Turquoise comes out of the earth in a large variety of shapes and sizes, from nuggets to veins. It has a natural range of color from deep blue to bright green, and can be found with different levels of hardness and density.

The quality of turquoise is determined by several factors. Color, clarity, character, hardness and density are all considered when grading Turquoise. Certain properties are more rare than others, and rarity, together with demand for certain character and appearance, are what end up determining the value. High quality turquoise is hard and dense enough to be used without stabilization. This is called  “Natural Turquoise”. Natural Turquoise is much more rare than stabilized Turquoise and so it is also more expensive, even before other factors are considered.

Natural Number Eight Turquoise

If you purchased a piece of jewelry with turquoise that was made before the stabilization process was invented in the 1950’s, you own natural turquoise. Certain unstabilized stones that once matched each other, or were bright blue, may become different shades, or take on a greener tint because of the potential for Turquoise to react to the environment. Stabilization prevents this from happening, and locks in the natural color of the turquoise as it was when it was extracted from the earth.

Stabilization, originating in Kingman, Arizona, is a process whereby turquoise is soaked in epoxy resin. The resin can be absorbed into the microscopic pores, thereby sealing it and locking in the color. If the Turquoise is softer, this process can increase the hardness, making it hard enough to be cut into beautiful cabochons and beads. If the stones are harder to begin with, they may not absorb much stabilizer at all. Stabilization takes nothing away from the turquoise, and does not add any color. Stabilization is a standard and common practice with turquoise and much of the high quality and sought-after types of Turquoise available today are all stabilized and incorporate beautifully into jewelry. Reputable jewelers, art and gemstone dealers will honestly disclose whether the turquoise they are selling is Natural or Stabilized. Natural Turquoise is the exception, so if Turquoise is truly natural it will usually be described as such with emphasis. Some ambiguity can be created because some sellers will refer to Turquoise as natural because the color is natural, or because it is real Turquoise, not synthetic, although what they are referring to is stabilized. If you are looking for truly natural Turquoise, it is important to look for terms like untreated and unstabilized, to confirm that the description natural is correctly applied.

When the resin used to stabilize turquoise is dyed, the turquoise is categorized as “Dyed”. This is done to Turquoise that is very pale in color, and can also result in genuine turquoise with artificial colors, such as purple, which is not a naturally occurring color of Turquoise. Dyeing turquoise is not considered a standard practice and is generally seen as a lower-quality treatment compared to stabilization. While stabilization is widely accepted, dyeing is often viewed with skepticism because it alters the stone's natural appearance, and dyed turquoise can sometimes be misleadingly marketed as natural or high-grade.

Acceptability in the market:

Dyeing is not considered an ideal treatment because it compromises the integrity of the stone and can deceive buyers if not properly disclosed. In contrast, stabilization is an accepted practice because it protects and strengthens the stone without fundamentally altering its natural color.

Other types of synthetic or man-made Turquoise:

“Mosaic turquoise”, also called compressed or composite turquoise, is made from small pieces or chips of real turquoise that are compressed together and stabilized into one form so it can be cut into cabochons or beads for jewelry making. If the individual pieces are larger, the result can be so seamless it can be hard to tell that the stone is composite. In other cases, a dark binding agent can be included that fills in between the individual pieces to create a dark spiderwebbing.

Genuine Lab-Grown Turquoise: Some synthetic turquoise is made in a lab by replicating the mineral composition of natural turquoise. This material has the same chemical structure as natural turquoise, but it’s produced artificially to achieve a consistent color and quality. Lab-grown turquoise can provide a more affordable and uniform alternative to natural turquoise while maintaining the same properties like appearance, shine, color, and workability.

Reconstituted Turquoise: Small pieces of low-quality natural turquoise are ground into powder and then combined with resins or other binding agents. This mixture is molded into shapes and polished, creating a turquoise-like material. While this product contains real turquoise, it’s not considered entirely natural due to the additives.

Imitation Turquoise: Other minerals such as Howlite, Magnesite, or even plastic are dyed to resemble turquoise. These imitations are much cheaper but lack the chemical composition of real turquoise. One thing to note about Magnesite Turquoise is that it is an actual stone that comes in a range of color, usually brown, tan or yellow, but the highest quality Magnesite can also be white. When dyeing the Magnesite, it's original color has an effect on the resulting color, so only the purest, whitest Magnesite can be the brightest blue.

Navajo Spiderweb Coral Men's Ring

In all, the less that is done to a gemstone, including Turquoise, the more valuable it is. However, never feel bad about loving a gorgeous piece of stabilized turquoise! The color is natural and will last for years and years to come.