@Ziacat , thanks for the kind comment. Steve is suggesting it’s Hubei, and it certainly looks a lot like the example he provided above. If it is Hubei, it’s my first Chinese turquoise (as far as I know). A very pretty stone.
Now, if it is Hubei turquoise, does that imply it may not be Navajo / Native American? And how long has Hubei turquoise been used in NA jewellery? I poked around older posts a bit but I haven’t spotted that information yet.
Edit: In this thread, @Bigbree43 quoted PuebloDirect.com as saying, “In the mid-1980s when Chinese turquoise started coming to the US market in large quantities, unscrupulous dealers would often sell Chinese turquoise as Number 8, Lander Blue or many other famous mines…” And on the Perry Null site, there’s an article – American vs Chinese Turquoise – that says, “Since the days Chinese turquoise entered the American market, over 30 years ago…” Unfortunately the article is undated, but the meta tags indicate says it was created in September 2019.
So either way, I guess it’s been around for awhile!