Turquoise is very significant to my culture (Himalayas) and grew up seeing Tibetan nuggets on old people’s necks with corals. I didn’t pay much attention to it back then.
Only recently, I’ve become interested in turquoise and corals. I have some family heirloom coral beads that I want to make a necklace out of with turquoise beads.
On my search, I came across this website called ny6 designs. They are selling hubei turquoise strand 15” for under $40 and a lot of “natural turquoise” for under $50 for 15 inch strand. Is this price too good to be true? Are they most likely fake? Maybe reconstituted? Or maybe just a reallyyyyyy good deal? Haha
What is the typical price range for an actual natural turquoise 15” strand?
Kind of nervous to post, I am new to this. Hope to learn from you all.
hello Mariesofia, I have not purchased anything from the seller you referenced but a quick check is showing 4.9 to 5 star ratings and reviews on google & etsy
for bead price comparisons and research, the kingman turquoise mine - https://www.kingmanturquoise.com/shop is a source for both natural mined turquoise beads as well as what is called composite, block, compressed designer named (Mohave green purple) turquoise products. worth a few minutes there to spot the composite look as well as pricing from a natural turquoise source.
Reviews are great…kind of. That fake ring I posted was on a site with great reviews (there also appears to be quite a bit of questionable stuff IMO on the site). I think the advice to check the Kingman website is excellent.
Thank you! Will do. What is your opinion on the Chinese turquoise such as the Hubei ones? I have heard a lot of it is reconstituted/dyed. I really just want natural stabilized beads.
Just so you know the terminology, stabilized turquoise is real turquoise, but NOT natural; natural turquoise is not stabilized. So… so what you mean is you’re okay with stabilized turquoise, but not reconstituted?
