Turquoise · Turquoise Guides · Aug 13, 2013

Fake Turquoise Jewelry

Most turquoise jewelry questions arrive as one question: is it real? That is the wrong question, and the Indian Arts and Crafts Board says so plainly. The useful question is whether the stone is natural, and if it isn't, what was done to it. This guide covers what the market sells as turquoise, why no kitchen-table test settles it, and what to get in writing before you pay.

A Navajo silversmith on imitation turquoise

George Francis, an experienced Navajo silversmith, walked us through the imitations he sees in jewelry. Watch the video, or read what he said below. See George Francis's silversmith profile.

Can you tell us about fake turquoise?

“Yes, and this is really difficult to talk about at times because I want people to understand if you buy a piece because you like it, it’s worth keeping. If a family member buys you a piece of jewelry, it may not have natural products in it, but it has sentimental value because a family member or a friend may have bought that for you.

“In this case, we have imitation turquoise. It comes in varied forms. For example, we have here an epoxy-based resin with coloring added to it. You’ll notice that some of them have a matrix in black and some of them are in brown. These all have an epoxy resin. We refer to these in the industry as ‘block turquoise’ because it is sold in little blocks.

“These are an example of all the colors that are available, not only in turquoise, but also in coral, amber, et cetera. One gentleman came to me and said: ‘My amber has bugs in it.’ When they pour the stuff they put all the bugs in there they want, so you still get a bug. He was sad because he didn’t realize what could happen.

“These are imitation turquoise. You’ll see a lot of these being sold. This is magnesite, which is a white stone with brownish matrix in it. When it’s dyed different colors the brown is deeper. The turquoise tends to be more greenish because that’s what (the customers) desire, but it can be dyed any color. This is howlite, which is a white stone with black or gray matrix, and as you add color dye to it, the matrix also turns different colors. The stone can be dyed any color they want. This piece is howlite dyed that blue and it looks like a Heishi-cut turquoise.

“Those are things to look out for: it boils down to asking a lot of questions. A lot of people will ask, ‘Is that real turquoise?’ Yes, of course, the color is turquoise. Does that make it proper? No. We should be honest with our customers if it isn’t turquoise, say so. If they like it, they’re going to buy it anyway. Those are things a buyer must be aware of. Never ask if it’s real, ask the question ‘Is that a natural stone?’ By law, they’re required to answer you properly.”

For magnesite in depth, see the white stone sold as turquoise. George's longer essay on imitation Native jewelry is here.

“Real” or “natural”: the question that matters

George's advice matches the federal government's. The Indian Arts and Crafts Board's turquoise brochure, written with Joe Dan Lowry of the Turquoise Museum, puts it this way: “Most consumers will ask if the turquoise is ‘real,’ but the question to ask is if it is ‘natural’ turquoise.”

The distinction exists because most turquoise can't be used as it comes out of the ground. The same brochure: “When retrieved from the earth, approximately 85% of the turquoise is too soft to cut or polish,” and “Approximately 15% of the world’s turquoise supply is natural turquoise.” Chambless and Ryan land in the same place from the mining side: “It is estimated that up to 80 percent of all turquoise produced is too soft and pale to be used commercially unless it is treated for color or hardness or both.”

So a treated stone is not automatically a fraud. It is the norm. The fraud is selling it without saying so.

What gets sold as turquoise

Natural

Cut and polished as mined, with nothing added. By the IACB's figure, about 15% of the supply.

Stabilized

Real turquoise, treated. The IACB defines it as “turquoise combined with colorless resins (plastics) under a vacuum or pressure to harden the stone and darken the color.” Stabilized stone is legitimate. It just has to be sold as stabilized. More in our note on enhanced turquoise.

Blocked and reconstituted

Here the material stops being a single stone. The IACB: “Blocked – chips and fragments are mixed with epoxy to form blocks for cutting.” Margaret Nickelson Wright, writing on Hopi silver, describes the same material: “Block stones are pulverized stones of various types, combined with a binder and put under pressure to form a hard block.” Note “of various types”: a block may hold some turquoise, or none. See what block turquoise is and whether reconstituted turquoise counts as turquoise.

