Hi,
Bought this cuff about 1&1/2 yrs ago because of the carved turquoise. I don’t think I’ve seen Native American with carved turquoise let alone the whirling logs symbol, so I thought it was really neat and different. Of course this leads me to ask, is it really Native American? What kind of turquoise is this? How old is it? The silver is beautiful, heavy and twisted, also stamped with whirling logs. I think it is quite beautiful…I don’t know much about Native American, so looking for some guidance from all you knowledgeable peeps!
Thank you!!
The stone is stabilized, so likely less than 50 years old, (probably 70’s or 80’s) and probably not Native work. Whoever made this wanted to evoke an antique “Native” style but went way overboard with the weight and proportions of the square wire shank relative to the gauge of the backplate for the setting. The notable absence of more refined stamp work, and solitary focus on the whirling log motif reinforces this impression.
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Oh yuck, not what I wanted to hear! Thanks
How do I know if a stone is stabilized or not? What am I to look for? Thank you.
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Until you’ve worked with/cut enough turquoise yourself to recognize the differences, the best way is to ask someone who has. Otherwise one quick method is to quickly pass a flame of a lighter over the surface of the stone and take a whiff to see if you detect an odor like plastic. Not completely foolproof, but most treated or stabilized turquoise is permeated with resin which seals the pores, darkens the color, hardens and strengthens the stone so that it can be cut or carved.
Also, attempting to carve natural turquoise in this fashion with what looks like a mizzy abrasive wheel followed with Craytex would result in natural stone fracturing from heat stress and friction. Carving treated stone permeated with plastic resin makes the process orders of magnitude easier.
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