Natural Turquoise vs. All Others

I love using turquoise in my designs since, even as a small child, it has always been a favorite gemstone.  Unfortunately there is quite a bit of misconceptions out there about turquoise.  And, due to unscrupulous dealers, there are stones (even plastic!!!) being passed off as genuine turquoise.  Good quality turquoise, especially American, is getting harder to find and more expensive since many mines have closed.  The turquoise that is still coming out of open mines is often of a lower quality than what was once produced.  I was dismayed when visiting the Turquoise Museum in Albuquerque to learn that a majority of silversmithing Native Americans have had to switch to Chinese turquoise for their designs due to the depletion of American turquoise.  However, many Chinese turquoise mines are now closing due to problems of environmental degradation and mine collapses.  

Stabilized Kingman turquoise and sterling silver pendant by Quentin of LunarSkies

Natural turquoise is hard to find - there is hardly any natural turquoise on the market today.  Turquoise is a soft stone (between a 5-6 on the Moh's Scale of Hardness) and can be quite susceptible to scratching and even fracturing.  It is also porous which means, over time, it can fade, change color or stain due to the absorption of oils from the skin and coming into constant contact with the elements when worn.  Because of these two problems, turquoise has historically been treated with waxes and oils, something that has been going on for thousands of years. 

Hand cut native turquoise and copper necklace by Nancy of StoneCroneCreations

  

In doing quite a bit of research about turquoise, I ran across the five "types" of turquoise, from natural to faux, that any lover of this beautiful gemstone should be aware of.  Please note: the turquoise jewelry featured below aren't put in any specific order to represent the different types of turquoise - the order was randomly selected (except for the turquoise magnesite necklace).  

Here are the short descriptions of the types of turquoise:

1.  Natural Turquoise - This type of turquoise is what a turquoise aficionado lusts after:  turquoise that is hard and beautiful and untreated.  It is simply mined, cut, polished and set in jewelry or carved into a fetish.  Less than 3% of all the turquoise on the market worldwide is natural.  

Sleeping Beauty turquoise and gold filled earrings by Margaret of BohoWireWrapped

2.  Stabilized Turquoise - About 97% of all the turquoise on the market today has been infused with a clear epoxy, resin or some other form of liquid plastic.  A dye is never used for stabilized turquoise.  A simple approach to stabilization is to soak the raw turquoise stone for a long period of time in a hardening solution.  Newer technologies involve impregnating the turquoise with a hardening solution through a pressure treatment.  After drying, the stone can be cut, formed into cabochons or other shapes, polished and sold.  The final product usually looks a bit shinier and smoother than natural turquoise.  Through stabilization, turquoise will keep its color and be more resistant to scratches, fracturing and dirt.  Most stabilized turquoise is very beautiful but you should not pay as much for it as with natural turquoise.  

Stabilized turquoise pendant necklace with red coral by Catherine of ShadowDogDesigns

3.  Treated Turquoise - This type of turquoise has been stabilized with a hardening agent AND dyed.  Since Persian Blue or the blue of Sleeping Beauty is considered the epitome of turquoise color by many people, dyes are added to the hardening agent to bring a stone as close to that color as possible.  Poor quality turquoise can be dyed to look like Sleeping Beauty.  Another strategy is to dye the matrix a darker color to enhance the contrast.  Colors in treated turquoise have a tendency to look artificial. Prices should be much less than natural or stabilized.

Arizona blue turquoise and sterling silver ring by Lynda of WestWindCreations

4.  Reconstituted Turquoise - With this method, low grade "chalk" turquoise stones too small to be used for cabochons, beads or freeform nuggets are ground into a powder.  The powder is then mixed with a binding agent, dyed, compressed into blocks or cakes and dried.  The reconstituted turquoise then can easily be cut into shapes to use for jewelry.  Reconstituted turquoise is quite inexpensive and, unfortunately, can be sold as natural unscrupulous sellers. 

Kingman turquoise nugget and sterling silver bracelet by Diane of DianesDangles

5.  Imitation Turquoise - Except for the color, there is no turquoise whatsoever in this category.  Some porous stones, such as howlite and magnesite, are dyed to look like turquoise.  These stones have their place, but should be labeled as to what they are and never be passed off as genuine turquoise.  Even worse is pure plastic epoxy resin, sometimes called "block turquoise", that has been dyed to look like turquoise.  Unfortunately, these imitation "turquoises" can be set in sterling and passed off as the genuine item. 

Turquoise magnesite, gemstone and leather necklace by Nancy of EponasJewels

So what can a turquoise buyer to do to not get ripped off?  Trust is  important.  If you want to obtain quality turquoise, you must go to knowledgeable, reputable dealers and expect the price to be in direct proportion to the quality.  It requires a great amount of training and experience to discern between natural and treated turquoise and even experts can sometimes be fooled.  Many reputable turquoise jewelry dealers sell enhanced or reconstituted stone as well as natural - but they will TELL you if there has been any enhancement to the stones.  Be sure that the seller guarantees that the turquoise is what he/she says it is, not just verbally, but in writing.  Include a signature on the sales document with the name of the store on it.  If the cost of a piece of turquoise seems too good to be true, it is - and is probably NOT real turquoise!  

Here are a few other turquoise creations from the studios of ArtFire artists:

Abstract Kingman turquoise and sterling silver pendant by Chris of GildedOwlJewelry

Stabilized turquoise nuggets on copper link bracelet by Anna of CraftsofthePast

Nevada turquoise, tiger's eye and sterling silver necklace by Catherine of ShadowDogDesigns

I hope you enjoyed learning a bit more about turquoise, what to watch out for and questions to ask when buying turquoise.  Above all remember that you must find a dealer you can trust.  And that good quality turquoise does not come cheap.

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