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Tuesday, October 7th, 2002
Turquoise
Recently, there was an article in the Wall St. Journal denigrating
turquoise to a roadside type of jewelry that serious jewelers won't
carry. One jeweler stated the bottom line, which is, paraphrasing that "with turquoise,
the problem
is trying to get quality and truly knowing how to gauge it." Serious gemstone
dealers have reason to not understand turquoise: they have not had any need
to learn about it because there's never been enough gem-grade turquoise for everyone. The fashion industry is marketing a lot of cheaper turquoise-styled jewelry,
sometimes with the name of "faux turquoise." Faux stands for phony, which
still stands for plastic.
On a Today Show segment in July, a fashion representative showed host Katie
Couric a number of fashion items featuring turquoise. The rep then went on to
push one piece with blue plastic "stones" because, to her, it looked just the
same as the real stuff, was cheaper and it was lighter to wear. This type of
marketing devalues the beauty of authentic turqouise, but it's also provides us with the
opportunity to draw attention to this gem,
and educate people to what makes it so special that it was chosen to be set in
Egyptian Pharaohs' and Persian King's royal jewels millenia ago. It also provides an opportunity
to tell the fashion reps that what they're used to seeing isn't turquoise.
To understand the value of turquoise, you can apply the basic laws of supply
and demand.
With turquoise today, it helps to understand how it forms and what makes it
look like it does to evaluate price as well as investment
potential. The following paragraphs will give you an understanding of how rare these stones are...
Turquoise forms in arid climates, similar to conditions in the American
Southwest, a place synonymous with turquoise and Indian jewelry worldwide. The
states that are most famous for this gem are New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and
Colorado. Turquoise generally forms near the surface to about 200 feet below
the surface. (Tyrone and Bisbee are the only known mines to have reached below
800 feet.) There are only about five or so American mines still producing.
Many other American mines are nearly depleted, other small
mining operations cannot afford to open their mines because of the cost of mining and related
government regulations.
Chemically, turquoise is a hydrous phosphate of copper and aluminum,
with intrusions of iron. (The greater the copper content in the structure, the bluer the turquoise,
while more iron will produce green shades.)
Turquoise initially is a soft, porous and white sedimentary
formation. Over time, as the percolation
of water continues to bring more minerals into the deposit, a complex set of conditions
results in a tiny percentage of
each formation becoming dense enough to show blue and green colors and hard enough
to be cut, polished, and set in jewelry.
85% of each turquoise deposit remains a soft, chalky material, while a small
percentage (15%) will have gained enough density to range from low to
high-grade turquoise. The lowest 85% is discarded and out of the top 15% turquoise that is mined, only
about 1% (or less) is gem-grade, completely natural and useable as it comes out of the ground.
The word natural is key to buying the gemstone turquoise. Whether you're
looking at high grade, medium grade or low grade the word 'natural' means that the
stone has not been treated with plastics, waxes, oils, or other methods
to alter the appearance of the stone.
Some of the factors to consider when buying turquoise: its originating location (mine or country), color and 'zat' in the stone.
Zat is the special 'life' in the stone that makes it glow, that preciousness that's so hard to photograph
but which is the quality that makes people go 'Wow!' when they first see and hold a stone with
zat. Also matrix: if it's well-defined and uniform, "spiderweb matrix" will increase a stones value.
LOCATION:Most turquoise mines are marketed under a name, such as Bisbee, Morenci
(from Arizona),
Blue Gem, Lander or #8 (Nevada). Most of the really famous mines are long closed
and haven't produced for years, so a good question to ask is: where is this turquoise coming
from?
Old miners had a habit of stock-piling their rough turquoise for years, preferring to
be buried with it than sell it (they knew how undervalued it was).
With the passing of these miners and/or the recent upsurge in interest
in turquoise, old collections are being found and/or released by heirs or
miners that are ready to let go of their turquoise.
We know the stonecutters
who buy the rough material directly from the miners and then cut it into beads, cabochons, etc.,
(and buy most of the turquoise for fetish carvings ourselves) so we know the origin of the turquoise we offer and if it has been treated
or not. If we're not sure, we can ask the people cutting the stone as they're the most reliable source for finding out
if a stone has been treated: they can smell it or see it.
COLOR:All the turquoise mines produce a range of
blues and greens; however, certain mines have become famous for their distinctive
colors and matrix. Bisbee is known for its deep blues and smoky matrix; Blue
Gem, which has a distinctive aqua 'watery' look to the glassy stones; Sleeping
Beauty is known for its consistent blues that can be easily matched for cluster, needlepoint,
inlay and other Zuni jewelry styles. The #8 Mine (Nevada) is collectible
for its golden and black web spiderwebbing. Stones that exemplify these qualities are collectible.
