Jewelry

[Margui]

I love this gem, but I feel it's only used to imitate other gems and not showcase its natural beauty. I absolutely disliked when it's dyed in different colors. To me, it looks so fake.

I only choose the gem, when it is featured in its natural white color. It deserves to be cast in gold with diamonds as accent stones. Why not?

What do you think? Share your opinions.

[millieshops]

@MarguiI stopped buying jewelry at least 6 years ago, but shortly before that, Chico's sold an assortment of jewelry featuring howlite.  I loved lots of it and added a few pieces to my bead collection.  They were, of course, costume -  my pieces have no sparkles  -  it's the howlite that attracts.

[depglass]

Howlite has been presented as fake turquoise over the years and I can never get that thought out of my head.  So I wait for real turquoise.

[Lavenderjunkie]

Howlite is an intersting looking stone.  But I seem to recall that it's not very hard.   That means in a necklace, pendant or earrings,  it might be fine.   But get more information before investing in this stone for rings or bracelets,  since those are exposed to harder wear.

[SilleeMee]

Howlite is a very soft stone with a hardness of about 3.5 and it's super porous. So it is perfect to take up dye and resins to make it more durable for use in jewelry. Just as a comparison, turq has a hardness of about 5 to 6 before stabilization.

[Margui]

• My faceted howlite earrings set in Sterling silver. I got them on Etsy. I love them. I will plan to get more non-dyed howlite pieces.

[SilleeMee]

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@Margui wrote:

• My faceted howlite earrings set in Sterling silver. I got them on Etsy. I love them. I will plan to get more non-dyed howlite pieces.

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Natural and unstabilized Howlite cannot be faceted like those earrings. Those faceted stones must have been cut from resin-treated Howlite rough. Otherwise they would have just crumbled.

[Margui]

@SilleeMee  I think they are stabilized, like turquoise does,  but the gem is still have its natural color. I don't mind stabilization. The issue is the dying of this gem. I will never buy a dyed howlite jewelry, the gem looks horrible, it's ruined.

[SilleeMee]

LOL!  Have you ever noticed how some turq stones feel like plastic?? That's because they have so much resin in them that they are only partially genuine turq. I realize that stabilization needs to be done but it also adds weight to the stone and you end up paying for an expensive piece of plastic resin.

[Margui]

@SilleeMee : LOL! I noticed that!  ShopLC uses the Zachery treatment for the turquoise, according to the website. But let's stay in topic. I don't want to talk too much about turquoise in a thread about howlite.

Do you own any howlite pieces?