Jewelry

[Justice4all]

I have antique Native American turquoise and nothing has happened to it but I am very careful with my jewelry.

[cerb]

I also own some decades-old untreated turquoise jewelry once owned by my grandmother. None of it has crumbled, but body oils have turned the color a somewhat dark teal color.

[Kachina624]

Turquoise normally will not crumble unless it's extremely poor quality. It will change color if not stabilized. The pretty blue color will turn green. Untreated stones are not necessarily more valuable; the value is determined by the scarcity of the stone, the matrix and its pattern, color of the stone, the mine from which it originated. Sleeping Beauty if far from being the most valuable. The most valuable is usually considered to be Lander Blue, of which only about 150 lbs were ever mined. True turquoise collectors are not remotely interested in SB.

Here's a ring with a Lander Blue stone.

[scotnovel]

On 3/16/2015 Justice4all said: I have antique Native American turquoise and nothing has happened to it but I am very careful with my jewelry.

I also have an antique Native American necklace with around 20 nuggets of turquoise and nothing has happened to it. Although it is older, I've owned it for about 30 years and, like you, I am careful with it and it is still quite beautiful.

[scotnovel]

On 3/16/2015 Kachina624 said:

Turquoise normally will not crumble unless it's extremely poor quality. It will change color if not stabilized. The pretty blue color will turn green. Untreated stones are not necessarily more valuable; the value is determined by the scarcity of the stone, the matrix and its pattern, color of the stone, the mine from which it originated. Sleeping Beauty if far from being the most valuable. The most valuable is usually considered to be Lander Blue, of which only about 150 lbs were ever mined. True turquoise collectors are not remotely interested in SB.

Here's a ring with a Lander Blue stone.

You said true collectors are not remotely interested in SB and I totally agree. I think a good rule of thumb is, if it is being sold by multiple designers on multiple home shopping networks, it really isn't as rare as the vendors and hosts claim. It might be a beautiful piece that you love and pass down through the family, but it isn't like to be a true investment piece that will increase in value.

[melfie]

Beautiful ring. The one thing I dislike about the SBT I've seen on the shopping channels is the plastic appearance. Maybe this is from the stabilization. I've seen a bit of untreated SBT turquoise on ebay and it is significantly more expensive than what is shown on the Q. Maybe it's worth the extra money to invest in the untreated stuff.

[Jugtown]

On 3/16/2015 Scotnovel said:

On 3/16/2015 Kachina624 said:

Turquoise normally will not crumble unless it's extremely poor quality. It will change color if not stabilized. The pretty blue color will turn green. Untreated stones are not necessarily more valuable; the value is determined by the scarcity of the stone, the matrix and its pattern, color of the stone, the mine from which it originated. Sleeping Beauty if far from being the most valuable. The most valuable is usually considered to be Lander Blue, of which only about 150 lbs were ever mined. True turquoise collectors are not remotely interested in SB.

Here's a ring with a Lander Blue stone.

You said true collectors are not remotely interested in SB and I totally agree. I think a good rule of thumb is, if it is being sold by multiple designers on multiple home shopping networks, it really isn't as rare as the vendors and hosts claim. It might be a beautiful piece that you love and pass down through the family, but it isn't like to be a true investment piece that will increase in value.

I'm a collector of turquoise and I love SB. True, I don't collect as an investment, but I also feel it depends on who you buy it from (how it's sourced and how a piece is made) that determines quality . . and not just that it may come from a shopping network or private artist.

[cooking lady]

ITA!!!

[Haca]

On 3/16/2015 Kachina624 said:

Turquoise normally will not crumble unless it's extremely poor quality. It will change color if not stabilized. The pretty blue color will turn green. Untreated stones are not necessarily more valuable; the value is determined by the scarcity of the stone, the matrix and its pattern, color of the stone, the mine from which it originated. Sleeping Beauty if far from being the most valuable. The most valuable is usually considered to be Lander Blue, of which only about 150 lbs were ever mined. True turquoise collectors are not remotely interested in SB.

Here's a ring with a Lander Blue stone.

Beautiful design, beautiful stone and a design I like. I wear man's rings from time to time because they are simpler in design. Thanks for sharing, Kachina.

[HandJive]

On 3/16/2015 melfie said:

Thanks for the info. So most turquoise is treated. Does this mean untreated SBT is worth more?

You're welcome.

Turquoise that is mined from the earth is graded by type. Low and mid-grade turquoise are more likely be to stabilized or treated because of the soft or crumbly nature of the rock once the host material is removed. And to preserve color, but I personally don't buy the color theory because I own treated turquoise that has changed over time. It's what you can expect to find in mass-marketed jewelry where sadly, demand is higher then quality.

High-grade turquoise is more dense and more likely to be found untreated, but it may not stay that way if buyer or a jewelry artist decides to stabilized it for various reasons, and in most cases just a backing is applied to the stone and it's hand polished with no other treatments needed. I have two friends that deal in all types of turquoise, it blows my mind the knowledge they possess on this subject.

As for value, high-grade Sleeping Beauty turquoise pictured below looks nothing like what it's mass-produced, solid color, low-grade counterpart looks like. It will have beautiful black veining that makes every stone beautiful and unique which makes it very valuable to the lucky ones who own any.