Lapidaryforum.net
Let's Rock => Identifications of Materials => Topic started by: Raccoon on August 25, 2021, 07:52:41 PM
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Hello all,
I ordered this 1.45 oz piece of turquoise from a seller who strikes me as reputable.
I think it's beautiful, but... Bisbee turquoise is known for it's red matrix, right? Whereas this is green.
It does look to have that "smoky" effect I've read about.
I'm also curious as to whether it's stabilized, only because we were originally talking about non-stabilized, and I think that point may have fallen by the wayside. There are some glossy areas on the rough part that I thought might be resin.
Sorry to ask before introducing; I'm Raccoon, and I like rocks! Thanks for reading :hello:
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One standard test for stabilized vs. untreated is to touch the end of your tongue to it. It there is a slight tuck due to the porosity of the stone pulling water from your tongue its untreated. I guess you would call it hydroscopic. If treated there is no such effect.
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I find the inside of my bottom lip to work much better than tongue.
Another test is to try burning a small chunk at the tip of a flame of a lighter: resin-impregnated turquoise will give off the characteristic plasticy smell, while untreated pieces are unremarkable. Note this only works with polymer-stabilized turquoise, not with Zachary treated material which is very hard to detect with certainty without spectroscopy.
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Welcome to the forum!
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heres some photos of my stabilized peekaboo Bisbee
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Phishisgroovin,
See, that's more what I think of when I think of Bisbee turquoise!
I re-watched the Durango Silver Youtube videos about Bisbee turquoise, and they had a couple that maybe looked like mine... I dunno.
Bisbee or not, it's really pretty and it's hard to refrain from cutting it.
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I've heard that about the lip/tongue test, but I've also heard that that doesn't work with gem grade turquoise.
But I've also heard that gem grade turquoise is extremely rare; so upon reflection, there's no reason I ought to have expected a piece that size to be natural at the price I paid. :grin:
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i can clearly see that your stone is stabilized, the chalky texture or natural turquoise just isnt there.
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I've heard that about the lip/tongue test, but I've also heard that that doesn't work with gem grade turquoise.
But I've also heard that gem grade turquoise is extremely rare; so upon reflection, there's no reason I ought to have expected a piece that size to be natural at the price I paid. :grin:
Yes, gem grade turquoise is very rare and not porous like most turquoise and so does not suck up moisture the way lower grade turquoise will. About 95% of the turquoise on the market is stabilized, usually with epoxy although there are ways to stabilize turquoise without plastic resins.
Here is naturally hard turquoise I dug up:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/8491/29175784563_3a7bd5bec0_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/Lsawhk)20160919_133414-1 (https://flic.kr/p/Lsawhk) by James Sloane (https://www.flickr.com/photos/143011703@N05/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/8370/29174033354_10fbde111e_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/Ls1xH5)20160919_133229-1 (https://flic.kr/p/Ls1xH5) by James Sloane (https://www.flickr.com/photos/143011703@N05/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/8085/29801495825_fe0f3c02e0_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/Mpssrx)20160919_133216-1 (https://flic.kr/p/Mpssrx) by James Sloane (https://www.flickr.com/photos/143011703@N05/), on Flickr
And some cabs I made from some other turquoise from another nearby mine.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/1927/44138138105_f7560c7d42_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2afkuH8)20160828_164825 (https://flic.kr/p/2afkuH8) by James Sloane (https://www.flickr.com/photos/143011703@N05/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/1953/30113519097_09104624cd_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/MT2E68)20160828_164758 (https://flic.kr/p/MT2E68) by James Sloane (https://www.flickr.com/photos/143011703@N05/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/1915/31176693108_b810ffd897_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/PuYGFw)20160828_164640 (https://flic.kr/p/PuYGFw) by James Sloane (https://www.flickr.com/photos/143011703@N05/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/1907/43238207120_726f72c68c_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/28SP7zE)20160828_164515 (https://flic.kr/p/28SP7zE) by James Sloane (https://www.flickr.com/photos/143011703@N05/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/1923/43238209280_e8d6f665f8_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/28SP8dU)20160828_164426 (https://flic.kr/p/28SP8dU) by James Sloane (https://www.flickr.com/photos/143011703@N05/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/1950/31176696408_2be4455c43_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/PuYHEq)20160828_164157 (https://flic.kr/p/PuYHEq) by James Sloane (https://www.flickr.com/photos/143011703@N05/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/1961/31176697568_51508454b8_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/PuYJ1q)20160828_164113 (https://flic.kr/p/PuYJ1q) by James Sloane (https://www.flickr.com/photos/143011703@N05/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/1904/30113527987_789c1f41e3_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/MT2GJp)20160828_163842 (https://flic.kr/p/MT2GJp) by James Sloane (https://www.flickr.com/photos/143011703@N05/), on Flickr
3 pound chunk I have been hand polishing.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/1945/45004244222_c4c2422452_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2bySvTd)20180908_150959 (https://flic.kr/p/2bySvTd) by James Sloane (https://www.flickr.com/photos/143011703@N05/), on Flickr
And a necklace, earrings and ring made from the unstabilized material.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/1925/44332473854_91b6f3f4bb_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2axvvXu)20161108_230632-1 - Copy (https://flic.kr/p/2axvvXu) by James Sloane (https://www.flickr.com/photos/143011703@N05/), on Flickr
Digging for the material. The arrows show the 3 pound chunks I dug out.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/1980/31190344998_c689e74034_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/PwbEUW)20170214_154300-1-copy (https://flic.kr/p/PwbEUW) by James Sloane (https://www.flickr.com/photos/143011703@N05/), on Flickr
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It must be great to be able to find and collect turquoise solid enough to cut. Not many people get to do that.
Nice cabs, and great jewelry.
Thanks for the very informative photos with the rough and cabs shown together.
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Wow, those are gorgeous! It looks brittle, what is it like to cut?
I found some turquoise, too ... Don't laugh.
Photo 1: hard Bisbee nuggets found by me and my partner; I worked them a little and even made that tiny cabochon; it is stable. Not sure about the greenish piece though, or even if it's turquoise.
Photo 2: Other copper mineral-and maybe turquoise- containing rocks I found in Bisbee, which will have to be stabilized.
Photo 3: Some of the first cabochons I've completed. A couple stabilized turquoise-maybes, and a ... Chrysocola?
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Wow, those are gorgeous! It looks brittle, what is it like to cut?
I found some turquoise, too ... Don't laugh.
Photo 1: hard Bisbee nuggets found by me and my partner; I worked them a little and even made that tiny cabochon; it is stable. Not sure about the greenish piece though, or even if it's turquoise.
Photo 2: Other copper mineral-and maybe turquoise- containing rocks I found in Bisbee, which will have to be stabilized.
Photo 3: Some of the first cabochons I've completed. A couple stabilized turquoise-maybes, and a ... Chrysocola?
The heavily veined material tends to be brittle on the surface, but the deeper part of the stones is quite solid. the second and third photos are pieces I ground off the crumbly surface and face polished the rest of these pieces and they held together fine.
The more solid blue to green is easy to cut and does not crumble at all.
Here is what was my favorite piece until someone dropped it on a tile floor busting it in to three pieces.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51424476862_5ed2dcb1d9_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mmcTnq)20160928_134842 (https://flic.kr/p/2mmcTnq) by James Sloane (https://www.flickr.com/photos/143011703@N05/), on Flickr
And some more examples of the raw material from the mine. All naturally hard and stable and easy to cut and work.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51426209675_0815ce9551_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mmmLtv)20160517_155522 (https://flic.kr/p/2mmmLtv) by James Sloane (https://www.flickr.com/photos/143011703@N05/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51425475668_9c80f1f2c7_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mmi1hd)20160413_144047 (https://flic.kr/p/2mmi1hd) by James Sloane (https://www.flickr.com/photos/143011703@N05/), on Flickr
You have some nice pieces there. To ID the stones though it is best to run some tests. For example, turquoise is generally harder and denser than chrysocolla. Chrysocolla also does not react to concentrated hydrochloric acid. The main confirmation for myself was running a phosphate test.There are several means of doing this. I used hydrochloric acid o dissolve a piece of the stone then used a phosphate test kit to test for the presence of phosphate in the resultant solution, which tested very high.