The Turquoise Guide · Old Town Scottsdale
Types of Turquoise: A Guide to the American Mines
Ask where a diamond came from and you’ll usually get a shrug. Ask where a good turquoise stone came from and you should get a story — a mine with a name, a hillside in Arizona or Nevada, a color you can learn to spot across a room. This is our guide to the American mines we know best: what each stone looks like, which mines still produce, and why the name matters as much as the silver around it.
Why the mine name matters
Turquoise forms where water carries copper and aluminum through arid rock — which is why the world’s classic sources sit in dry country like the American Southwest. Copper leans a stone blue; iron pulls it toward green; the veins of host rock left running through it are called matrix, and they read like a fingerprint. Because every mine sits in its own pocket of chemistry, every mine tends to produce its own look.
That’s why the trade prices turquoise by provenance. A stone with a name — and a dealer who can back that name up — is worth more than a prettier stone with no story, because the name carries everything else with it: where it was dug, how it was treated, who cut it. It’s also your best protection against the dyed imitations that fill tourist-corridor shops; our guide to telling real turquoise from fake covers the checks you can do in any store.
For our family this is practical, not romantic. We buy stones mine-direct where we can, which is why the mines below are the ones you’ll hear us talk about over the cases on Main Street.
First, the four grades of “real”
Before the mine names mean anything, it helps to know how the trade grades the stone itself:
- Natural — cut, polished, and nothing else. A small share of the world’s supply; the collector grade.
- Stabilized — genuine turquoise hardened with clear resin so softer stone can be cut and worn. Legitimate and common — and it must be disclosed.
- Treated or dyed — genuine stone with altered color. Worth less, and again: disclosure is everything.
- Imitation — dyed howlite, magnesite, or plastic “block.” Not turquoise at all, whatever the sign says.
In this trade, “stabilized” is not a dirty word — undisclosed is the dirty word. A shop that tells you plainly what a stone is, and prices it accordingly, is a shop you can buy from.
If you’re shopping here in town, our local guide to buying authentic turquoise in Scottsdale goes deeper on all of this.
The Arizona mines
Sleeping Beauty
Globe, Arizona
The blue most people picture when they hear the word turquoise: clear, even, sky blue, with little or no matrix. Sleeping Beauty stone is instantly recognizable and endlessly wearable, which made the mine one of the most beloved American sources of the last century.
Here’s the part every buyer should know: the mine stopped producing turquoise in August 2012 to focus on copper. Every genuine Sleeping Beauty stone on the market today was out of the ground before then — a finite and shrinking supply, which is why collectors have grown so attached to it. The full story is on our Sleeping Beauty turquoise page.
Kingman
Kingman, Arizona
One of the oldest and most productive turquoise mines in America — and, unlike most of the famous names, still producing today. Kingman is the classic working-mine turquoise: strong blue with matrix, the look that anchors so much Navajo and Zuni silverwork.
Because the mine is active, genuine Kingman is one of the most attainable ways to own honest American turquoise — a first cuff or ring that doesn’t require a collector’s budget. More on all the mines we source from in our turquoise mines hub.
Bisbee
Bisbee, Arizona
Bisbee turquoise came up out of the great copper pits of southern Arizona’s mining era: a deep, saturated blue set off by chocolate-brown matrix. The source is long closed, which makes Bisbee one of the most collectible of all American turquoise names.
You’ll meet it most often in vintage and estate silver — one of the reasons collectors comb through Old Pawn cases like ours so carefully.
The Nevada mines
Royston
Nevada
Royston is prized for its range — blues running into greens, often inside a single stone, with warm brown matrix threading through. No two Royston cabs match, which is exactly the appeal: it’s turquoise for people who want a stone with a personality rather than a color swatch.
The source is still active, and Royston pieces turn up across every form from cuffs to bolos. See our Royston turquoise page for the longer story.
