Whats the difference between natural and stabilized turquoise?

Sandra in Arizona wants to know, “What’s the difference between stabilized and natural turquoise?”  Before we begin it’s important to know a couple of important facts about turquoise: turquoise is a relatively soft and porous stone with approximately 10% of the turquoise mined being able to be called “gem quality” and suitable for use in high quality jewelry.  The mining of turquoise can be a difficult and a laborious process!  Only high grade gem quality turquoise is hard enough to be worked with, shaped and created into jewelry without breaking.  This is why natural turquoise from the historic period (1890-1940) is so much more expensive than turquoise  processed in the mid-late 20th century.  In Arizona during the 1950’s, the process of stabilization was created to increase the usefulness and yield of non-gem quality turquoise stones in the making of Southwest jewelry.  This process including putting the stones under extreme pressure, causing it to absorb the epoxy or plastic fillers that were added to create hardness while filling in cracks and imperfections.  Stabilized turquoise is not a bad product as it is harder and less likely to break or crack.  Because the stone is no longer porous, it will not oxidize over time and will retain its color when you purchased it.  Just remember that stabilized turquoise should be much less expensive than gem-quality pieces with natural stones that have been altered.  Stabilized turquoise is not fake turquoise, just stones that have been treated enough to be shaped and worked with!  Later, reconstituted or chalk processes were also created to take fragments of turquoise and their crushed powder forms, which is then mixed with plastics to make harder blocks that can be cut into stones shapes. Dyed plastics were also used that contained no turquoise at all, to create an imitation turquoise.  (Chipeta Trading does not sell this form, or do we recommend our clients purchase this type of product!)  So how do you tell the difference?  Natural or raw stones have imperfections, cracks and occlusions that do not appear in treated or stabilized turquoise.  At Chipeta Trading, we focus on this type of stone.  Of course the key to protecting your investment is to buy from a reputable dealer you can trust and work with and guarantees the quality of their products 100%!   For more information please contact us at Don@chipetatrading.com or call us at 303-807-1567.


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