The Turquoise Guide · No. 01
A surprising amount of what’s sold as “turquoise” in tourist shops across the country is dyed howlite, dyed magnesite, or plain plastic resin. You don’t need a gem lab to protect yourself — you need five habits and about ninety seconds. We buy our stones mine-direct and handle real turquoise every working day; here is exactly how we’d teach you to look at it, in our gallery or anyone else’s.
First, the Vocabulary
“Real or fake” sounds like a yes-or-no question. In the trade it’s a ladder, and knowing the rungs is most of the game. Turquoise is a copper-bearing stone, and genuine material comes to market in several honest forms — plus a few dishonest ones.
Mined, cut, and polished — nothing else done to it. Only a small fraction of the world’s turquoise is hard enough to be used this way, which is why natural stone from a named mine is the collector grade and priced like it.
Genuine turquoise hardened with resin so that softer (still real) stone can be cut, set, and worn every day. Legitimate, common, and often the sensible choice — as long as the dealer tells you that’s what it is.
Genuine stone whose color has been altered or deepened. Still turquoise, but worth notably less than untreated material — and honest only when it’s disclosed and priced accordingly.
Powdered stone mixed with resin into “block,” or outright substitutes: dyed howlite, dyed magnesite, plastic. Whatever the tag says, none of this is turquoise.
“Stabilized” is not a dirty word. Undisclosed is.
A dealer who volunteers where a stone sits on this ladder — and prices it there — is a dealer you can trust. That one habit of disclosure separates a gallery from a souvenir bin.
The Ninety-Second Exam
None of these damage the piece, and none require the clerk’s permission. Do them in order and you’ll catch nearly every fake that makes it into a display case.
Real turquoise varies — subtly from stone to stone, even within a well-matched strand or cluster piece. Nature doesn’t do perfectly uniform. A run of beads in one flawless, electric, identical blue is the classic dyed-howlite tell. Hold the piece to the light and look for the small honest differences.
The matrix — those webbed veins of the host rock — is where fakes confess. Dye pools where it can hide: in cracks, seams, and around drill holes. If the “matrix” lines look darker-stained at their edges, or a chip or drill hole shows chalk white underneath, you’re looking at a dyed stone.
Handmade Native American work is bezel-set — a hand-formed silver rim wrapping the stone. A stone sitting in a puddle of glue, or a shiny adhesive ring around its base, tells you what the maker thought it was worth. Then turn the piece over: look for a “Sterling” or “.925” stamp and an artist’s hallmark. We cover hallmarks fully in our guide to buying authentic Native American jewelry.
Real stone is dense, and it holds a slight coolness when it first touches your skin. Plastic resin is light and warms instantly. This one is a feel, not a lab test — but plastic rarely fools a hand that has held the real thing, and after a minute at a good counter, yours will have.
Genuine stone, sterling silver, and hours of a named artist’s handwork put a floor under what a piece can honestly cost. A $15 “genuine turquoise squash blossom” is answering its own question. Real pieces range widely — but when a price looks impossible, it is.
You may read elsewhere about acetone swabs (which lift dye off howlite) and scratch tests (which reveal the white beneath). Both work — and both mark the piece. Never do them in a store, and at home only on a hidden spot of something you already own and already doubt.
Know the Usual Suspect
Howlite is a chalk-white mineral that drinks up dye, takes a glossy polish, and even carries gray veining that mimics turquoise matrix — which is why it fills souvenir bins from here to the coast. Its cousin magnesite gets the same treatment. There’s nothing wrong with either stone honestly sold under its own name; the problem is the word “turquoise” on the tag. Side by side, the differences are consistent.
| What to look at | Genuine turquoise | Dyed howlite |
|---|---|---|
| Color | Varies subtly stone to stone; depth and character in the blue or green | Uniform, often too-bright blue across every bead |
| Matrix & crevices | Matrix runs through the stone; no staining at the edges | Dye pools in seams, cracks, and around drill holes |
| Chips & drill holes | Stone color continues beneath the surface | Chalk white shows through where the dye layer breaks |
| Setting | Hand-formed bezel; sterling stamp; artist hallmark | Glued into cast settings; unmarked metal |
| Price | Reflects stone grade, silver, and handwork | Too good to be true — because it is |
One stone deserves its own honest mention: White Buffalo, the dramatic white-with-black-matrix material from Tonopah, Nevada. It is real, natural, and collectible — but it is calcite-based, not turquoise, and a trustworthy shop will tell you so unprompted. We’ve written the full story in our White Buffalo guide.
The Best Test Is a Question
The checks above catch fakes. These questions catch fake stores. Federal law — the Indian Arts and Crafts Act — makes it illegal to sell anything falsely suggested to be Native American–made, so a legitimate dealer answers all six on the spot, and in writing.
A trustworthy shop enjoys these questions — they’re the questions our favorite customers ask. Walk our cases of mine-direct turquoise, women’s rings, men’s rings, cuffs, and necklaces and ask away. And if you’re planning a stone-hunting day in Scottsdale, our guide to buying authentic turquoise in Old Town covers the neighborhood itself — including stores that aren’t ours. All eight of our buyer’s guides live in The Turquoise Guide.
Quick Answers
No. Stabilized turquoise is genuine turquoise hardened with resin so softer stone can be cut and worn daily. It’s common, legitimate, and less expensive than natural stone — the only sin is selling it without saying so. Ask, and expect a straight answer.
Look for the three tells: perfectly uniform color across the piece, dye pooled in crevices and around drill holes, and chalk white showing through at any chip. Add the hand test — real stone is dense and cool, resin is light and warm — and a sanity check on the price.
There’s no single number — grade, mine, size, and the artist’s handwork all move the price — but genuine handmade pieces have a floor, because sterling silver and a silversmith’s hours can’t be bought for pocket change. Treat a bargain-bin price on a “genuine” piece as the verdict on the piece.
No — and an honest dealer says so with a smile. White Buffalo is a calcite-based stone from Tonopah, Nevada, prized for its white-and-black look. It’s genuine and collectible in its own right; it just isn’t turquoise, and should never be sold as “white turquoise.”
Enormously. Provenance drives both character and value: each mine produces a recognizable stone, and closed mines — like Sleeping Beauty, which ceased turquoise mining in 2012 — produce no more of it, ever. That’s why we name the mine on our pieces. Our types of turquoise guide walks through the great names one by one.
Put It Into Practice
The fastest way to learn turquoise is to hold good stones with someone who knows them. Our cases carry natural and stabilized turquoise from the named mines — every piece disclosed, every question welcome.
Sunrise Jewelry & Gallery · 7254 E Main St, Suite 101, Old Town Scottsdale, AZ 85251
Open 7 days, 10:00–6:30 · (480) 425-9944