Most of the time, deep-colored, vibrant stones are more rare and valuable
than soft, lighter colors. There are exceptions, which are called "hard light".
#8 is a good example where light-colored turquoise is (unusually) hard enough
to take a polish and have 'zat'. There are many minerals that have been introduced
as "white turquoise". Most are minerals such as calcite, alunite or magnesite that sell better
under the name of 'turquoise' than what they really are. Burnham's Dry
Creek Turquoise is the lightest-colored known stone to actually be turquoise.
It's difficult to tell if turquoise is natural just by looking, even if you've been
around it for years. Again, natural turquoise stones have been cut and polished, with no artificial
changes. Color may change over
time as body oils and other sources of moisture are absorbed into the stones. These variations
give stones a lovely, natural patina. Only high quality stones can be used in their natural state.
The word "treated" is a general term referring to the processes by which chalk
turquoise and other low-grade turquoise are made useable by increasing
their color and hardness.
Most of the turquoise found in today's jewelry has been treated or enhanced in some way, and
a large portion of the Indian jewelry industry uses treated turquoise.
There's nothing wrong with that as long as you know it's treated and you are charged accordingly.
If jewelry designers had to
rely on only high quality, natural stones, increased prices would prohibit many of us
from owning any turquoise at all. With what little is available,
you can expect to pay upwards of $2,000 to $8,000 for a
single strand
of gem-grade Natural turquoise beads from a small or now-closed American turquoise mine,
if you can find it.
If someone is selling you natural turquoise beads from an American mine for $100, you have
the knowledge to know it's not American turquoise, but rather Chinese turquoise (which sells for much less), is stabilized (which was
made from the more plentiful turquoise available at the
mine) and was made overseas using low-cost labor.
How Turquoise is Treated
Stabilized- An epoxy resin or other substance is injected into the pores of the
stone to harden the stone and increase the color. This seals the pores of the stone
and its color will not change over time.
Enhanced- Medium grade turquoise's color is deepened by
changing the stone's structure by the patented Zachary Process, which soaks
or 'cooks' the turquoise in oils or waxes.
Fracture Sealed- Turquoise with a soft host rock is given a sealant to harden
the host rock. If the turquoise is low to medium grade to begin with, this will increase
the color. If the turquoise was high-grade but just had soft matrix, the sealant will
penetrate the matrix only, leaving the turquoise mostly untouched.
Reconstituted- Crumbs of chalk and low grade turquoise are mixed with acrylic or
other plastics and compressed into a 'block' of turquoise. If it looks like plastic to you
and the price is low, it most likely is,
no matter what it's being sold as.
Dyed:Blue dye is added to chalky, low grade turquoise.
Treated turquoise is a legitimate product and can look very similar to natural turquoise.
For example, most all Santo Domingo heishe beads are made from stabilized Kingman Turquoise,
since the waste factor
is so high in making beads and natural stone is hard to work into beads without cracking and
breaking. Still, high-quality
stabilized sells for $90-$120/pound and a pound fits in the palm of your hand. You
may see 10-strand Phillipine-made
heishe selling as "Native-made" for $200; the turquoise can't be bought for that price in the
rough, let alone cut, drilled, spun-ground, strung,
and sold to a retailer for that price!
The identification of colored gemstones (emeralds,
tanzanites, turquoise, etc.) is difficult at best and the responsibility is legally and ethically
placed upon the seller
to correctly identify their merchandise. FTC guidelines are based upon requiring complete
disclosure of information about each item.
We don't sell dyed, reconstituted or enhanced turquoise on this site. If turquoise is
stabilized, we will disclose it. Any time you are paying a premium price for jewelry you should
be sure the person you are buying it from is reputable and knowledgeable about all aspects of
the piece. Choose a piece of turquoise because it speaks to you, not because it is the current
fashionable color or comes with the "right" amount of matrix. We could discuss the topic of
turquoise all year long. There are many variables that make turquoise an
incredibly complex and fascinating topic for those who want to take the time to learn about it.
Please visit the About Turquoise Page for additional
information on turquoise.
Tuesday, October 29th, 2002 ~
"Aging" of Natural Turquoise
Turquoise is alive and different grades of turquoise have different degrees of porosity within
the stone. Simplified: color + hardness = value.
Turquoise is known to absorb natural oils from your
skin which gives turquoise a 'patina' that's very beautiful and rich with character.
Higher-grades of turquoise are
harder to begin with, they stay glassy and polished for a long time with the color just
intensifying.
Lower-grade blue can turn varying shades of aqua to green, depending on the hardness of the stone.