Dyed

The IACB: “Dyed – a pigment is added to deepen the stone’s color or create a ‘matrix’ design within a treated stone.” That last clause matters. The dark web you're reading as a sign of a natural stone can itself be painted in.

Other stones, dyed to pass

Magnesite and howlite, as George shows in the video: white stones with their own veining that can be dyed any color. Neither is turquoise.

This is not a new problem

Imitation turquoise is centuries old. In his 1915 monograph for the National Academy of Sciences, Joseph Pogue records that Muhammed Ibn Mansur, writing in 1300, “described three kinds of imitation turquois—glass paste, hard green stones composed of copper and other minerals, and boreizeh, or Chinese paste—adding that it was easy to distinguish the real from the false stones.”

It stopped being easy. By 1954 Clara Lee Tanner was reporting in Arizona Highways: “One of the most recent efforts in this direction has been to pulverize poor quality turquoise, dye it, and put it back together again. This ‘reconstructed’ stone cannot be detected by the casual eye.”

Why home tests won't settle it

The internet is full of hot needles, acetone swabs and tooth taps. Joe Dan Lowry and Joe P. Lowry, in their book on turquoise, are blunt about them: when all of the turquoise industry imitations are included, “there is not a single patch test or wives’ tale that could ever identify the condition of every piece of turquoise on the market.”

Real identification happens in a lab. “Scientifically, testing a turquoise’s condition is not difficult, but it can be cost-prohibitive,” the Lowrys write. What the lab looks for is chemistry, not color: “The initial red flag identifying a treated or imitation turquoise will have a carbon content reading. Carbon does not naturally occur in turquoise, but it is common in the plastic, waxes, and oils that can be used to treat turquoise.”

And their principle for everyone else: “an imitation is always made to look like an original.” That is why the seller's written word is worth more than your eye. For the visual cues that do help, and their limits, see how to tell if turquoise is real. For hardness specifically, see turquoise hardness and how it's measured.

What the law covers, and what it doesn't

George said “by law, they're required to answer you properly.” That depends on which law. The IACB brochure again:

The federal Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 “is a truth-in-marketing law.” Under it, “it is illegal to offer or display for sale, or sell, any art or craft product in a manner that falsely suggests it is Indian produced, an Indian product, or the product of a particular Indian Tribe.” More in our guide to the Indian Arts and Crafts Act.
But the federal Act is about who made the piece, not the stone: “the use of materials, such as turquoise, in the production of Indian art or craftwork is not within the scope of the Act.”
New Mexico goes further. “The State of New Mexico’s Indian Arts and Crafts Sales Act, unlike the federal Indian Arts and Crafts Act, requires the seller to disclose in writing the type of materials used.”

The federal Act won't make a seller tell you about the stone. New Mexico's law will. Wherever you buy, ask.

What to ask for before you buy

The IACB's checklist is short and worth following exactly. “Request a written receipt that includes all the vital information about your purchase, including: name of artist and their Tribal affiliation; name of the mine from which the turquoise was extracted; whether the turquoise is natural, stabilized, or treated.” The brochure adds where you bought it, the price, the date and the business address.

On price: “Realize that authentic handmade pieces may be expensive… if a price seems too good to be true, be sure to ask more questions about the item and its maker.”

Ask the stone question every time, and expect a straight answer. When you're ready, browse sterling silver and turquoise pieces, and ask us what's in any of them.

Frequently asked questions

What is fake turquoise made of?

Usually one of three things. Block material is “chips and fragments… mixed with epoxy to form blocks for cutting” (IACB brochure, p. 2). Other soft white stones such as magnesite and howlite are dyed blue, as Navajo silversmith George Francis shows in the video above. And some imitations are dyed so that the pigment creates “a ‘matrix’ design” (IACB brochure, p. 2).

Is stabilized turquoise fake?

No. It is real turquoise “combined with colorless resins (plastics) under a vacuum or pressure to harden the stone and darken the color” (IACB brochure, p. 2). It is treated, not natural, and it should be sold as stabilized.

How much turquoise is natural?

