Am seriously wondering about this cuff. The central area of color loss on stone strikes me as odd - is it dyed? Is it turquoise? The cuff itself is simple, heavy with bevel set stone- and the twist wire and triangular wires make me think it could be hand made. Could it be Native American? I have not tried color testing stone with acetone to see if dye is present. Thoughts?
3 Likes
Actually looks like nice turquoise. I have seen silversmiths set the stone and then polish the bracelet and the stone will get discolored like this from the heat. It is always best to polish and then set the stone. Would call this Navajo.
5 Likes
It’s also possible that sometime in its life it met up with an unfriendly liquid like suntan lotion or similar.
2 Likes
Thanks for the tips. Did not know turquoise could alter appearance with unfriendly liquids. Note to self - avoid that when sporting some cool turquoise jewelry. One can learn so much on this site!
2 Likes
I’ve got a couple other good tips. One unfortunately I learned about the hard way.
When you wash your hands take your rings off. They often have sawdust under the stone to raise it up higher in the bezel. If water gets in there, the sawdust can flatten, the stone can get loose and fall out. Oh, and when you take them off, put them in your pocket; don’t set them on the side of the sink. I’ve almost left them in restrooms that way. Oops!
If you have a silver band on your ring that flattens a bit over years of wearing it, don’t let a jeweler slide it down a ring sizer to shape it back. That can bend the base of the ring, loosen the stones and they can fall out. That one I learned the hard way.
2 Likes
Oops…have been wearing turquoise rings daily for years and have never removed them to wash hands. Fortunately, no damage yet. Thanks for the warning. I need to be more vigilant. Fortunately, whenever a bracelet or ring has natural stone in it, I only let trusted artisans mess with them, they know stones can pop out when changing configurations, sizes, etc.
1 Like
You are so right. I did that many years ago when I was still learning. We don’t have people here in northern Indiana to fix Native American jewelry so I went to a regular jewelry store. Never again!
I wear turquoise daily, although different rings. I haven’t been as diligent as I should about hand washing…have lost a ring in the past! This is a wake-up! Thanks!
1 Like