Pictured to the left are examples of older, well-worn turquoise. The old
Hopi joclaw necklace was made over 25 years, worn alot and has all different
shades of blues, greens and aqua. Most likely, when new, it was all one color but since
it was worn around the neck, close to the body, maybe during dancing (and perspiring) this is what
it looks like today. It's a very special piece to us.
Hard, dense areas of a stone can change
to soft within millimeters (see the Fox Turquoise slab below).
Hardness is most definitely a factor when turquoise is graded, selected, and priced in the rough, as well
as in finished jewelry. All the natural you see on this site is high-to-gem grade quality and will
age beautifully.
Over time, these stones have the potential to become very personal, sacred things in our lives.
Left: Two strands of identical, natural Castledome Arizona turquoise rolled beads made
at the same time, over two years ago. The one on the right has been worn the whole time, mostly
against the skin, the other has not been worn at all.
Right: great example of old, heavily-worn, natural turquoise joclaws on the right with a
recently-made (never worn) Castledome
Arizona turquoise necklace on the left.
No telling the original color of the old joclaws but 30-40 years ago they may have
looked similar to the strand on the left. That's part of the charm of older, well-worn Indian Jewelry. The turquoise (and silver) has
aged and achieved a special "patina", something that only happens with time. If turquoise isn't worn, it can get a bit lighter and
dry out, but with some moisture and rubbing, will show it's color and 'zat' again.
Top-left: when the stones were put together for this cross/angel pendant, the bottom stone was an opaque,
eggshell blue #8 with no markings whatsoever. Over time, fine blue webbing has 'surfaced' and dark-blue
"pools" have appeared in the two Bisbee (Arizona) blue turquoise side stones.
In the tyrone bracelet you can see how deep blue lines have 'appeared' from underneath
and given the stone more depth and vibrancy. Last is a picture of a Philip Chambless Turquoise
Mountain Turquoise (Arizona) bracelet which was all one shade of pastel aqua when put on almost
three years ago. This is what is so fun about turquoise, the shades of blue and green that the
bracelet has taken on are fabulous and completely unique and given the bracelet much more character
than it had to begin with!
Pictured to the left is an old natural turquoise three-strand Navajo 'tab' necklace that was old pawn.
"Old pawn" is just that: jewelry that was pawned many years ago and never picked up. Many of these
traders kept these pieces in their vaults for years, through generations, always allowing the Native
to come back for his 'house' jewelry until, years later, i8:36 AM 10/22/02t's finally released for sale.
You can still see the little blue 'jewels' in the smaller nuggets while the larger, "tab" beads
have changed to varying shades of blue, agua and green, sometimes all the shades are in one stone!
Again, the beads were most-likely close to the same color when it was made.
Far Left: Slabs of natural Fox Turquoise from Nevada showing high-grade, darker-green
and blue turquoise amidst soft, porous, whitish "chalky" areas that make the stone unusable for jewelry.
This also shows you how
the artists 'gamble' on high-dollar natural turquoise with no guarantee of it being high-grade
all the way through the stone. The turquoise is high-grade but the matrix is too soft and crumbles so
is only useable if stabilized. (Everything has to be "just right" for these stones to turn into
the turquoise jewelry that's on this site.)
Right: Different grades of natural turquoise L to R: low-grade Kingman, high-grade Morenci vein and
gem-grade Black-Web Kingman, very blue, hard and shiny after being cut, without being polished.
Monday, December 23rd, 2002
Fred Bowannie Zuni Clay Stone Bear Fetish
Pictured above is an extraordinary Zuni Bear Fetish carved by
Fred Bowannie. He was carved this past June from clay-stone that we found
while hiking in the Zuni Mountains. This was the first bear of this kind for Fred; the fur, animated face,
motion and pure sculptural feel were never seen before in one of his bears.
His friend is an exquisite butterfly, carved from colorful Abalone shell. The butterfly has a pearlescent rainbow
back and a white and orange underside.
Fred's bears have a strength, maturity and gentleness that you can definitively feel.
He's a picture of peaceful co-existence, he sends out hope and love for the Earth and all beings in the
the New Year.
Monday, December 30th, 2002 ~ Happy New Year!
Winter Images from New Mexico
These pictures were taken yesterday, four days after a foot and a half
of snow fell in the Zuni Mountains of New Mexico. This area has been in severe drought for
many years so a deep snow that sticks is rare and a blessing.
We would like to extend a sincere Thank You to all the people who've chosen to
connect with us either directly or indirectly by visiting our website. It is a labor of love,
and knowing what neat people are attracted to it has been a gratifying part of what we do.
We hope the New Year brings us all light, awareness and enough for all our needs.
We send out prayers for peace, respect and planetary harmony and
share these images of winter in western New Mexico as a farewell to the old and a welcoming
in to the new.
Wishing you health and happiness in 2003,
Julia
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