President of the Shanghai Collectors Association: The chaotic agarwood market needs genuine fragrance to speak for itself.
 

Next Monday, 12 collectible pieces of domestically produced agarwood will be auctioned in Shanghai. Each item comes with an authentication certificate issued by the Shanghai Federation of Literary and Art Circles Appraisal Center and the Shanghai Collectors Association, guaranteeing their authenticity. The total value of the items reaches 50 million yuan. This marks the first time that domestically produced Chinese agarwood has been auctioned in Shanghai.
 

Wu Shaohua, president of the Shanghai Collectors Association, said that most of the agarwood currently on the market is fake, and the agarwood market is rife with chaos. The agarwood market needs genuine agarwood to make its mark and speak for itself.
 

A deposit of 200,000 is required for bidding.
 

According to the provider of the auction items, all 12 lots are native Hainan agarwood, specifically Aquilaria sinensis (white agarwood) belonging to the Thymelaeaceae family, and are known as the "National Fragrance." This special auction focuses on white agarwood, a truly rare and top-grade fragrance, valued as art, collectible, and even medicinal. Because it is a naturally occurring substance, each piece is unique in shape and aroma. Ordinary agarwood does not fully possess these characteristics.
 

The agarwood auction is scheduled for next Monday, July 28th, at the Four Seasons Hotel Jing'an, with previews this Saturday and Sunday. Due to the high value of the items, bidders are required to pay a deposit of 200,000 yuan to obtain a special bidding number. As a darling of the art collection market, this auction of collectible agarwood has already attracted considerable attention. Reportedly, several people have already contacted the auction house to express their intention to participate.
 

Previously, agarwood samples were rejected during the appraisal process.
 

"The agarwood market is indeed quite chaotic, with a mix of genuine and fake products, and too many so-called experts," Song Yewei, director of the Shanghai Federation of Literary and Art Circles' Art Appraisal Center, told reporters. He added that agarwood appraisal is a very serious matter, and while some individuals and organizations have previously requested appraisal certificates from the center, the center rarely issues them. In fact, many of these appraisals have failed.
 

"This is the first time that native Chinese agarwood has been auctioned in Shanghai," said Wu Shaohua, president of the Shanghai Collectors Association, in an interview yesterday. He added that this batch of collectible agarwood is truly authentic. Compared to foreign agarwood, native Chinese agarwood is much less abundant and rarer. Regarding this unusual agarwood auction in Shanghai, Wu Shaohua believes that considering the historical and cultural value of native Chinese agarwood, its non-renewable nature as a gift from nature, and its status as a precious medicinal material, this batch of agarwood indeed possesses high collectible value.
 

Wu Wei, Art Director of Shanghai Ruixing Auction Co., Ltd., explained that agarwood is currently a hot topic, not only because of its high price, efficacy, and the cultural and historical significance it has accumulated since ancient times, but also because of the current unregulated market and the prevalence of counterfeit products. Therefore, the auction company hopes to hold a guaranteed agarwood auction to bring genuine agarwood into the market.
 

<Auction Item Preview>
 

The total value reached 50 million yuan, and all items came with authentication certificates.
 

● Bai Qi Bracelet: The estimated price per gram is around 150,000 to 180,000 yuan. This bracelet weighs 4.95 grams, and the estimated price of a small string of it is 600,000 to 800,000 yuan, making it the highest-priced item per gram at the auction.
 

●Sinking Agarwood Pendant: The entire piece is brown with varying shades of grain. Notably, exquisite rose gold inlays surround the surface, with two petals "emerging" from the top, shimmering with a rose-red luster. A sweet, rich aroma permeates the entire piece. It's worth noting that this piece is only about half the size of a thumb and is placed in a shallow, round glass jar. It weighs 1.84 grams and has a starting bid of 58,000 yuan.
 

●Guilin Landscape: The overall landscape is mountainous, with varying heights. This piece of agarwood has not been carved by humans; it is a naturally formed material. This type of agarwood grows in the heartwood of trees, and farmers harvesting it must remove the wood to reveal the fragrant material.
 

"90% of the agarwood on the market is fake."
 

Agarwood is neither the agarwood tree itself nor merely its resin. Rather, it is a solid concretion formed by tree species of the genus Aquilaria in the family Thymelaeaceae, such as the honey agarwood tree and the agarwood tree, which is a mixture of resin and woody components.
 

These trees themselves do not have a special fragrance, and their wood is relatively soft. After suffering various injuries, such as being struck by lightning, cut by an axe, or eaten by insects, the wounds secrete resin. Due to the hot and humid environment, the wounds are easily infected by bacteria. As a result, the resin, wood fibers, and bacteria combine to produce a pathogen, which eventually forms a "secondary metabolite".
 

Agarwood that matures on a living tree is called raw agarwood; raw agarwood that falls to the ground and is buried in the soil is called fallen agarwood; and agarwood that has been buried in the soil and matured underground for thousands of years is called mature agarwood. The formation of a piece of natural agarwood generally goes through the process of "raw agarwood – fallen agarwood – mature agarwood". From this, it can be seen that the value of agarwood comes from its scarcity.
 

A seller of agarwood told a reporter, "90% of the agarwood on the market now is fake." One enthusiast even said, "Agarwood is rare, and its types and grades vary greatly. The market is full of fakes and inferior products. This industry is too murky. If you want to get involved, you have to pay 'tuition fees.' How can you learn anything without being fooled a few times? You have to truly like it, invest in it, and delve into it. To some extent, that's the charm of this circle." This enthusiast admitted that he once bought a piece of agarwood weighing about 30 grams for over 400 yuan per gram. When he took it home and polished it in water, he discovered that there were three nails hidden inside! After removing the nails and weighing them again, only 20 grams remained, which means that he spent more than 4,000 yuan to buy 3 nails!
 

Mr. Yang, a seasoned collector of antique and collectible items, told reporters that there are many methods for making fake agarwood on the market. One of them is to use high temperature and high pressure to increase the density of the agarwood, making it appear to sink in water.
 

Another method involves using fillers, such as driving nails, iron, or lead into the incense materials. Or, oil may be injected into the wood to the illusion of higher oil content. Some also add dyes, artificial fragrances, or other chemical agents. In short, unscrupulous merchants use various non-natural, artificial methods to the appearance of high-grade incense materials and fragrances, thus deceiving consumers.
 

Source: http://sh.qq.com/a/20140723/014200.htm