Yep, @Ziacat, we’re on the same page😊. From the little I know, the White Buffalo the Ottesons mine outside of Tonopah NV is quite hard. But as you said other chalk turquoise could be stabilized and passed off as White Buffalo. Guess it’s quite popular and you sure see a lot of this white turquoise for sale.
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Interesting @StevesTrail. My husband had just mentioned the increase in gold prices acouple days ago. This whole global market, OPEC and gold price fluctuation is so confusing, and the good ole USA is not what it used to be. Wish we could be more energy independent…but there’s too many powerful, greedy fingers manipulating our country. Not to be a downer, but I found this quote prophetic:
What the heck does this have to do with turquoise🥴
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Well @Bmpdvm , I could go on and on but basically a general understanding of commodity markets may give people a broader knowledge base in order to make informed purchasing decisions. For example, I’m curious with high interest rates, the rise in metals prices, and the tanking of the Diamond market, how the NA jewelry market remains strong. I’m also looking for answers and input from others since it has become very confusing.
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I imagine (for me anyway) it’s because we aren’t buying it as an investment; we are buying it because we love it. I would have no emotional attachment whatsoever to a gold or silver bar, but buying Native art involves my feelings and emotion. I buy what I love, will wear (or enjoy looking at if it’s not jewelry), and can afford; some pieces I paid a lot for, some probably not near what they are worth. In the end the dollar amount is not what really matters to me.
@StevesTrail, I’m not an economist, but I imagine one reason gold goes up when oil goes up, is because if oil goes up, the price of everything eventually goes up, which makes our dollar buy less, hence gold would be worth more. My sister is a Chartered Financial Analyst, and sometimes a smidgen of what she says actually makes a little bit of sense to me 
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Awhile ago I was watching a YouTube video on Native American jewelry, and someone in the comments said, “I have yellow and purple and red turquoise.” I was like, uh, no you don’t, at least not naturally 
And a number of years ago at the Eiteljorg Indian Art Market I listened to a woman argue with a Navajo artist about the artist’s White Buffalo jewelry. The lady (I refuse to call her a Karen, because I have a wonderful cousin named Karen, so I kind of hate that) kept insisting that White Buffalo was turquoise, and the artist was telling her it was not. I really wanted to jump in and say, please don’t argue with the artist who made the jewelry.
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@Ziacat Oh, my. Just when you think you’ve seen/heard it all. I cannot even imagine arguing with Native American jewelry artists about their own work. Unthinkable. Here’s an artist being up front with the customer - no attempt to hoodwink them in any way. And the artist is subjected to ugliness like that. Sheesh.
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I have a pendant and earrings that are white Buffalo. I believe it comes from only one mine. A good quality stone isn’t cheap either.
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Good article about chemical and physical characteristics of white buffalo stone vs howlite, magnesite, and why none of these are considered turquoise.
I’ve got one pair of earrings that are white buffalo, which I bought at The Palms in Albuquerque. I’m glad that I bought them from a reliable source since I knew a lot less about turquoise and terminology back then. I would sure not try to buy white buffalo online!
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I bought some jewelry on line that was labeled howlite. The chunky necklace is definitely howlite. The earrings and necklace look like White Buffalo. The contrast is easy to tell when put next to each other.
I am buying a lot less on SGW…not worth my time to find a bargain. Prices for all NA jewelry have skyrocketed.
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Prices for EVERYTHING have skyrocketed. Grocery bill can even get scary 
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Prices also rise when demand increases, so places like this must be realizing that Native American jewelry is a hot commodity right now. Also everyone seems to be choosing to shop online vs in store, so more buyers are seeing what’s out there which also drives up prices.
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i’ve noticed a lot of pieces from SGW showing up almost immediately on ebay, as well. i think there are re-sellers using SGW as their wholesale honey hole.
idiots.
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btw,silver is low priced right now.
worth reminding the sellers.
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With exception of the Hunt’s and a ~$47 spike a few years back, Silver has been hovering in the $22 to $25 range for a while now. From the brutal prices I’ve seen, I don’t think sellers are even counting the metal. Some is as pricey, and more pricey than gold jewelry.
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Lol…I’m an idiot. Although I rarely sell my NA jewelry. If I find some NA jewelry in a batch…I will sell everything else so that I get the NA jewelry cheaper. I have bought a lot of non NA silver jewelry there…sometimes find a great deal…but that is getting harder to do. My most favorite NA cuff that I bought…I sold and regret it every time I think of it. It went right away so I probably had it priced way too low. it was an old cuff with a large yellow dendrite stone…so beautiful…I must stop writing about it…it is making me sad.
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And we have been listening for years from silver sellers who say the metal will skyrocket. It may if the dollar crashes.
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@nanc9354 oh yes, you can definitely see the difference in your pieces. The chunky necklace may be magnesite; the coloration in that stone is more marbled whereas turquoise and even howlite have deeper, more craggy veining. That’s why howlite is often used to fake turquoise, because the matrix is very similar.
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From the prices, I’ve been seeing them pay I don’t know how in the world they’re making any money in the resale business. Some of them spend money like they don’t have good sense. You can find the same exact thing online for half of what they’re spending on Goodwill. I sometimes go browse just for the heck of it, but I have not gotten much in the line of really good deals in the last six or seven years. When it first started, you could get some really good deals.
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