Bought a bracelet from a pawn shop in Colorado last week while on vacation. After wearing it for one day! The stone fell out and much to my surprise, the area was filled with what seemed to be cornmeal. The stone, which I was told was turquoise had a small pinhole and the backing was black. I believe that the stone had been glued to the “cornmeal”.
I’m still near where I purchased the bracelet and am returning to the pawn shop this afternoon to see if I can get my money back.
The bracelet was marked “sterling C”. Has anyone encountered anything like this before?
pretty sure that’s not cornmeal, it’s sawdust. helps to cushion the stone from bumps and bruises and to give some height, and the black backing is exactly that, backing to build up the thickness and provide support. These are all common and acceptible.
Thanks for your feedback! We were on vacation in New Mexico and we’d taken a day trip to Colorado to this pawn shop. Almost everything there was shut down. It just didn’t work out to have it repaired.
