Here goes, First off, @Jason. A few months ago I found a Leonard Nez pendant with a really nice looking spiderwebbed stone that I figured was nice Kingman. I paid $125 for it. Last night, on a whim, I found Leonard Nez on Facebook and shot him a picture of this pendant asking if he remembered this stones origin. His short answer was “Lander Blue turquoise out of Nevada”. Initially I thought he was pulling my leg but looking around it does look like he has worked with it before so I’m going more on his reputation than the appearance of the stone. Is it conceivable that this is a slightly lower grade Lander Blue? I’m dubious at best, if it were a reseller telling me this I would simply disregard it but this is the artist telling me.
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Hi, I responded to your post under Spiderweb turquoise that my guess would be Indian Mountain or Lander Blue. I’m no expert, but I’ve read a lot about spiderweb turquoise. Thinking more about it, Lander Blue turquoise has a tell-tale black shadowing around each blue circle or technically referred to as “boytroidal” nodule. I’m not seeing this In your piece as several nodules coalesce together without the border or “shadowing.”
I’m anxious to hear @Jason thoughts as I personally feel many pieces are called Lander blue when it is not. Regardless, it’s a nice pendant! I’m attaching a picture of some typical Lander Blue turquoise cabs from Gene Waddell showing the shadowing of individual nodules:
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your pendant with another grouping of lander blue
img source: https://bluelanderturquoise.com/
and another large grouping of lander blue examples found here : https://www.pinterest.com/dznidea/lander-blue-turquoise/
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Nice pendant. I like Leonard Nez’s work. That turquoise reminds me of a piece of Indian Mountain that I have. I haven’t gotten lucky enough to find Lander yet. See what you think.
That is a little blurry. If you need a better picture I will have to dig in the safe. I’m curious about what @Jason has to say. Nice pendant!
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Doesn’t look like old Lander to me. I have no idea why the artist would have said that, though, not knowing him.
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Leonard Nez is a contemporary artist and Lander Blue is a very sought after stone. I wouldn’t guess this pendant to be more than 20 years old, and 20 years ago Lander was going over $100 a carat. Every Japanese buyer was looking for this stone and it really drove the price up, you see it go for over $300 a carat now. So, it makes you wonder how something that started out as Lander Blue and would have likely been selling for several hundred ends up at $125. Lots of turquoise comes in this rich blue with black spider web matrix which makes it very difficult to determine the mine. We like to go with the source and we feel that is the best information. We also have to remember that just because somebody makes jewelry doesn’t make them an authority on the material. Artists don’t source turquoise and depend on the word of those selling it, which doesn’t always equate to the actual mine. You have different kinds of buyers and artists buy for the most part a few stones while supply houses and dealers buy trays. When buying trays from cutters/sellers you often know exactly what you are buying. When it is a single stone and you are not comparing it to several, that stone can take on many different mine types.
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uh,now might be a good time to remind folks of the electric fence,moat,landmines…orc in the basement w/his pack of hyenas…before they even get to the safe
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@Jason Interesting he says “VARISCITE Lander Blue.” I understand that so-called New Lander is variscite, despite being sold as turq, but I didn’t think the New Lander comes in this blue. Maybe it does and that’s what this cab is?
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You forgot to mention the lions, badgers and land mines.
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I to am perplexed about “Variscite Lander Blue.” The “New Lander,” ie, variscite, Ive seen is the pale green with the same black matrix as Lander Blue. I purchased several New Lander cabs in Austin NV years ago, and was finally able to unpack them after a move. I was told the New Lander was mined from the “other side of the hill” from where Lander Blue was found. Wouldn’t I love it I’d these cabs were that gorgeous deep blue!
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Yeah, it is fun. Love to hear all the stories.
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OK, just to clarify (or confuse?) the issue, several articles are calling New Lander chalcosiderite, not variscite. It seems chalcosiderite, turquoise, Faustite and acouple others, are members of the “turquoise mineral group”. They are all very similar stones differing only in the levels of zinc, iron and copper. And, evidently all members of the turquoise group are classified as turquoise. Variscite, on the other hand, is not in the turquoise mineral group. Although it is sometimes found along with turquoise, it is much less complex and identified as its own mineral.
So there ya go! New Lander is chalcosiderite, which IS turquoise; it is not variscite. Who knew! Probably more than anyone wants to know, but I love chemistry so I find it fascinating! (Yep, I’m a nerd! 
).
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Huzzah. 
Not sure I agree it is turquoise, based on my extremely superficial reading 
; to me, more like a member of the turquoise group,
If you ever travel you must get to the Natural History Museum in London, which is one of the most fascinating I’ve been to anywhere. All the minerals and stones, and incredible rarities beyond that, like Darwin’s original research materials and finds. And a legendary building seen in a bunch of movies.
@chicfarmer Its complicated; chalcosiderite is not exactly the same chemically as turquoise…but the chemical differences are minor. I guess what you want to call it just depends on how detailed you want to get. Chalcosiderite and veriscite are totally different minerals, whereas chalcosiderite and turquoise are in the same mineral group.
Thanks for the heads up about the Natural History Museum in London. Sounds like I’d love it! Seems like when I travel to London it’s always on my way to do something else, but I’ll definitely make time for it in the future.
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Welcome! I think that I should have taken up geology in my younger days. It would have made my life easier. Lol
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I believe I am going to put that away instead of wearing it every day, just in case! I talked to my friend Kathy Vidal at Crown Jewelry and Coin in Albuquerque, who is also friends with Leonard and carries his work in her store. She said “If Leonard Nez set it and he says it’s Lander Blue, Start Celebrating”. I’m only about 97% convinced but I’m still putting it away for the time being! If it is Lander Blue, I figure someone must have died and their kids sold it not knowing what it was. I’m off to see if I can find any New Lander variscite that is blue instead of the normal pale green. Thanks for all the input everyone!
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I wonder if the distinction here is whether it is “Lander Blue” vs. “New Lander.” Isn’t one the turquoise (Lander Blue) and the other the variscite (New Lander)? Curious 
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That is my impression also, I always think of new lander as being pale green with a black matrix like the one on the right, and it being variscite.
@GreenRock @AC. for quite a while I thought that New Lander, mined on the opposite side of the same mountain as Lander Blue, was variscite. Recently I learned that it is chalcosiderite, a mineral in the Turquoise mineral group. It is not exactly the same chemically as turquoise…but the chemical differences are minor. Variscite is a totally different mineral that does not contain Copper like turquoise and chalcosiderite. If you want to know more, Garlands had a great Blog:
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Thanks for this link. I have a ring which I posted a few months ago regarding the stone which always puzzled me. I bought it decades ago in WY and was told it was turquoise. After a helpful discussion it seems to me it’s likely chalcosiderite. After reading this article, it makes sense that it was sold as turquoise. Somewhere I had read that especially years ago it was marketed as turquoise.
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