I can see that; it’s going in a similar direction as your green marble
I love turquoise! I spent part of my childhood and teenage years in New Mexico, and I wish I had more pieces to show.
Again so glad this thread has been revived- it inspired me to pull this out today:
Thanks for sharing!!
Here is a ring that my grandmother gave to me when I was a teenager. It is 21k gold from Syria, with Arabic marks inside.
Here's a better photo of this ring.
I gushed over this ring and she finally took it off and gave it to me. I miss her so much.
Here's a better photo of this ring.
I gushed over this ring and she finally took it off and gave it to me. I miss her so much.
You kill me!!Girl I wish we lived on the same side of "the pond!" Oh the glorious damage we could do at Santa Fe Indian Market.
I'm using that emoji as a high five from now on, BTW. lol
DW and I really enjoyed looking at all the fabulous turquoise pieces that were posted in this thread back when it first started. In particular @Bluegemz showed us some mind blowingly beautiful Native American pieces. At that time, we started to look for turquoise, but nothing came close to those pieces, and we kind of gave up.
This thread revival has definitely piqued our interest again, and we are considering a turquoise hunting trip to New Mexico later this year. I've heard about the Santa Fe Indian Market, in fact @stracci2000 was there earlier in this thread and showed some of the beautiful pieces her friend had made and was exhibiting there!
I had thought it might be best to avoid the Indian Market because Santa Fe would be packed with crowds of people. Now I'm wondering if it might be the best time to go, in spite of the crowds.
Thoughts please.
Love it !I had to take this picture today!
The ring is just FAB. Loving the cab too, and the earrings have a really cool coloration. Classic Nacozari. So it's difficult to say definitively about treatments just by looking at pix, but I'd say it's entirely possible the earrings are untreated. Nothing in just looking at them is telling me otherwise. Same for the SB. One thing I can tell you for sure... certainly not block material! That stuff is garish and very conspicuous!! I love how eager you are to acquaint yourself with different types and qualities of turq. It's truly the only way to learn!!
I can’t be online long but wanted to share what came! SB turquoise ring (inclined to believe it actually is fully natural), loose triangle (and half polished) Arizona turquoise from the same seller, that’s definitely fully natural - it’s so porous I could snap it with my fingers!
Lastly nacozari turq earrings, seller says it’s fully natural (she has same supplier for 25 years) but I’m certain they’re stabilised. I paid enough knowing they’re most likely stabilised (have done acetone test, no colour coming off so I’m thinking natural colour but would love your thoughts @Autumn in New England pleaseeeee) I love the look of them so keeping them!
I realised it’d be good to have some “samples” in the hand to work with to help me learn more about turquoise, so I’m trying to buy a range (stabilised, natural, known Zachery treated, possibly block etc) so I can examine these things in the hand as well as read about them. Ok pictures!
Definitely natural SB, @stracci2000! SCORE!!
I should mention... turq grades pretty much consist of hard and soft. That's it. Color and patterning is all a matter of one's tastes and what speaks to you. So, hard turq (not in need of stabilization) = high-grade turq. Forgive me if you guys already know all of this. Turq talk just gets me super excited and I start to ramble. hee hee
Here are some examples of untreated American stones. These are all XL, so variety is out there!
Water web kingman (a favorite)... note how the matrix is darker blue and white. Kingman's matrix is often dyed black. That is still acceptable as "natural" in the trade though, because the turq itself is left untreated with only the host rock being dyed. I really don't understand why they do it (for contrast, I suppose). But I vastly prefer the white matrix!
Red web kingman. This matrix is natural color as well.
Royston. One of the few that comes in bi-color nuggets.
Carico lake (the blue is birdseye kingman with blackened matrix).
A huge hunk of carico lake I cut myself from a giant boulder... it's 2.5" long! Not the coveted lime green, but still really interesting, IMO.
Large battle mountain stone I cut and have yet to set. This material is known for being a "high" blue, which means pure and saturated!
Dry creek (also known as "white turq," but it's truly a pale blue-green). Super hard and never treated!
Number 8... the "old mine" colors were deeper. The new material is lighter. But the matrix is often really symmetrical and even, which I love.
Golden hill (from Kazakhstan)... periwinkle blue with red matrix... never treated because it's such hard material.
Sonoran gold (Mexico). Got its name because of the yellow-ish matrix... often bi-color. Fairly new to the market and so gorgeous! Plentiful in large sizes and untreated!
And, lastly, this large cab is stabilized, but I love it so much, I had to include it. It's Egyptian (Sinai)... bought it from Earthfire Gems in Santa Fe. This material is just impossibly blue with chocolatey matrix. I am setting it in gold eventually, when the pocketbook permits!
Today I found this huge Sleeping Beauty ring in a pawn shop, $50! Are they crazy? I guess so! Marked "BVL" on the back, gotta research that maker.
I used to think that beautiful turquoise began and ended with pure blue Sleeping Beauty, and that a visible matrix in any stone was a flaw to be avoided, Recent posts have opened my eyes to the fact the matrix can be beautiful, in the same way an ancient mosaic can be beautiful. Turquoise seems to be similar to jadeite in that the more you learn about it, the more you come to be able to recognize and appreciate all the different nuances that contribute to the overall beauty of a stone.
I used to think that beautiful turquoise began and ended with pure blue Sleeping Beauty, and that a visible matrix in any stone was a flaw to be avoided, Recent posts have opened my eyes to the fact the matrix can be beautiful, in the same way an ancient mosaic can be beautiful. Turquoise seems to be similar to jadeite in that the more you learn about it, the more you come to be able to recognize and appreciate all the different nuances that contribute to the overall beauty of a stone.
This magnificently long post by AINE was one of those that opened my eyes and will likely be responsible for making quite a dent in my wallet. Thank goodness the best turquoise is much less expensive than the best jadeite, and a whole lot more available.
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