Identifying real and fake turquoise

Identifying real and fake turquoise

[GeoRockNerd]

A few tricks I’ve learned may help others. Real turquoise is cold to touch because it is stone. If it’s resin impregnated or dyed plastic it won’t usually be cold to the touch or as dense as a real stone. If the matrix has a repeating pattern or you don’t feel a subtle seam or unevenness between colored parts and the matrix, that’s a red flag. If you have turquoise at home you want to test, there’s a couple easy tricks. Acetone on a q-tip rubbed vigorously on the stone will sometimes leach the dye out of a stone like a dyed howlite. If you get black or grey that can just be dirt or matrix material, but if any blue or green shows up, you’re looking at a dyed stone. The other test is a hot needle test. Heat up the end of a needle or thin metal tool in a flame and touch it to an inconspicuous spot on the stone, preferably the back if possible (unless it has a backing attached!). A natural stone will have no reaction or color change or smell. A resin impregnated or plastic piece will melt, discolor and smell bad.

[MrSpock-hwmm]

Turquoise buyers beware! Many gem shops or online sellers are selling dyed howlite or dyed magnesite which has the web pattern similar to turquoise, a good test to see if you have a fake piece is put acetone on a cotton swab and rub it on the stone if color comes off that's a dead giveaway that it's not real. Also "African turquoise" is another stone people sell as turquoise but it is just jasper. Do some extensive research on genuine turquoise before buying any, hope this helps!

[Connie-B]

Back in the 70's when turquoise was such a rage, it seemed everyone was on the bandwagon to sell.The lady I bought all my turquoise from told me the best thing to do if somebody is trying to sell you the stone is to "flick your bic" and ask if you can touch the stone with the fire from the lighter.She said if it was the real deal, it wouldn't hurt the stone and such but if the seller denied you or had a fit then pass it up as it was most likely fake and/or plastic. Worked for me!

[KFlyguy]

As a jewelery designer and gemstone polisher. I work with said materials frequently. Without extensive testing and knowledge anyone could be fooled if buying care lessly. On the other hand when I buy from one of my suppliers, I know his reputation and his business manners. I have cut everything including very expensive material as well as dimestore quality material. Honestly, if it is worked well and set in proper settings, it all can make some very stunning jewlery. Best advise if it seems like too good of a deal to be true, then it is. There are no screaming bargains or giveaways in the business! No such thing as " investment jewelery" ! I thought he did a good job explaining in the very short time he had.

[judithhume]

So the way to identify real turquoise is by relying on the seller telling you it's real? I don't think so. This video doesn't do what it says it will do.

[diannameade]

One hell of a dancer. He danced all around the questions and subject.💃

[matahmed]

He knows how to escape from a question he doesnt know the answer.

[MrTNorris]

I have been researching it a bit. This video was very vague in regards to telling natural turquoise from imitation turquoise.
Less than 12% of natural turquoise does not need stabilizing
Natural Turquoise is stabilized by soaking it or pressurizing resins or acrylic compounds into the pores of the stone, resulting in affordable, higher quality stones and finished jewelry.

90% of the Turquoise on the market is actually dyed Howlite? Howlite is an absorbent white mineral that can be dyed in almost any color
The hardness for Howlite is 3.5 whereas the hardness for most turquoise is 5-6. this is kind of a difficult test, so basically if your stones scratch easily then they are more than likely dyed Howlite.
If your Turquoise is dyed the acetone qtip method might damage your stone so do it on a part that does not show. If blue comes off on the qtip- and the stone has a lighter or white spot-it is probably howlite that has been dyed.(the inside of the stone will still be white)
Rainy days are not good for this scenario, for it can lighten your turquoise.
The Price
is usually the best way to tell if your turquoise is natural or has been dyed . If it seems too good to be true, then it probably is. a strand of perfectly matching amazing blue Turquoise beads In nature would be very difficult to find a bunch of Turquoise beads that have exactly the same color.

Find someone you trust, find out where the stones came from and do the above tests.
(fire will ruin imitation turquoise so I would use the acetone method instead)

[frankpalmer]

I don't know about turquoise, but I can now identify fake interviews.

[heathermimiwahlquist]

ZERO information about how to determine real vs fake.

[Xenosophia]

the interview is useless. Next time interview someone who actually cares to answer what he is asked :)

[RedVelvetRabbit]

Sadly no real information on how to identify imitation turquoise.

[barberess]

Ugh waste... you misrepresented the content of this video, irony.

[JeffAPierson]

It is always hard for technical experts make things simple, but his explanation imho is spot on.

[e.lycopersicon]

Please change the title of this video to "chatting pointless but amicably about turquoise"

[SufiKingdom]

I didn’t learn how to identify real vs fake Turquoise.

[MrWhisperASMR]

So basically there is no easy way to tell real from fake.

[rodicapopescu]

Beautiful exposition of materials and gem stones ! Unfortunately we leave this video as we were at its beginning, confused, without knowing how to differentiate between custom turqoise and gem stones.. :((

[biggergurlthanu]

This article said nothing how to spot real from fake...hot needle test, if it's fake, it will melt. Can also do the acetone test with a q-tip, if the color rubs off its fake.

[mny]

It didn't help me much, because I have a necklace that my mom bought in jewelry store in Poland in 80's and she paid good money at that time for it but we have no idea what's the value of it, so what do I do?