Donghai Crystal Mining District

The "Crystal Capital of China"

Donghai County in northern Jiangsu sits on some of the purest natural quartz resources in China and has become the centre of the country's crystal trade. The region is renowned both for high-purity silica used industrially and for collectable rock crystal and included quartz.

What Donghai is known for

• Water-clear quartz (rock crystal)
• Rutilated quartz — golden rutile needles in clear quartz
• Quartz with tourmaline, garnet, and other inclusions
• Smoky and phantom quartz

Collector value

Clarity, the arrangement and colour of inclusions, and crystal form drive value. Fine rutilated quartz with bold, well-distributed golden needles, and gemmy clear crystals, are the most sought-after Donghai material.

China’s “Crystal Capital”

Donghai County, in Lianyungang, Jiangsu, holds on the order of 300 million tonnes of quartz and a large share of China's natural rock-crystal reserves, with some of the highest purity in the country. The county is the centre of China's crystal trade and one of the world's largest natural-crystal markets — which is why Donghai material (clear rock crystal, rutilated quartz, and included quartz) circulates so widely among collectors.