Hi everyone,
I just bought some strands sold as Campitos turquoise, but the material is very odd to me. It has a lot of pyrite bits and other minerals, but the semi-translucency against light, and the particular shade of blue throws me off. If it isn’t turquoise, what material might it be? Magnesite? I did the acetone rub and no color came off. Your insights are appreciated.
Gosh, I’m not sure. The bigger one in the middle at least looks like turquoise, and I would guess the one with the pyrite is also. Not totally sure on the others because of the translucency, but I’ve definitely seen turquoise that color.
Edit: Found this from Palms Trading in ABQ…
I think you have turquoise. Although I don’t totally understand them saying it can’t be opaque. I have some turquoise that I know for a fact is real, and it seems to have a little quality of that to it, but I don’t know exactly what they mean, they probably mean extremely opaque; I’m probably misunderstanding their definition.
Sorry @Ziacat , I would find it hard to rely on a shop for accurate description of minerals. I suggest a scientific approach from sites such as geology.com and mindat.org, or other reliable resource.
You’re likely right on that, although this is a good shop. But I still think it’s possibly turquoise.
I’m sure a geologist would be best, so what do you think? I looked at lots of stuff, and found semi translucency definitely associated with turquoise. I just picked one. I wanted to respond because no one had yet.
Yes, it looks like turquoise to me. I have some rough that has that waxy appearance.
I still think you are correct @Ziacat that it is turquoise. Not doubting your expertise. I’ve just seen too much smoke blown from sellers.
Thanks for all your responses! I had asked other lapidary artists, as well as the Turquoise Museum people, and they say it’s likely turquoise having undergone a stabilized process that can sometimes produce a slight translucent quality.
I’m not sure if natural turquoise with no treatment would be translucent by itself. If someone can elaborate further, that’d be great to know!
I have some rough AZ turquoise I collected in mine tailings. It is somewhat translucent and has that waxy appearance.
No problem, I totally get it. I’m really careful which sites I get information from. There’s so much crap out there.
It’s a little hard to tell from the pics, but it could be that they have been hand drilled (because they have a little “U” shape on the entrances of the holes).
