there seems to be something unscientific. Therefore, they are listed here for discussion.

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All in all,

① At present, Miao Yin and Tibetan silver on the market are all alloys, and there is no silver label;

② Macarthur is a kind of silver with special technology, and the silver mark is Ag925 or S925.

③ Snowflake silver has a high silver content, including S925 and S990, representing 92.5% and 99.0% respectively.

Finally,

During the journey,

Never feel cheap,

As a result, I suffered a big loss.

Access to alloys

There are too many ducks!

Summer time.

take an examination

Yan Yu. "Things" and the Construction of National Image —— From Miao Yin [J]. Ethnic Studies in Guizhou, 20 12(4):65-69.

Jewel Lee. In the name of Tibetan Bank: Material, Consumption and Identity in the Context of Ethnic Tourism. Journal of Tourism, 20 18( 1): 74-85.

Shen mingyong Snow silver. Coin Expo, 20 1 1(4): 32-33.

Bank of Tibet. Heilongjiang Land Resources, 20 12(7): 86.

Miao Yin. Heilongjiang Land Resources, 20 12(7): 86.

Editor: Yang Zijuan

Proofreading: Zhang Song, Wang Haibo