Jewelry

[Jugtown]

. . yeah . . every shopping channel has lots and lots . . of WHAT? At least I know that Carolyn Pollack's SB turquoise is the real deal . . mined over 20 years ago and she has NOT DYED IT OR COMPRESSED IT - it has only been stabilized, which I greatly appreciate.

[Jugtown]

On 3/26/2014 Issiestorm said:

For what it's worth Jugtown, I love SB turquoise too and I do have several pieces. I respect your viewpoint and I hope you didn't think I was questioning it in any way.

Not at all!

[ennui1]

On 3/26/2014 jugtown said:

. . yeah . . every shopping channel has lots and lots . . of WHAT? At least I know that Carolyn Pollack's SB turquoise is the real deal . . mined over 20 years ago and she has NOT DYED IT OR COMPRESSED IT - it has only been stabilized, which I greatly appreciate.

How do you know it was mined over 20 years ago? Carolyn didn't mine it herself. How do you know it isn't dyed? I know CP has a following that seem to think she walks on water, but she is running a business, too, and QVC sets price points that she has to meet.

[Kachina624]

On 3/26/2014 Love Roses said:

On 3/25/2014 kachina624 said:

On 3/25/2014 Love Roses said:

On 3/25/2014 Shogirl said:

I guess it's only as valuable as the market allows it to be...

That's true for just about everything. The SB Turquoise is a color that isn't found anywhere else that's why it's the Cadillac of turquoise. It's also an American turquoise and the value is placed with other strictly Yankee products. It's not easy to come across and I do wonder why so much is passed off as SB. I think a lot of it is the Howlite dyed a turquoise color.

It is far from being the Cadillac of turquoise...it's just heavily marketed, especially to those that don't know anything about the stone. The stone considered the most valuable is called Lander Blue. There was only about 150 lbs of it mined. Right now Bisbee Turquoise is very much in demand and if the stone is good quality, it's fetching a hefty price. There are many, many other American turquoises which are highly sought after and much more valuable than Sleeping Beauty.

All of the desirable types have matrix. A true connoisseur of turquoise wouldn't allow Sleeping Beauty into his collection. It's sort of a joke to those in the know. Of course all turquoise stones are not created equal; there are both fine and mediocre examples from all of the mines. Keep in mind that fine stones of any type are not usually sold on TV; you find them in fine jewelry stores and galleries.

If visiting Albuquerque, I highly recommend a trip to the Turquoise Museum in the Old Town area. Its owner literally wrote the book on turquoise.

Interesting but then why are the ladies who are royalty and former first ladies gifted with the SB turquoise. It is a pricey stone. The stones that are rare are valued for their rareness, not necessarily their beauty or demand. I know that the shopping shows hock their turquoise as the SB and it's a small amount they managed to acquire for 'you' the general public, but they are just hyping a product for sales and I have found most is product from abroad or the dyed howelite.

When you speak of First Ladies, are you referring to Jackie Kennedy? There has been a necklace in her collection that is referred to as howlite. I had quite an interesting email exchange about this piece with Phillip Katz. The original was indeed howlite and we can't figure out why. I think the Eastern magnate that gave it to her was perhaps sold a bill of goods, or he thought so little of her, he bought the cheapest thing he could find. She probably didn't know the difference.

Howlite is virtually worthless but does have a matrix and is so chalky and porous that it's easily dyed. It's more likely that our unsavory TV sellers would use chalk turquoise, dyed and of course stabilized so they could rightfully call it "turquoise". I heard Michael Vallituti say SB couldn't be duplicated. Well...I think anyone with a brain can figure out that it can and very easily too.

Carolyn Pollack has a reputation to maintain; I don't think she would lie about the materials she uses. I'm equally convinced the company would buy from a reliable source and probably have the stone lab tested for authenticity. Can you imagine what it would do to their business if it was discovered they were cheating? Not worth it. Of all the TV sellers, I would consider the Relios group to be the most trustworthy.

By the way, 99% of all turquoise sold is stabilized. I know a group of miners that soak their stones in buckets of resin in their garages, so it doesn't have to be a fancy process. It's not a bad thing and keeps it from changing color with exposure to body oils, soaps, lotions, perfume, etc. I have some of my mom's turquoise that has changed from a pretty blue to yucky green.

[Kachina624]

Actually it was Louis Tiffany who made the world aware of turquoise. He owned or leased the ancient mines in Cerrillos which is right outside of Santa Fe in the hills. Stone from these mines has been found in Central America, having been traded by the local Indians, so the mines are very old. In promoting the turquoise, he threw a cocktail party at the mine that people are still talking about. The mines are closed and the area is a state park now but they were not depleted and there is still Cerrillos Turquoise floating around. There are lots of good stories about this mine.

https://www.newmexico.org/turquoise-trail/

http://www.cowboysindians.com/Cowboys-Indians/September-2009/Tiffany-Cos-history-with-New-Mexico/

[Haca]

On 3/26/2014 kachina624 said:Actually it was Louis Tiffany who made the world aware of turquoise. He owned or leased the ancient mines in Cerrillos which is right outside of Santa Fe in the hills. Stone from these mines has been found in Central America, having been traded by the local Indians, so the mines are very old. In promoting the turquoise, he threw a cocktail party at the mine that people are still talking about. The mines are closed and the area is a state park now but they were not depleted and there is still Cerrillos Turquoise floating around. There are lots of good stories about this mine.

https://www.newmexico.org/turquoise-trail/

http://www.cowboysindians.com/Cowboys-Indians/September-2009/Tiffany-Cos-history-with-New-Mexico/

Louis Comfort Tiffany...who would have thought?? Thank you, kachina!