“Approximately 15% of the world’s turquoise supply is natural turquoise,” according to the Indian Arts and Crafts Board (brochure, p. 2). Chambless and Ryan estimate that “up to 80 percent of all turquoise produced is too soft and pale to be used commercially unless it is treated” (Turquoise in America, p. 182).

Can I test turquoise at home?

Not reliably. The Lowrys write that “there is not a single patch test or wives’ tale that could ever identify the condition of every piece of turquoise on the market.” Lab testing looks for carbon, which “does not naturally occur in turquoise” (Turquoise: The World Story of a Fascinating Gemstone, p. 115).

Does the Indian Arts and Crafts Act require sellers to disclose treated turquoise?

No. The federal Act covers who made a piece; turquoise and other materials are “not within the scope of the Act.” New Mexico’s Indian Arts and Crafts Sales Act does require the seller “to disclose in writing the type of materials used” (IACB brochure, pp. 1–2).

From the Library: Pogue, The Turquois (1915)

1915 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 1915, not today.

Pogue (1915) translates Boetius de Boot's gem treatise (first published 1608), which reported:

“The glass makers of Venice perfectly imitate the turquois. I know a certain Frenchman who copied it so perfectly by introducing small veins that it could not be distinguished from the true.”
— Pogue (1915), p. 17

De Boot also described tricks for 'restoring' faded color, and judged them, in Pogue's (1915) translation:

“But by these artifices the color is only changed on the surface, and soon the stone becomes more disagreeable and less valuable than formerly.”
— Pogue (1915), p. 17

Pogue (1915) traced a second old impostor to Theophrastus' account of copper-stained fossil ivory:

“the first notice of a substance known as odontolite, or bone turquois, which, resembling somewhat inferior turquois, has been constantly confounded with the real mineral”
— Pogue (1915), p. 9

Pogue (1915) quotes an Arabic work of 1175:

“Many kings hardly have the desire to wear a turquois, because the vulgar frequently utilize it as sigilium and wear finger rings which are imitations of its best kind.”
— Pogue (1915), p. 71

Of ancient Egyptian faience, Pogue wrote in 1915 that many pieces

“so closely simulate the color and texture of turquois as to suggest that they were made in imitation of it.”
— Pogue (1915), p. 71

And on Europe in the early 1800s, Pogue (1915) noted:

“John Mawe (A treatise on diamonds and precious stones), writing in 1815, says that the turquois was then in vogue, the demand at that time exceeding the supply, and paste imitations were frequently seen.”
— Pogue (1915), p. 87

Pogue opened his 1915 section on imitations this way:

“The turquois has been imitated from the earliest times. The ancient Egyptians had a blue enamel which they called false mafkat (turquois).”
— Pogue (1915), p. 131

As of 1915, Pogue reported:

“Today false turquoises abound, some crude, others clever; and much cheap jewelry is adorned with quantities of them.”
— Pogue (1915), p. 131

Pogue (1915) sorted the imitations of his day into three groups:

“Imitations of turquois are of three kinds, as follows: Blue glass or enamel; artificial compounds closely approximating turquois in composition; and other minerals, either naturally resembling turquois or made to do so by stains or dyes.”
— Pogue (1915), p. 131

On bone turquois, or odontolite, Pogue wrote in 1915:

“This material, which was often confused in the Middle Ages with true turquois, is fossil bone or ivory impregnated by phosphate of iron, and possesses a blue color scarcely distinguishable in some instances from that of mineral turquois in daylight, but appearing a dull-gray by artificial illumination.”
— Pogue (1915), p. 132

On dyed stones, Pogue (1915) recorded:

“Of late blue dyes have been found for chalcedony or agate, by means of which the delicate shades of turquois are reproduced, and about 1900 the English and French markets were plentifully supplied with stones of this character.”
— Pogue (1915), p. 132

From the Library: Lowry, Turquoise: The World Story of a Fascinating Gemstone (2010)

2010 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 2010, not today.

