Oh gosh, I hadn’t really thought about the other stuff. Although I think my nieces and nephews would like the rugs and the pottery better than the jewelry. But somebody’s going to have a lot of fun figuring out who gets all the stuff on the walls, they’re covered 
, and the bear, our full grown small black bear… I think I may be having some discussions…
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@Ziacat…It is a nice stone and certainly could be Bisbee! This brings up an issue I’ve thought about a lot. Some of my, and I’m sure your, older pieces have been identified as a certain mine by a variety of individuals. How much validity do you give to this information. Certainly individuals who have been in the biz, as they say, for a very long time and are considered very knowledgable by their peers and have handled tons of turquoise are given more validity than other less well known individuals who seem anxious to give their opinions.
I always come back to an article I read pointing out that even when someone who is an expert recognizes a certain look, he/she is still only giving you an educated guess as to what it is. Ultimately, only God and the miner who dug the rock truly knows where any particular stone comes from. And, unless the person selling it has a trail leading back to the miner, it is still only making an educated guess. Even experts like Bob Brucia can be fooled
So, if I have purchased a piece from a well known artist who identifies the turquoise, and in my opinion the stone is consistent with that particular mine, I identify it as such even though I don’t have a paper trail back to a specific mine. Am I wrong…what’s a gal, or guy, to do???
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We had a long discussion on this quite a while ago; I’ll try to find it. Personally I’m always asking about mines, because I find it fun and interesting, and I love to research my pieces. I’m not selling anything, and if I were, I would be completely honest. But I agree with what you said in the last paragraph.
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Thanks @Ziacat. I see so many individuals confirming a specific mine by what an artist or gallery owner says (I’m including me😊). But if we can’t use information from these individuals, we’re stuck. And it’s so fun and interesting to discuss turquoise with artists and gallery owners we respect!
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I went back through the thread and did not see any Dry Creek turquoise. I have one pendant with Lighter Dry Creek, but haven’t seen much darker (Unless we’re referring to Godber Burnham).
Acouple weeks ago hubby and I drove the loneliest Road in America (Hwy 50 in Nevada) and stopped in Austin at a turquoise shop I’ve frequented over the past 40+ years. Unfortunate for me, one of the Nez family, who buys to sell to jewelers in the southwest, had just been there a picked over the lot! Much smaller offerings than in the past but still operated by the same family. Adding to my hoard, I bought several cabs, including some Dry Creek. They had a whole tray. The matrix was like a random, disorganized splotchy spiderweb…but pretty stuff:
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