Good Afternoon, all! I acquired this beautiful turquoise ring at my place of work with what looks to be a copper matrix throughout the stone, and was wondering if anyone could help in identifying it, A) Is it real? B) Type of Turquoise. C) Anything you might have to offer in the way of info would be so helpful. There is no artist trademark or signature, just a 925 stamp under the gallery.
What you have looks much like Mojave Blue Turquoise created by the Arizona Kingman Mine in Mojave County, Arizona trademark activated in 1975 expired in 1997. Since 1997, the process has been used and marketed under names such as “Mohave Turquoise”, “Mosaic Turquoise”, “Copper Turquoise” etc. Sometimes we see silver or gold color pyrites and dyed green, purple, etc. stones used in the process. Usually it is pieces of genuine turquoise that are bonded together, along with other minerals (such as pyrite), using polymers.
I would not call your ring Native American. Most likely a newer imported piece. You can test the stone portion with a hot needle (which you can google) but I don’t see the point. It’s a pretty ring that looks to be well made. Enjoy!
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Thanks for that info, I thought Mojave “turquoise” was strictly purple but now I have a better understanding and know how to identify it going forward.
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The matrix really is nice. -It looks like natural growth, but don’t believe turquoise has pyrite spider-webbing naturally. We’ll let others weigh-in on this one.
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