[evergreen]

I'm not a fan of SB turquoise because I prefer a color that is more blue-green and SB looks like baby blue to me. I have a Kingman cuff that is truly beautiful that I bought many years ago. I also like a bit of matrix in my stones.

[HandJive]

Recently in business news, counterfeit (knockoff) turquoise and Native American jewelry from mostly from SE Asia, exceeded $176,000,000 in 2013.

Apparently there's a huge market for fakes.

[Puzzle Piece]

On 3/26/2014 Haca said:

On 3/26/2014 Love Roses said:

Interesting but then why are the ladies who are royalty and former first ladies gifted with the SB turquoise. It is a pricey stone. The stones that are rare are valued for their rareness, not necessarily their beauty or demand. I know that the shopping shows hock their turquoise as the SB and it's a small amount they managed to acquire for 'you' the general public, but they are just hyping a product for sales and I have found most is product from abroad or the dyed howelite.

Love Roses, how do you know that most of the SB stones are dyed howlite?? Are you implying that reputable vendors such as Carolyn Pollack, Jay King, etc. would ever sell "dyed howlite" as SB?? I personlly LOVE the color of SB and absolutely believe Carolyn or Jay that their stones are true sleeping beauty turquoise stone.

Lastly, I am a huge lover of any kind and color of turquoise with and without matrix. I have not met a stone I didn't like.

I don't know if they are as I don't buy most of it. But I do know what I know and people often pass their dyed howlite off as SB turquoise. I have nothing against the color at all nor the Vendors - they sure have exposed and educated many on stones. There's another word being tossed around - conundrum which is sort of saying there's a bit of a real stone in the piece and the rest is dyed/enhanced to look like the real thing.

[Puzzle Piece]

On 3/26/2014 kachina624 said:

On 3/26/2014 Love Roses said:

On 3/25/2014 kachina624 said:

On 3/25/2014 Love Roses said:

On 3/25/2014 Shogirl said:

I guess it's only as valuable as the market allows it to be...

That's true for just about everything. The SB Turquoise is a color that isn't found anywhere else that's why it's the Cadillac of turquoise. It's also an American turquoise and the value is placed with other strictly Yankee products. It's not easy to come across and I do wonder why so much is passed off as SB. I think a lot of it is the Howlite dyed a turquoise color.

It is far from being the Cadillac of turquoise...it's just heavily marketed, especially to those that don't know anything about the stone. The stone considered the most valuable is called Lander Blue. There was only about 150 lbs of it mined. Right now Bisbee Turquoise is very much in demand and if the stone is good quality, it's fetching a hefty price. There are many, many other American turquoises which are highly sought after and much more valuable than Sleeping Beauty.

All of the desirable types have matrix. A true connoisseur of turquoise wouldn't allow Sleeping Beauty into his collection. It's sort of a joke to those in the know. Of course all turquoise stones are not created equal; there are both fine and mediocre examples from all of the mines. Keep in mind that fine stones of any type are not usually sold on TV; you find them in fine jewelry stores and galleries.

If visiting Albuquerque, I highly recommend a trip to the Turquoise Museum in the Old Town area. Its owner literally wrote the book on turquoise.

Interesting but then why are the ladies who are royalty and former first ladies gifted with the SB turquoise. It is a pricey stone. The stones that are rare are valued for their rareness, not necessarily their beauty or demand. I know that the shopping shows hock their turquoise as the SB and it's a small amount they managed to acquire for 'you' the general public, but they are just hyping a product for sales and I have found most is product from abroad or the dyed howelite.

When you speak of First Ladies, are you referring to Jackie Kennedy? There has been a necklace in her collection that is referred to as howlite. I had quite an interesting email exchange about this piece with Phillip Katz. The original was indeed howlite and we can't figure out why. I think the Eastern magnate that gave it to her was perhaps sold a bill of goods, or he thought so little of her, he bought the cheapest thing he could find. She probably didn't know the difference.

Howlite is virtually worthless but does have a matrix and is so chalky and porous that it's easily dyed. It's more likely that our unsavory TV sellers would use chalk turquoise, dyed and of course stabilized so they could rightfully call it "turquoise". I heard Michael Vallituti say SB couldn't be duplicated. Well...I think anyone with a brain can figure out that it can and very easily too.

Carolyn Pollack has a reputation to maintain; I don't think she would lie about the materials she uses. I'm equally convinced the company would buy from a reliable source and probably have the stone lab tested for authenticity. Can you imagine what it would do to their business if it was discovered they were cheating? Not worth it. Of all the TV sellers, I would consider the Relios group to be the most trustworthy.

By the way, 99% of all turquoise sold is stabilized. I know a group of miners that soak their stones in buckets of resin in their garages, so it doesn't have to be a fancy process. It's not a bad thing and keeps it from changing color with exposure to body oils, soaps, lotions, perfume, etc. I have some of my mom's turquoise that has changed from a pretty blue to yucky green.

I know that foreign dignitaries and leaders are often given gifts of SB turquoise as they quietly ask for it. Not just Jackie O had turquoise jewelry, other ladies to the manor born had pieces.