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Stones inspire new collection fervor

By Hu Yang (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2011-03-29 17:02

Diamonds are a woman's best friend, but now men seem to have found companions in stones too, only they favor much larger ones.

In an auction specializing in stones, which was held in Nanjing, Jiangsu province on March 20, 97 items were auctioned for 6.6 million yuan ($1 million), with a 1560-gram Tianhuang stone sold for 5.8 million yuan, the highest price of the day.

Stone sculpture and collection have a long history in China, and these stones are called "qishi" in Chinese, literally translated as "strange stones." It can be traced back to more than 3,000 years ago and has long been popular among high-brow Chinese. It is believed that they are well suited to Chinese aesthetics: the beauty of nature itself.

Now the tradition has become even more popular as Chinese get richer. More people have spare money to pursue their hobbies and some want to invest their money in unusual areas.

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These stones cover many different types, such as Tianhuang stone, Chicken-Blood Stone and Yuhua stone and prices range hugely according to the type. For the same type, prices range according to size, color, texture and in most cases, sculpture craftsmanship.

Tianhuang stone, one of the most expensive kinds of "qishi," is much treasured by collectors, and an old Chinese saying goes: "one liang (0.05 kilogram) of Tianhuang is equal to one liang of gold (in terms of value)." Now the value of Tianhuang stone has far surpassed gold of the same weight.

Bidders in stone auctions include both billionaires and ordinary people as prices often vary from tens of hundreds of yuan to millions of yuan.

Some reasonably priced stones can serve as very good decorations for Chinese style décor and there is also room for them to grow in value, some ordinary collectors say.

Wu Shifa, an expert in stone appreciation and collection, said many people have showed an interest in investing in stones, especially as people have turned away from the property market because of tightening measures and are seeking other investment channels. But he warned that the return could be slow in coming, as the prices of stones rise with increasing age and decreasing output, both of which occur over a long period.