Lowry (2010) listed the forms an imitation can take:

“These imitations can include dying other minerals to look like turquoise and using turquoise-colored glass, ceramics, clays, synthetics and even the infamous plastic.”
— Lowry (2010), p. 206 ^[2]

According to Lowry (2010, p. 206), Mesopotamian, Venetian and Egyptian glass and faience were probably not made to imitate the gemstone at first. They were art forms that used turquoise colours, and only later were they used as imitations. ^[2]

According to Lowry (2010, p. 209), many turquoise-coloured nugget necklaces are really painted shells or nugget-shaped concrete or plaster, and some jewelry is inlaid with coloured or dyed paste or clay. ^[2]

According to Lowry (2010, p. 212), some miners were known to soak their rough in water the night before selling it, which made the colour look higher-grade and added weight. ^[2]

Lowry (2010) did not treat every imitation sale as fraud:

“Selling imitations is not always a sinister plot against an unsuspecting consumer.”
— Lowry (2010), p. 211 ^[2]

His advice to buyers (Lowry, 2010):

“Therefore, always get a written guarantee stating what you are buying.”
— Lowry (2010), p. 212 ^[2]

From the Library: Kunz, Gems and Precious Stones of North America (1890)

1890 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 1890, not today.

Kunz (1890) described how he caught stained American turquoise:

“The discovery of this deception was made by the writer, who saw numerous parcels of turquoise sent to New York from New Mexico”
— Kunz (1890), p. 58 ^[3]

The stones passed the usual checks; Kunz (1890) wrote that

“It was only after the back had been scraped off to some depth that the fact was revealed that they were artificially stained.”
— Kunz (1890), p. 59 ^[3]

According to Kunz (1890, p. 59), the stain was Prussian blue, the same coloring used in Germany to make agate imitate lapis lazuli, and a stone costing $100 to $200 that proved to be stained would fall to a hundredth of its cost. ^[3]

Kunz (1890) worried about the wider damage:

“The deception is to be regretted, since it will cast suspicion on any fine turquoise that may be found in this country hereafter”
— Kunz (1890), p. 59 ^[3]

From the Library: Schiffer, Turquoise Jewelry (2008)

2008 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 2008, not today.

Schiffer (2008) put the buyer's position plainly:

“Legally, no harm has been done as long as the imitation is correctly identified as such. But a buyer should know that imitations do exist, and should ask for assurances if they have any doubt.”
— Schiffer (2008), p. 5 ^[4]

Writing in 2008, Schiffer described a then-new material, rainbow calsilica:

“This material from Chihuahua, Mexico, is striped in many colors and has been used like other stones to enhance silver jewelry.”
— Schiffer (2008), p. 5 ^[4]

According to Schiffer (2008, p. 5), gem laboratories that examined rainbow calsilica classified it as having man-made properties, colored with man-made pigments and stabilized with epoxy. ^[4]

From the Library: Frank, Indian Silver Jewelry of the Southwest (1990)

1990 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 1990, not today.

According to Frank (1990, p. 16), altered and imitation turquoise appeared soon after the stone came into use in Southwest jewelry. Many stones darkened and greened with wear as they absorbed skin oils, and the change was sometimes hurried by rubbing mutton fat or lard on lighter stones. ^[5]

According to Frank (1990, p. 16), the first actual imitation turquoise in the trade was introduced by Lorenzo Hubbell about 1900, when he imported glass beads and cabochons convincing enough that, as of the late 1970s, they still fooled many people; these remained the main forms of enhancement or deception until plastic came into use in the 1940s. ^[5]

From the Library: Khazeni, Sky Blue Stone (2014)

2014 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 2014, not today.

According to Khazeni (2014, p. 86), the English lapidary Thomas Nichols reported in 1652 that the Venetians had ways of imitating turquoise's sky colour and of recovering it in faded stones, the latter by rubbing them with oil of vitriol. ^[6]

From the Library: Lowry, Turquoise Unearthed: An Illustrated Guide (2002)

2002 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 2002, not today.

