Hi!
New to the site as I just purchased an estate with several pieces I’ll need help with. Looks like I have a lot to learn! I’ve never seen turquoise with this yellow cloud. Thoughts?
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Hi Missin.
The turquoise in this particular bracelet looks real, and is treated or stabilized with an epoxy type resin. The resin is used to “stabilize” and deepen the color of chalky, porous turquoise stone which would otherwise not be suitable for cutting. Your bracelet was likely made decades ago, and what you are seeing on the surface is the yellowing of the aged resin which permeates the stone.
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Thanks so much! That makes perfect sense as my son has done resin art work and yellowing is an issue for his table tops. After reading a bit here, I did test it with acetone, but I assume that it wouldn’t test even if dyed because of the resin?
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The resin used is very, very, hard, so brief contact with acetone isn’t likely to have much effect. You might get a slight clouding on the surface where you applied the acetone, but unless the stone is actually plastic, it’s not likely to melt or discolor much, and the cloudiness will buff right off.
If I suspect it’s a resin treated stone, I’ll run a soft flame from a lighter, lightly and very briefly over the surface and take whiff to see if I can smell the chemicals used.
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Thanks! That’s good to know!
Becky
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