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Honored Contributor
Posts: 69,397
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

@Carol Diane.  I'm a turquoise purist and somewhat of a collector.  To me, to do this to the stone is an atrocity.   It's a manufactured product that is completely unnatural.  The mishmash in this ring is too much and poorly done.

New Mexico☀️Land Of Enchantment
Super Contributor
Posts: 293
Registered: ‎02-06-2013

Re: Composite Turquoise

[ Edited ]

@Kachina624 : Composite turquoise? Are you referring to that Turquoise that they called "Mohave" and Reconstitute turquoise? At Shop LC they sell that, and they explained how is the process.They mix the Turquoise with the cooper. I don't buy that. On the other hand, Sleeping Beauty is solid turquoise. ShopLC had a show on Sleeping Beauty on Saturday.

 

Reconstitute is tiny pieces of turquoise mix with another material that is not cooper.

 

 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 13,936
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

What do you call the product where they grind the turquoise into a powder and form it all together with some sort of glue?  I was told by someone supposedly in the know that turquoise is very unstable without going through this process.  I have one pendant that has a crack right through the middle.  This was supposedly pure untouched turquoise from the Mined in America show years ago.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 9,877
Registered: ‎12-22-2013

@depglass wrote:

What do you call the product where they grind the turquoise into a powder and form it all together with some sort of glue?  I was told by someone supposedly in the know that turquoise is very unstable without going through this process.  I have one pendant that has a crack right through the middle.  This was supposedly pure untouched turquoise from the Mined in America show years ago.


Since it was untouched it probably was not stabilized.  This could be the issue.  Not sure.  I am sure someone will know the answer.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 35,612
Registered: ‎05-22-2016

Re: Composite Turquoise

[ Edited ]

@depglass wrote:

What do you call the product where they grind the turquoise into a powder and form it all together with some sort of glue?  I was told by someone supposedly in the know that turquoise is very unstable without going through this process.  I have one pendant that has a crack right through the middle.  This was supposedly pure untouched turquoise from the Mined in America show years ago.


 

 

That kind of turquoise is called block or reconstituted turquoise. It's made with resin added to the powder then it turns into a moldable clay-like material. Once this clay-like material dries then it can be cut into shapes. Many times they add dye to the mix to enhance the color.

Regular Contributor
Posts: 200
Registered: ‎01-16-2018
Stay away from reconstituted turquoise! It's as fake as you can get! In my book it's garbage!
Regular Contributor
Posts: 200
Registered: ‎01-16-2018
Sleeping beauty turquoise and Kingman can be dyed also. Know your source!
Honored Contributor
Posts: 69,397
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

The last few years the mine was open, Sleeping Beauty was horrible quality.  They were literally mining the tailings (trash pile) outside the mine.  It was powdery chalk and had to be dyed and heavily stabilized to held it together so it could be cut and polished.  Sleeping Beauty is a product of TV shopping  marketing.  It has never been high quality turquoise and was pretty much a joke among Southwest jewelry collectors who prize stones for their variation in color and elaborate matrix patterns that give the stones character.  The only acceptable use of Sleeping Beauty by the Indians was in Zuni petit point jewelry.

 

I prize my old turquoise Indian-made jewelry for its beautiful stones and heavy matrix, the more the better.

New Mexico☀️Land Of Enchantment
Contributor
Posts: 32
Registered: ‎05-29-2010
virtually all turquoise is stabilized, which helps to preserve the color and to mitigate possible damage that might result from coming into contact with oils, etc. What you’re talking about, however, sounds like reconstitution. I would steer clear. it’s not very nice.