Lowry (2002) warned:

“Some Chinese turquoise looks a lot like turquoise from "classic" American mines, and is often misrepresented as such.”
— Lowry (2002), p. 10 ^[7]

As of 2002, Lowry (2002) added:

“It is more common today to find Native American jewelry set with Chinese turquoise than with true Southwestern turquoise, so the buyer must beware.”
— Lowry (2002), p. 10 ^[7]

From the Library: Stacey, Turquoise Blue Book and Indian Jewelry Digest (1975)

1975 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 1975, not today.

Joseph Stacey, writing in 1975, on the imitations of the boom:

“The cheap commercial market is flooded with synthetic blue colored plastic stones. Others are using particles of waste turquoise, dyeing them and mounting in epoxies.”
— Stacey (1975), p. 85 ^[8]

Stacey (1975) on one strand he had seen:

“We have seen beads made of plaster and coated with turquoise colored blue lacquer that sold for $800 for one strand.”
— Stacey (1975), p. 85 ^[8]

From the Library: Jacka, Navajo Jewelry: A Legacy of Silver and Stone (1995)

1995 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 1995, not today.

Lois Essary Jacka, writing in 1995:

“Turquoise imitations are made of plastic, and matrix is even added. This fake turquoise is often used in "manufactured" jewelry from foreign countries.”
— Jacka (1995), p. 84 ^[9]

Field Notes by Mateo James

I notice the two books cite Thomas Nichols differently. Khazeni (2014) calls his manual Lapidary; Or, The History of Precious Stones and dates it 1652, while Pogue (1915) cites Nicols's Arcula Gemmea, printed in London in 1653. I'm giving each book's title and year as it gives them.

Sources

U.S. Department of the Interior, Indian Arts and Crafts Board, with Joe Dan Lowry (Turquoise Museum). Indian Arts and Crafts Act turquoise consumer brochure (GPO gpo58769), n.d., pp. 1–2.
Joe Dan Lowry & Joe P. Lowry. Turquoise: The World Story of a Fascinating Gemstone. 2010, p. 115 (scan p. 58).
Philip Chambless & Mike Ryan II. Turquoise in America: The Great American Turquoise Rush 1890–1910, Part 1. Callais Press, 2021, p. 182.
Margaret Nickelson Wright. Hopi Silver: The History and Hallmarks of Hopi Silversmithing. 1989, scan p. 45.
Joseph E. Pogue. The Turquois, Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. XII. 1915, scan p. 141.
Clara Lee Tanner. “Navajo silver,” Arizona Highways, August 1954, scan p. 35.
George Francis, Navajo silversmith. Video interview with T.Skies Jewelry (youtube ND2nr3OHJmA).
Pogue, Joseph E. The Turquois: A Study of Its History, Mineralogy, Geology, Ethnology, Archaeology, Mythology, Folklore, and Technology. Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. XII, Part II, Third Memoir. Washington, 1915. Public domain. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1915.
Lowry, Joe Dan, and Joe P. Lowry. Turquoise: The World Story of a Fascinating Gemstone. Layton, UT: Gibbs Smith, 2010. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2010.
Kunz, George F. Gems and Precious Stones of North America. New York: The Scientific Publishing Company, 1890. Public domain. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1890.
Schiffer, Nancy N. Turquoise Jewelry. Revised 4th ed. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 2008. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2008.
Frank, Larry, with the assistance of Millard J. Holbrook II. Indian Silver Jewelry of the Southwest, 1868-1930. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 1990. First published 1978 by New York Graphic Society. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1990.
Khazeni, Arash. Sky Blue Stone: The Turquoise Trade in World History. The California World History Library 20. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2014. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2014.
Lowry, Joe Dan, and Joe P. Lowry. Turquoise Unearthed: An Illustrated Guide. Photography by Mark Nohl. Tucson, AZ: Rio Nuevo Publishers, 2002. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2002.
Stacey, Joseph, ed. Turquoise Blue Book and Indian Jewelry Digest. Arizona Highways Collectors Series. Phoenix: Arizona Highways (Arizona Department of Transportation), 1975. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1975.
Jacka, Lois Essary. Navajo Jewelry: A Legacy of Silver and Stone. Photographs by Jerry Jacka. Flagstaff: Northland Publishing, 1995. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1995.

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