Jewelry

[bargainsgirl]

I have to laugh...for the last few years... no matter which channel I watch....they all say how "rare" and limited this turquoise is.  And yet it is still around...by the hundreds of pieces!  Guess they miscalculated the supply!!  One way to keep the price up I guess...

[millieshops]

@bargainsgirlRare is obviously a relative word.  I think I first became aware of it in the jewelry world when I started to buy diamond jewelry; that was maybe 50 years ago and the "rare" stone is still around.  We've listened to the same warnings about tanzanite and who knows what else.

I just chose the jewelry I'll wear tonight -  the necklace is costume (from a museum gift shop), the ring and earrings more or less meet the rare test as long as we know rare is relative - and you're right that rare translates to pricey.  It's okay -  I've enjoyed my earrings for 20 years now and the ring for about 10.  The way less expensive necklace??  I bought it last year and tonight will be the first wearing, not a good sign.

[Krimpette]

I've never been a fan.  Sleeping Beauty Turq looks too fake to me....almost plastic-looking.  I prefer turquoise with matrix.

[Equuleus]

The mine is depleted but the stones were mined and collected from years ago.  So rare in the sense that the mine is closed but the stone can be found from collectors who hoarded it.

[Caaareful Shopper]

I don't like turquoise at all, so imagine how tired I am of hearing the story.

[SilleeMee]

I don't think the mine is all depleted but what is there is too costly to get out of the ground and profits will be lost to the expense of mining it. Copper is more profitable in that mine today and I think there is still some turq being taken out of that location...just not widely done and possibly illegally.

A similar situation is going on with Russian diopside where the mine still has it's supply but it costs too much to profit from getting out of the ground. Now it's being called a 'rare' gem and many are saying it will no longer be mined in the future at the Russian location.

[chrystaltree]

The mine is closed!!!!   The mine is closed!!!!   They all screech that at the top of their lungs and it has been closed for years but as a ShopLC host explained a couple of years ago, while the Sleeping Beauty mine is closed there is enough Sleeping Beauty in wharehouses and in the hands of manufacturers and  collectors to last for years and years.  I suppose there will come a time in the forseeable future when it is rare but there's plenty of it available now.  

[SilleeMee]

The SB mine is NOT actually closed. There is active copper mining going on there right now.

[Skididdy]

@bargainsgirl, LOL, I was thinking the same exact thing.

[JBSH]

I have about 8 pieces of SB from years ago. The things I have purchased lately are too light, too dark, or have too much green in them. All have been returned, and I feel so gypped paying shipping both ways in most cases.