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Let's Rock => Identifications of Materials => Topic started by: Bleukatt on March 19, 2018, 11:58:42 AM

Title: Any help with what these might be? And, if they're turquoise, what kind??
Post by: Bleukatt on March 19, 2018, 11:58:42 AM

Hi. I was wondering if anyone here could help me out? I have 2 cabochons and I need help identifying them. Any help with what I've got will be greatly appreciated! I was told in a fb identification group that the 2nd stone might be  birds eye turquoise, or perhaps variscite.  The 1st, I really don't know about.

Title: Re: Any help with whether these are turquoise, and what kind??
Post by: PhilNM on March 19, 2018, 12:26:46 PM

neither are turquoise. Sorry.

Title: Re: Any help with whether these are turquoise, and what kind??
Post by: rocks2dust on March 19, 2018, 01:56:30 PM

I also doubt turquoise. The second piece looks a bit similar to some variscite I have (definitely from Utah, I seem to recall Amatrice Hill area):

(https://s18.postimg.org/xdmm6amnt/2018march_variscite_utah00.jpg)

Difficult to know from photos these days, with so much dyed stuff (limestone and sometimes not even rock) coming in from China.

Title: Re: Any help with what these might be? And, if they're turquoise, what kind??
Post by: Bleukatt on March 19, 2018, 01:59:26 PM

Thank you,  both.

Title: Re: Any help with what these might be? And, if they're turquoise, what kind??
Post by: yukonjade on March 19, 2018, 05:01:33 PM

 I was in the Tooele  Utah gem and mineral club in the 70's and 2 of our members owned the Amatrice hill
 varacite claim, your cab is not that material.The varacite from that claim was an emerald green with tan and brown matrix.
 The owners could'nt keep the thieves from high grading the claim so they finally covered it up under 30 or 40 feet rock years ago.

              The material was drop dead GORGEOUS!!!             :Bash:
 

Title: Re: Any help with what these might be? And, if they're turquoise, what kind??
Post by: rocks2dust on March 19, 2018, 05:48:13 PM

Quite a bit of variation in Amatrice Hill, however (as is the case with Clay Canyon). The piece in my previous post only has a bit of the blue-green variscite near the black webbing. Not all were the deep greens, and in the older finds they were looking for the translucent "Jade" type and robin's egg blues (Tiffany bought up a lot of this) that could be cut with little or no matrix showing. These also all came from Amatrice Hill:

(https://s18.postimg.org/p73t6a3nt/2018march_variscite_utah01.jpg)

Aside from "Jade" and robin's egg, there was "Apple Blossom" (opaque white on green), "Cobweb" (fractured and healed), "Green web" (fractures healed with dark green variscite) and some more complex material mixed with colored agate. Interesting to know what happened to the mine.

Title: Re: Any help with what these might be? And, if they're turquoise, what kind??
Post by: Bleukatt on March 20, 2018, 05:41:04 AM

I was told elsewhere that these are Chinese turquoise from the Hubei mine. Any thoughts? Thanks.

Title: Re: Any help with what these might be? And, if they're turquoise, what kind??
Post by: rocks2dust on March 20, 2018, 10:12:33 AM

Quote from: Bleukatt on March 20, 2018, 05:41:04 AM

I was told elsewhere that these are Chinese turquoise from the Hubei mine.

Hubei is a province, not a mine, which in the past produced turquoises in a range of colors and patterns (most notably blues-to-blue-greens; porous that often turn olive green from skin oil and age). Most of the stuff exported for the last 20+ years is fake, however (anything from dyed limestone to colored plaster to mostly plastic). Possible, yes, but not likely IMHO.

The first piece has a grainy look to the blue-green areas that just doesn't look much like turquoise to my eye. Only way to be certain, however, is to take it to a gemologist who has experience with turquoise for closer examination.

Title: Re: Any help with what these might be? And, if they're turquoise, what kind??
Post by: Bleukatt on March 20, 2018, 10:25:44 AM

Perhaps I should have said Hubei area mine.
Anyway,  thanks for the information.

Title: Re: Any help with what these might be? And, if they're turquoise, what kind??
Post by: PhilNM on March 20, 2018, 06:12:55 PM

not turquoise no matter where they say it's from...