Hi Y’all. I bought this little “turquoise” necklace for $3 at a Thrift Store awhile ago. At the time, I noticed the clasp was sterling, and the stones definitely feel like stone, and not plastic or glass or anything like that. But I sorta doubt they’re turquoise because $3 seems too good to be true.
I wonder what y’all think. Is it common for other, less expensive stones to be stained to look like turquoise? Or do you think this could be real turquoise?
Any idea how I could tell?
Thank you!
The easiest way to determine if it’s dyed (most commonly Howlite) is take a qtip dipped in acetone (nail polish remover) and rub the stones with it someplace you won’t mind being a different color. If the qtip comes away blue, it is dyed. This should not damage Turqoise and will probably not discolor dyed Howlite. From the style, my guess is this is not a Native American piece just a nice looking necklace,
Howlite/magnesite strung with Asian-import beads.
Thank you both! I tried the nail polish remover, and nothing came off (except a little tiny speck of grey from where I hit the little silver bead and some tarnish came off) but definitely nothing blue or coming off the stone beads themselves. I wonder if there’s some other way to tell whether it’s turquoise or one of the other stones you mentioned. I can tell when I’m looking at something that’s not a stone at all, like plastic or glass, but since these are real rocks, I can’t tell for sure.
Since no blue is coming off with acetone, is that a definite confirmation it’s turquoise? Or could it STILL be something else?
It could be something else, but that type of necklace, I call it “bead spacer” were really popular to make 20-25 years ago. Real turquoise beads could still be bought at trade wholesale gem shows, those smaller beads weren’t super cheap then but they were still affordable for most professional and hobby jewelry makers. I bought lots of turquoise in Tucson at the shows, it was only 10’ish years ago I bought an incredible 20 inch strand of large handmade rondelles of Carico Lake for $250, today the same seller has them for $750 and up, these are just bead strands not necklaces. So, your bead spacer necklace could very be real turquoise that someone strung years ago.
they’re great, especially for $3! if it were me, i’d have them re-strung with some heishi between, maybe? enjoy!
Thank you all. I wonder if perhaps I should try to buy some good sterling beads and restring it myself, or if I should try to find a Native American artist to look at it and advise what to do.
It’s not a NA piece, just turquoise beads. Make something that pleases you.
You can alter as you like, bearing in mind that the turquoise-colored beads are of the same quality as the current plate-metal beads.
