Buying Guides · Turquoise · Sep 10, 2026

How to Buy Navajo Turquoise Jewelry: Ask Who Made It, and What the Stone Is

Buying Navajo turquoise jewelry comes down to two questions: who made the piece, and what the stone is. They sound like one question, but they aren’t. A different rule covers each one, and a seller can answer one honestly while staying vague about the other. This guide covers what to ask, what the answers mean, and what to get in writing. You’ll find named-maker work in our Native American jewelry collection, including pieces by Philbert Secatero and Devin Edison, two Navajo silversmiths whose hallmarked work we carry. For where to buy in general, including markets, museum shops and online dealers, start with our guide to buying authentic Native American jewelry.

Two questions, two different rules

Federal law covers the first question. The Indian Arts and Crafts Board calls the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 “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.” The last clause is the one that matters here. A piece sold as Navajo has to be the work of a Navajo maker. Looking Navajo doesn’t qualify it, and neither does being made by a member of another nation.

That law doesn’t cover the second question at all. The Board says so plainly: “the use of materials, such as turquoise, in the production of Indian art or craftwork is not within the scope of the Act.” It publishes turquoise guidance anyway, because buyers care. So a seller can offer a genuine Navajo-made ring set with dyed stone without breaking that Act, as long as nobody lies about who made it. Other rules may still require the seller to tell you about the dye.

Two other rules fill part of that gap. 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.” If a seller there doesn’t, the Board notes, that failure “may entitle the consumer to a repayment of the purchase price upon the return of the item.” And the Federal Trade Commission’s jewelry guides say it is “unfair or deceptive to fail to disclose that a gemstone has been treated” when the treatment isn’t permanent, needs special care, or significantly affects the stone’s value. For online sales, the guides say the disclosure belongs in the product description. For more on the law, see our explainer on the Indian Arts and Crafts Act.

Question one: who made it?

Ask for the maker’s name and nation, and expect a specific answer. “Navajo-style,” “Southwest-inspired” and “tribal design” describe a look, not a maker. Those labels are legal when they’re honest (we call our own house line Southwest-inspired), but they tell you nothing about who did the work. Our guide to spotting fake Native American jewelry covers the red flags in detail.

Then ask how the piece was made, which is a separate question. In a consumer bulletin that Marsha Lund quoted in 1976, the Indian Arts and Crafts Board described three kinds of product: “HANDMADE — where an individual has control over the design and quality of craftsmanship of each piece”; assembly-line work, where several people, “who may indeed be American Indian,” each do a small part; and machine work, “where there is little, if any, hand work involved.” Its verdict still holds: “All of these products are legitimate if sold for what they are.” The word “handmade” has a federal meaning too. The FTC calls it deceptive to label a piece handmade “unless the entire shaping and forming of such product from raw materials and its finishing and decoration were accomplished by hand labor.”

Here is how we label our own jewelry. Most T.Skies pieces are house designs made in our Albuquerque workshop, and we don’t call them Navajo or Native American. When a piece is made by a named Native artist, the listing names the artist and their nation, and only that artist’s work carries their nation. If a listing doesn’t name its maker, ask us before you buy. If you want a piece by a Navajo silversmith specifically, ask about a custom commission: our custom Navajo pieces are made by our in-house Diné (Navajo) silversmiths, and the maker is named on each piece. Custom commissions are paused until January; see how custom Navajo work is made. Our Native Made page explains the policy in full, and our silversmith directory lists makers by name and nation.

Read the hallmark, but don’t lean on it

Many contemporary silversmiths stamp their work with a hallmark: a name, initials or a symbol struck into the back. A mark you can trace to a named maker is good evidence. A missing one isn’t proof of a fake. The Encyclopedia of Native American Jewelry notes that the push for makers to mark their work “had been building before World War II,” but “it did not become popular practice until the late 1960s.” Marsha Lund went further: “Much of the excellent jewelry produced in the Navajo and Zuni styles was not signed, and some very sub-standard work was.” On the work of those two nations, she wrote, a signature’s presence or absence “is not an indication of quality.”

