What's your name? Turquoise?

Here starts my "What's your name?" series. This series will, I hope give you as a jewelry buyer the information you need to become a knowledgeable jewelry buyer.

Today, I'm going to talk about Turquoise. Turquoise is a beautiful stone that is very popular today because jewelry made from this gemstone is versatile and can be worn for almost any occasion. In fact, Turquoise has been popular for thousands of years; it's that great a stone.

Sleeping Beauty Turquoise

But, today, because of it's popularity, there are many stones being sold as Turquoise when they are not real Turquoise at all. A reputable jeweler will not just label Turquoise jewelry as Turquoise, but will label it with a name. Like Sleeping Beauty Turquoise or Kingman Turquoise, to name two mines where good Turquoise is mined.

Since Turquoise is a relatively soft stone, it can absorb perfumes and oils and because of this the color of the stone will change. Most purchasers would not like to see their pretty blue Turquoise change color as they wear it. Because of the stones softness and absorption capability, most Turquoise is stabilized. Stabilizing Turquoise makes the color permanent and hardens the stone so there is less chance for breakage.

Now, because Turquoise from American mines is more expensive than other Turquoise and will increase in value over time, many shops will sell stones they call Turquoise, but isn't. You always need to ask "What mine did this Turquoise come from?"

Dyed Reconstituted Turquoise

Since Sleeping Beauty Turquoise is considered the finest Turquoise by many buyers because of it's lovely robin's-egg blue color, many shop will try to cash in on this name. I'll give you a couple of examples.

Some shops will label their Turquoise as just Turquoise, with no mention of where it was mined or if any treatment, such as dying or stabilizing, was done. You can't tell by the price either, since this jewelry may cost less or the same as named Turquoise. A lot of this Turquoise is "Reconstituted Turquoise." Reconstituted Turquoise should not be called Turquoise at all because it is made out of the dust left over from cutting and polishing mined Turquoise. This dust is mixed with epoxy and usually dyed to give it a nice color and then molded to look like a stone. So, what you are buying with Reconstituted Turquoise is colored glue, not a Turquoise gemstone at all.

Howlite

Continuing on, another way fake Turquoise is sold is by dying another stone, usually Howlite, and then sold as "Sleeping Beauty Turquoise Howlite." Well, there is no such stone as Turquoise Howlite, unless you are trying to call it turquoise colored, and Howlite is definitely not mined from the Sleeping Beauty mine, only Turquoise is.

I've just scratched the surface of what a knowledgable buyer of Turquoise needs to know. I'll be writing more about Turquoise and other jewelry information as this series progresses. If nothing else, you need to remember that before buying any Turquoise or Turquoise jewelry, you first ask the seller, "What's it's name?"

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