I didn’t buy these beads and I cannot ask the person who did buy them the details ( who, when, where). They feel like stone, cold to the touch, sound like stone when knock into one another, matrix doesn’t look like it was “painted”. I broke one open (see picture) - stone seems hard, not crumbling. Color is lighter than pic and matrix is brown, overall color is reminiscent of #8. Thoughts?
Side view showing the matrix on the outside corresponding to the vein inside. Is fakery this good? Fingers crossed the answer is no.
I’d be more concerned that the blue color doesn’t go all the way through the stone and is only at the surface. Also, the little “lightning bolt” dead-end, stringy looking matrix lines indicate this may be dyed howlite.
Thank you for your reply.
Examining the broken pieces in person, the color does go completely thru. The cross section shows the interior color is on both sides of the vein, and the interior vein corresponds to the vein on the exterior. I tried scratching the color off - the blue stays blue and brown stays brown.
You’re right in stating that handling the stones and seeing them in person makes a difference. I’ll defer to others on this site who can offer other opinions or observations. The crackle lines still indicate dyed howlite to my eye.
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It looks like dyed howlite or magnesite to me too. I think they do vacuum assisted dying now that’s able to bring the color all the way through. As far as the veining on the outside corresponding to the veining on the inside, that would be the case for dyed howlite and magnesite as well as plastic block.
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Thank you both for replying.
The beads are definitely not plastic, I know exactly what reconstituted and block turquoise looks and feels like. I soaked a bead in acetone, no color loss at all and under magnification some of the matrix is pitted & I used this knife to scratch the stone. Any other tests I can do?
I think the acetone test doesn’t always work if the dyed stones have been stabilized.
Don’t see many push daggers these days. 