So use the mark as a lead, not a verdict. Look it up in our hallmark guide, which ties documented marks to named makers, and read how marks came into use in hallmarks on Native American jewelry.

Question two: what is the stone?

The Board’s turquoise guidance starts with a better question than the one most buyers ask: “Most consumers will ask if the turquoise is ‘real,’ but the question to ask is if it is ‘natural’ turquoise.” Real turquoise can still be treated, and the treatment is what changes the price. The Board lists five treatments:

Oiled or waxed: soaked or cooked in oil or wax to darken the color.
Enhanced: a patented process that darkens low- or medium-grade stone to imitate a higher grade.
Stabilized: combined with colorless resin under vacuum or pressure to harden the stone and darken the color.
Blocked: chips and fragments mixed with epoxy and formed into blocks for cutting.
Dyed: pigment added to deepen the color or to create a “matrix” pattern.

Field Notes by Mateo James: how we use these words. At T.Skies we sort turquoise into two groups. Natural turquoise is as it comes out of the earth, with nothing added except the water or mineral oil used while cutting. Everything else is treated, and we label treated stone stabilized (clear resin that locks in the stone's own color and integrity), enhanced (dyed, hardened, or both), or stabilized enhanced. The IACB's definitions, quoted above, say stabilizing also darkens the color, and keep “enhanced” for one patented color process; our labels draw the line at whether dye or a hardening process changed the stone. Whatever the label, a treated stone should be disclosed as treated: the FTC Jewelry Guides (16 CFR §23.24) require it whenever a treatment isn't permanent, needs special care, or significantly affects the stone's value.

Natural turquoise is the minority. By the Board’s figure, “approximately 15% of the world’s turquoise supply is natural turquoise,” and about 85% comes out of the ground too soft to cut or polish without treatment. Stabilized turquoise isn’t fake. It’s real turquoise, hardened so it can be cut and worn. What matters is that the seller tells you which kind you’re buying. To check a stone yourself, see how to tell if turquoise is real.

Ask for the mine

Where a turquoise came from also shapes its value. The Board notes that value “is also determined by the reputation of the mine and the rarity of the turquoise,” and names Lone Mountain, #8, Lander Blue and Bisbee as mines “highly regarded for the color, matrix, and history of the turquoise they contain.” It adds that the most commonly marketed American turquoise comes from the Sleeping Beauty and Kingman mines in Arizona. A seller who knows the mine should be willing to write it down. If a seller names a famous mine but won’t put it on the receipt, take note. For the two Arizona mines you’ll see most often, see Kingman vs. Sleeping Beauty turquoise. For how color affects value, see grading turquoise color.

Check the silver and the casting

A piece sold as sterling must meet the federal standard. Under the FTC’s guides, “Sterling” may only describe metal that is “at least 925/1,000ths pure silver.” Look for the mark, usually “925” or “STERLING,” on the back of the piece or inside a band. Two popular home tests don’t work. A magnet won’t pull brass or copper, so silver-plated brass passes the magnet test. And any metal feels cool at first and then warms on the skin, not just silver.

The construction tells you more. Turn the piece over. William and Sarah Turnbaugh describe the back of a hand-cast Navajo-style piece as “pitted with tiny holes which have been partly smoothed off by filing,” and note that “the backs of machine-made or spin-cast examples can be distinguished from this traditional hand cast work by flow lines or streaky marks acquired during the spin cast cooling process.” So small pits on the back of a cast piece are a normal sign of hand casting, not a flaw. In our experience, a few other details are worth a close look:

Stampwork: hand stamping varies a little in depth and spacing from strike to strike. A long run of identical impressions suggests a press.
Bezels: a bezel pushed snug around the stone’s own outline is a good sign. Wide gaps filled with glue are not.
Solder joins: on a fabricated piece, you should see neat, separate joins where the bezel, wire and band meet the backplate.

None of these checks tells you who made a piece. They tell you how it was made. For the older silver standard on vintage pieces, see coin silver vs. sterling.

