Paul Livingston design’s are interesting to me. Some are much more modern, while others are so traditional.
While I’ve had this for nearly 8 years, the stone is a mystery. One day someone admired it and called it White Buffalo. I told them it was maybe Howlite but was clueless. Most of the White Buffalo stone I’ve seen in Santa Fe and Taos was really white and highly polished This stone has a nice polish and is white but not vivid white.
The stone itself measures about .25” at the top and tapers Out to about .75” at the bottom. Length is 1.25”. The batteries died in my scale, but it is heavy. Guesstimating 40+ grams.
Any ideas on what it might be? Anybody have an idea as to where I could go in Denver to see an actual REAL sample of White. Uffalo vs Howlite?
Thank you one and all for looking and your input! As always, I appreciate it and learn more from all of you.
Thanks Jason. So in other words it’s a wild, crazy ride to figure it out if one ever does. All I know is it doesn’t really look like the White Buffalo stone I’ve seen before that I’m presuming wasn’t fake in some of the high end shops in SF…that I can’t afford but love to visit🤑
My Dad was a geologist his entire career but has been gone for 10 yrs. His office is still filled with rock displays and sample…all labeled. I’m going to have to spend the day over there and play to see what I can find. I do remember he’s got Magnesite. I’ll go from there.
adding to the information in Jason’s link, this video gives a very good visual representation of the differences to look for in white buffalo, white turquoise, white horse, crazy horse, howlite etc.
Thank you for the video references. I watched them twice myself trying to figure it out. As mentioned previously, this stone doesn’t have the extreme high polish I’ve seen on White Buffalo, but more of a medium polish. Now that I’ve seen more examples of the different stones, it’s probably Howlite which is what I was leaning towards initially. I’ll pull my loupe out in the morning when it’s sunny. It seems there may have been a few pale yellow streaks in it that aren’t visible in the photo, but it’s been awhile since looking that closely.
I bought it because it was Paul Livingston and liked the layered look of the setting. The bale is ridiculously big for me though…guess it has to be as it’s heavy…so need to find something a bit smaller so it’s not so overbearing. Does look good with black
Did look at the pendant in bright daylight again. There is some very pale yellow spider webbing in the stone. I guess that’s the best way to describe it…very, very fine fingers of yellow. Don’t know what that means. Tried to take a photo, but no success.
Mine is more of a question than a response on Howlite. I see that you referred to the piece that you posted as a Paul Livingston piece however the stamp on the reverse side is a Paul Stuingston stamp. Are these two one and the same person? I am asking because I have a Stuingston piece that is a vintage piece but don’t really find/see current Stuingston pieces. I only located a couple of pieces that were sold at auction.
Thank you in advance,
Trish
Thanks for the link to the discussion of white turquoise. Maybe I’m a purist or turquoise snob, but I’ve never cared for “white turquoise” (white Buffalo, Howlite, or any of the whitish stones called White turquoise). But the information in this video is interesting. These stones in nice settings are pretty and I can see why some are attracted to them…I just don’t like them called turquoise….
I didn’t think Paul Livingston would use Howlite either, as the Livingston’s have always used nice stones in their work. Whatever it is, I really like the silver work. And even though it’s a bit too large for me, I did finally find a decent chain to hold it!
I’m a turquoise snob too. A shop I used to frequent in Santa Fe always called it White Buffalo stone rather than turquoise and indicated they felt the turquoise term had been attached as a marketing tool. I don’t know, as I’m not an expert on any of it!
That’s good about the chain but if you measure the bail you may find that it’s big enough to use on a strand of beads. It’s a pretty pendant and I think beads would give it a bigger presence.
I agree with you both. White Buffalo is definitely not turquoise. The white turquoise actually has a faint tint of blue or green or it can run to more blue. This Dry Creek turquoise comes from the Godber-Burnham mine. The other white turquoise that was found in the past came from across the mountain from Godber Burnham. It was the Valley Blue mine and back then was owned by the cousin of the owner of the GB mine. At that point in the mines history is produced a highly sicilicated white turquoise. They had it tested to be sure. The majority of the turquoise that comes out is blue with a brown matrix. I used to own a piece of each type and will post the pictures.
Thank you. They were both pretty special. The squash weighed 412 grams and packed a punch. The cuff was hallmarked by Eugene Martinez and he also identified the Valley Blue mine and the weight of 239.9carats. I recently sold them to the current mine owners. They were very interested in them for their own collection (part of the mine’s history) and it seemed fitting that the pieces should live there.
I always felt indifferent to White Buffalo/white turquoise-ish stones with matrix, but you guys are completely making me rethink that, @Islandmomma and @nanc9354 ! Those pieces are very handsome and I’d certainly be tempted to buy them.
