Post subject: My Great Grandmothers turquoise from her antique jewelry
Posted: Sat May 15, 2021 7:19 pm
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Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:46 am Posts: 3
I have my great grandmothers turquoise from her antique jewelry it's from the #8 mine 1 is golden brown spider web matrix the larger one is black brown and red matrixing ....I would like to know what y'all thank of it its lost it's silver over the years and I did the scratch test on the rear sides with a Razer I know dum really dum but it does not scratch easily witch makes me thank it's real turquoise here are some picks
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Post subject: Re: My Great Grandmothers turquoise from her antique jewelry
Posted: Sun May 16, 2021 12:45 am
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Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:46 am Posts: 3
I looked up several different types of turquoise and the closest I seen was turquoise for the #8 mine in Nevada... It has the same baby robins egg blue with the spider web matrixing so looked some history on the #8 mine it was the only mine that produced 1,600 Lb of this type of turquoise it also hauled the larges peace of gem quality turquoise weighing 150+ Lb
Post subject: Re: My Great Grandmothers turquoise from her antique jewelry
Posted: Tue May 18, 2021 4:38 pm
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Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2016 7:58 pm Posts: 1424 Location: San Marcos, CA
Adam C. Vance wrote:
I looked up several different types of turquoise and the closest I seen was turquoise for the #8 mine in Nevada... It has the same baby robins egg blue with the spider web matrixing so looked some history on the #8 mine it was the only mine that produced 1,600 Lb of this type of turquoise it also hauled the larges peace of gem quality turquoise weighing 150+ Lb
You may be correct that your cabachons are from rough mined in Nevada. You would need more provinance to state accuracy to that claim though only based on it looks similar. You would need a gemological lab to identifiy it based on industry records. Most Robin's Egg Blue is notably from Bisbee, Az. That doesn't mean only, Isreal produces some very nice pastel green's. Turquoise is a by product of copper and other related mineral mining in many parts of the world.
Post subject: Re: My Great Grandmothers turquoise from her antique jewelry
Posted: Thu May 20, 2021 1:53 am
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Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:46 am Posts: 3
Thank you I greatly appreciate the help on finding out if these stone are from the #8 mine I'm going to do more research on them and see what els I can find out about them I also have one more stone I have no clue in what it could be I thanks it lapis azure and fools gold but the light and dark blue on the same stone is confusing.... If y'all wouldent mind telling me or give me an idea of what it could possibly be I'd greatly appreacate it
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Post subject: Re: My Great Grandmothers turquoise from her antique jewelry
Posted: Thu May 20, 2021 1:44 pm
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Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2016 7:58 pm Posts: 1424 Location: San Marcos, CA
I would agree, nothing about that cabochon says natural. Adam, you need to understand that Turquoise is commonly treated by color enhancing, stabilizing with many different methods. With that same gun pointed in this direction, I might suspect that even your claimed #8 mine Nevada turquoise is most likely not turquoise but Magnesite dyed and stabilized to look like turquoise. Turquoise, Magnesite, and Howlite all take dying quite easy with food coloring, fabric dyes, and good ole ty-d-bol cleaner for that nice deep blue Lapis color.
Post subject: Re: My Great Grandmothers turquoise from her antique jewelry
Posted: Thu May 20, 2021 6:21 pm
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Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:22 pm Posts: 21602 Location: San Francisco
Turquoise and lazurite (the main component of lapis), form under different geological conditions. Therefore it would be unlikely (understatement) to find them in association.
The first 2 turquoise pics above look like they possibly could be dyed imitations. The latter 2 not so much.
Mohs hardness testing can be used for separation, however, this will leave scratches on your specimen.
The most common substitutes for genuine Turquoise are Howlite and Magnesite. On the Mohs hardness scale, the hardness of Howlite is 3.5, and the hardness of Magnesite is 3.5-4.5. Genuine Turquoise is 5-6.
If you are going to do hardness testing, buy a kit online, which also usually includes a scratch plate too. No scratching glass (glass will scratch glass), no using points of xls for scratching, etc. Use hardness points. I use this one: https://www.amazon.com/Deluxe-Hardness- ... 1QQCBKPEMD
Post subject: Re: My Great Grandmothers turquoise from her antique jewelry
Posted: Thu May 20, 2021 8:37 pm
Gold Member
Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2016 7:58 pm Posts: 1424 Location: San Marcos, CA
When we were suppling dyed Howlite cabachons to the GIA education program, it was common that they were commonly getting dyed magnesite in the field from suppliers that were said to be Howlite. The specific gravity between the two are so close it is really hard in the field meaning tradeshow environments to do proper testing.
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