Get it in writing

No federal law gives you a right to a certificate, or to documents proving an artist’s tribal membership. The FTC’s jewelry guides even state that they “do not confer any rights on any person.” What you can do is ask, and buy from a seller who will put the answers on paper. The Board’s buying tips say to “request a written receipt that includes all the vital information about your purchase,” including:

the name of the artist and their tribal affiliation;
the name of the mine the turquoise came from;
whether the turquoise is natural, stabilized or treated;
where the stone was purchased;
the price;
the date of purchase;
the business address where you bought the piece.

The advice is old, and it has held up. The Board’s earlier bulletin, as Lund quoted it, put it in one sentence a Navajo turquoise buyer can still use: “if you believe the piece of jewelry you are purchasing is handmade by a Navajo craftsman, of sterling silver and natural turquoise, then you should insist that this information appear on your receipt.” A written receipt turns a sales pitch into a statement the seller has to stand behind. If a seller won’t write down what they told you, don’t rely on it.

The Board also advises that “if a price seems too good to be true, be sure to ask more questions about the item and its maker.” If you believe a piece was falsely sold as Native-made, you can report it to the Indian Arts and Crafts Board at the U.S. Department of the Interior, toll-free at 1-888-278-3253 (1-888-ART-FAKE).

Before you buy

Ask who made the piece and which nation they belong to. Ask how it was made. Ask whether the stone is natural, stabilized or treated, and which mine it came from. Look at the hallmark and the back of the piece. Then get it all on the receipt. When you’re ready, browse our Native American jewelry, and ask us about any listing. We’ll tell you what we know, and we’ll put it in writing.

Frequently asked questions

What makes turquoise jewelry “Navajo”?

The maker. Under the Indian Arts and Crafts Act it is illegal to sell a product in a way that falsely suggests it is “the product of a particular Indian Tribe.” Jewelry sold as Navajo must be made by a Navajo maker. A style, a design or a stone doesn’t make a piece Navajo.

Does the Indian Arts and Crafts Act cover the turquoise?

No. The Indian Arts and Crafts Board states that materials such as turquoise are “not within the scope of the Act.” New Mexico’s Indian Arts and Crafts Sales Act does require sellers there to disclose materials in writing, and the FTC’s jewelry guides call it deceptive to hide certain gemstone treatments.

Do I have a legal right to a certificate of authenticity?

Not under federal law. Ask for a written receipt that names the artist and their tribal affiliation, the mine, and whether the stone is natural, stabilized or treated. A seller who stands behind a piece will write it down.

Is unsigned Navajo jewelry fake?

Not necessarily. Marking work with a hallmark “did not become popular practice until the late 1960s” (Encyclopedia of Native American Jewelry), and much fine older Navajo work was never signed. A traceable hallmark is good evidence. The maker’s name on a receipt is better.

Is stabilized turquoise fake?

No. Stabilized turquoise is real turquoise hardened with colorless resin. By the Indian Arts and Crafts Board’s figure, only about 15% of the world’s supply is natural. Stabilization isn’t the problem. A seller who doesn’t disclose it is.

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.
U.S. Department of the Interior, Indian Arts and Crafts Board. “Contact Us,” doi.gov/iacb (accessed September 23, 2026).
Marsha Mayer Lund. Indian Jewelry: Fact and Fantasy. Paladin Press, 1976, pp. 15 (quoting an Indian Arts and Crafts Board consumer bulletin), 114.
Paula A. Baxter with Allison Bird-Romero. Encyclopedia of Native American Jewelry. Oryx Press, 2000, p. xxv.
William A. Turnbaugh and Sarah Peabody Turnbaugh. Indian Jewelry of the American Southwest. Schiffer, n.d., caption to the reverse of a hand-cast brooch.
Federal Trade Commission. Guides for the Jewelry, Precious Metals, and Pewter Industries, 16 CFR Part 23: §§ 23.0(d), 23.2(a), 23.5(b)(2), 23.24.
T.Skies. “Native Made” page and product listings (accessed September 23, 2026).