Carico Lake
Nevada
Carico Lake is the one you’ll pick out of a tray from across the room: a distinctive lime-to-spring green unlike anything else in the case. Set against sterling silver it reads fresh and modern, even in traditional work.
If your taste runs green, this is the name to learn — and ask to see it beside a blue stone in our turquoise collection; the contrast makes the case.
White Buffalo — the beautiful exception
White Buffalo
Tonopah, Nevada
Striking white stone with jet-black matrix, discovered by the Otteson family near Tonopah in 1993 — and here’s the honesty part: White Buffalo is not turquoise. It’s a calcite-based stone with no copper in it, which is precisely why it’s white instead of blue. It’s genuine, natural, and beautiful; it just deserves its real name.
Any shop selling it as “white turquoise” without that explanation is telling you something about the rest of its cases. We wrote a full explainer — what White Buffalo stone actually is — and you can see it set in silver in our White Buffalo collection.
The mines at a glance
| Name | Where | The look | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleeping Beauty | Globe, AZ | Clear sky blue, little to no matrix | Ceased turquoise mining in 2012 — finite supply |
| Kingman | Kingman, AZ | Classic blue with matrix | Still producing |
| Bisbee | Bisbee, AZ | Deep blue, chocolate-brown matrix | Long closed — collector’s stone |
| Royston | Nevada | Blue-to-green range, often in one stone | Active |
| Carico Lake | Nevada | Lime to spring green | Active |
| White Buffalo | Tonopah, NV | White with black matrix — not turquoise | Discovered 1993 |
Beyond these six
There are dozens of other named American mines, and older Persian and Chinese material still circulates through the vintage trade. You don’t need to memorize any of it — because here is the honest truth the mine-name lists rarely admit: almost nobody can identify a mine by eye alone with certainty. Even experienced dealers rely on provenance — the chain from mine to cutter to silversmith.
Which means the real skill isn’t stone-spotting. It’s dealer-choosing. Ask which mine the stone came from, whether it’s natural or stabilized, and who made the piece — then ask for all of it in writing on the receipt. A trustworthy shop enjoys those questions. Our guide to buying authentic Native American jewelry walks through the hallmarks, the artist attribution, and the federal law that stands behind you when you ask.
And once a stone is yours, keep it beautiful — turquoise is a porous, living kind of gem, and our turquoise care guide covers the few habits that matter. Both are chapters of The Turquoise Guide, our full buyer’s series.
Turquoise types — common questions
What is the most valuable type of turquoise?
As a rule, natural stone from closed mines commands the most — Bisbee and pre-2012 Sleeping Beauty are among the celebrated American names — but a stone’s color, cut, condition, and the artist who set it matter as much as the mine. There is no single price list; ask what makes a specific stone special and expect a specific answer.
Can you still buy Sleeping Beauty turquoise?
Yes. The mine stopped producing turquoise in August 2012, but stone cut before then still moves through the trade. Everything sold today comes from that existing supply — which is exactly why it has become so collectible.
Is green turquoise worth less than blue?
No. Color is chemistry, not quality — more copper reads blue, more iron reads green. Carico Lake’s lime green is prized precisely because nothing else looks like it. Buy the stone you keep coming back to.
Is White Buffalo real turquoise?
It’s a real, natural stone — but it is not turquoise. It’s calcite-based, with none of the copper that turns turquoise blue. A dealer who tells you that unprompted has passed the most useful test you can give a shop.
How can I tell which mine my turquoise came from?
By eye alone, you usually can’t — and neither can most experts. Mine identity travels with the stone as provenance, not as a visible signature. If a stone comes with no history, treat any mine story attached to it with healthy doubt, and buy from dealers who can name the mine, the treatment, and the artist — and will put all three on the receipt.
See Them in Person
Reading gets you the names. Holding the stones teaches the rest.
Our cases on Main Street hold turquoise from the mines above, set in sterling by Native American artists — and we’re happy to talk through any stone in the shop, mine by mine.
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