Hello, new here but hoping you can help

Hello, I’m new to this page, but hoping you can help me. I am interested in purchasing a squash blossom necklace and earring set by Juliana Williams. I’m hoping you can give me your opinion if the price seems appropriate and if the info listed by the seller sounds correct. Also, not sure if you can tell from the pics, but I’m interested if you can tell if the turquoise is stabilized or natural (the seller was unsure). I know this artist is Navajo and known for her cluster work, but otherwise I can’t find much info on her. Thank you so much!! Hopefully I can figure out how to upload photos!

I own a pair of Juliana’s earrings and love them but I don’t wear them to the office much, I can tell you that.
At $150, I thought I was lucky to get them.

[url=https://imgur.com/jaKxtZ4][/url]

I don’t believe this set (below) is the same as yours – I think the matrix patterns on the stones are different.

This could help you compare prices, although this is an asking price, not a price that something sold for.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Zuni-Sterling-Turquoise-Squash-Blossom-Necklace-Earrings-Signed-JW-238-g-/122735045675?hash=item1c93942c2b:g:FfMAAOSwuxFYseB0

I’ve been looking at my earrings trying to determine whether or not they are stabilized or natural. I still can’t tell.

I own some stones that I know are natural and some that are definitely stabilized. It seems to me that some stabilized turquoise looks lightly processed and some looks like it’s been turned into glass. I can’t tell about my earrings or conjecture on yours, but I’d say if they are stabilized, it happened with a lighter hand & more deftness than other pieces that I own.

Here, for comparison, are two rather similar big pieces of turquoise. One is stabilized and one isn’t.
It’s really apparent in real life but less so when looking at photographs.

I’ll leave you to guess which is which before I tell you.

[url=https://imgur.com/TKB5kmX][/url]

Did you guess?

The top one isn’t stabilized. You can see at this angle it has some faint pocking and surface variation. In person, it looks a little “drier” than the bottom piece.

The bottom one is stabilized. It’s smooth as glass, harder and heavier. The treatment adds some weight to it. It has a gleam to it. (Side note, off-topic: I wasn’t familiar with this color of turquoise or mine and I had to ask Jason many months ago if this was jasper or turquoise.)

When you see the stones in person, the top one looks hand-worked, like it’s been shaved in parts – it reminds me of the bottom of a 19th century drawer that’s been worked with a handheld plane; the bottom one looks very professionally turned into a Cabochon with a capital “c.”

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