How to Test Turquoise at Home
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.ย. 2020
- A simple video showing two methods for testing turquoise at home.
Both methods are non-destructive to natural turquoise. However, both methods will leave marks to fake turquoise.
New video here shows the hot needed on a fake piece:
• Fake Turquoise vs Hot ...
New Video Here shows some new lab created turquoise and also shows which liquids can be substituted for acetone:
• New Untestable Fake tu...
Supplies List:
Q Tips are great for applying the acetone to the stones:
amzn.to/3kLMT5B
Acetone:
Note that this IS different than fingernail polish, so using actual acetone will make a difference in the results. You can pick this up at most hardware stores, or online here:
amzn.to/3DLdLul
Nitrile Gloves
Important: Nitrile WILL degrade with acetone, so while they offer protection for a few short tests, if you are going to be working with acetone for a prolonged period, then Butyl Rubber Gloves will be a much better choice. Please note that "black nitrile" is not Butyl.
The Nitrile gloves I use in my shop can be found here:
amzn.to/3cp1SOj
Butyl Rubber gloves are more expensive, but are reusable and offer a better skin protection against harsher chemicals. They can be found here:
amzn.to/3DCX6ck
Kitchen Lighter:
These are handy for lighting candles, or directly heating the needle to test the turquoise. Plus, I use them all the time in my shop for various purposes such as melting ends of paracord, etc...
amzn.to/3DrJmRo
Cheers,
Austin
Disclosure:
I am a member of the Amazon Affiliates program and Earn a commission on any sales made through the links to the products I endorse. I make a great effort to only endorse products which I myself use and enjoy. - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
Thank you, so much for this demonstration. My daughter had given me a beautiful bracelet with a turquoise stone, but I knew right away that it wasn’t. It looked like polymer, to me, and so, I scraped away the surface (not having watched this video) - a lighter turquoise, then white revealed itself.
When I wrote to the designer (Etsy), she was actually glad to know, but sad that she, too, was deceived by the supplier.
I will treasure it, and wear it, because it was a gift, and I won’t tell my daughter what I found out. I’m glad to know, now, how to test it, should I ever buy a turquoise piece, myself. Thank you!
Hi Betsy, Its true, most of the stones out there are not real turquoise and so much confusion could be avoided with a few simple tests :) Glad you found this helpful and good luck on your future turquoise purchases!
No. You should tell your daughter what you found out and teach her how to test visually and at home too. Its an education. Tell her that her 'mistake' is a good learning experience and does not lower the value of the gift as it is from her and Howlite is visually as pretty. I used to take my kids when they were little, to the annual massive gemshows in Tucson, AZ and quiz them on stones, testing, and such. As a result, they became little experts on minerals and gemstones, and love them to this day. Everything is a learning experience, even the mistakes. Don't withhold the truth from your kid even if it was a gift. She deserves to know. It will also make her a savvy shopper.
A lot of stone wholesalers from India are massive scammers. Jaipur, India, is the cut stone capital of the world. Unfortunately, once they discovered Etsy, many of them are passing off resin as amber, Howlite as Turquoise, and so forth. I am very severe with them when I find out. Gemstones and jewelry must have the highest ethics and credibility. I have zero tolerance from scammers. Nepal is passing off massive resin balls as old Tibetan amber - yet another scam. Fortunately, amber is very easy to test with a blue light.
@@mjremy2605 Etsy has become the thorn in my side that never should have been. Wish it could return to how it was back in 2009
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge I bought a ring from a Turkish jeweller, the original stone was onyx and I requested Turquoise they swapped the stone with 2 weeks without extra cost. The turquoise stone was beautiful highly polished. I touch it it felt a bit waxy and was cold. As soon as I got home I took your advice and used all the test methods. I gave the next day I gave my sister the ring for an additional test to the stone with hydrochloric acid in her lab she’s a chemist and no reaction. I’m now confident to gift it to my husband. Thanks to you and the generous Turkish jeweller at Brent Cross London Desire
Glad to hear you got the real thing!
I am currently on my sixth decade on this Earth 🌎 and as I have always said, “every single day you learn something new ”. Thank you for a great lesson of which firstly I’ll be passing on to my daughter who loves turquoise.👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽
My pleasure, and thank you!
Yes DushessNanciAnn, I am right there w/ u on the decades & love learning, I'll also be sharing w/ my daughter.
wow me 2 ..feb 19 1962
Me too :)
science is truly unstoppable.
I actually knew about all of these tests before I watched this video, but it's still interesting nonetheless. One thing I'd like to point out is that there is a lot of fake turquoise in the market, but there's also a lot of stabilized turquoise too. Natural, gem-quality turquoise is constantly becoming rarer, and the majority of turquoise you'll find in jewelry nowadays is stabilized. I think most people associate that as it being fake, but that's not the case. The stabilized turquoise you usually see in jewelry is mostly chalk turquoise, which is the most common type of turquoise that's found, and it's too soft to be used in jewelry unless it has been stabilized. I think it can be a good option for most people though because it's affordable, it still looks pretty nice (at least in my opinion), and it actually does have some benefits over natural turquoise. After stabilization, it does become much harder, and the process also prevents oils and things from penetrating the stone over time, so it will never change color, and it will never crumble. Natural turquoise can change color over time depending on what it comes in contact with. There's also the rarity factor of natural, gem-quality turquoise that makes it very difficult to find. I have a few pieces, and they were definitely not cheap... at all, so anything I'd actually wear would probably be stabilized simply because it can withstand daily life better, and it's much easier to find replacements if anything should happen to them.
Hi Steampunk, Thank you, you bring up a lot of good points, especially about how natural turquoise will change colors. This one little bit of trivia is one that escapes a lot of people as they assume a color change means their stone is a fake. I am certainly considering doing a follow up video about turquoise as this one has been more popular than I would have guessed.
The only thing I would add is that if the turquoise stones are smaller in sizes say like between 10mm -15mm you don't need to stabilize them...
Excellent info even in 2023. Thank you!
Yes. I got one in a flea market. It was real, untreated, 100% natural, so of course it was yellowish when I first saw it .
That test doesn't work, if it did, all my bought as howlite turquoise beads are actually turquoise 😅
Thank you Austin for this excellent demonstration. I knew my stones were dyed Howlite because of the lighter color around the hole drilled in the bead.
That's another good tip you gave. So check the holes.
There's a lot of dyed Howlite coming from China.
Taking a hair and stretching it tightly over the stone then putting the burning end of a cigarette on the hair will tell you-
If the hair singes and breaks, fake..
If the hair stays intact, real--
The stone absorbs the heat..
Excellent field test..
Learned it in Arizona at the mines...
I've heard this about jade too. Never tried it myself though.
We do this in Afghanistan too when testing fake from real gemstones.
Great practical tests for turquoise, especially for the casual buyer.
Turquoise is one of the most difficult gemstones for a buyer to try to understand & identify, because so much of the value is based on its origin (mine name, lore) and many sellers are willing to attach false provenance. Turquoise has so much variation in matrix, color & stone features, that even with material from the same mine so can be really frustrating to quantify, that many consumers just rely on the honesty of a seller- which is not always warranted.
So having some simple tests that we can use to at least discern physical properties is extremely helpful. Thank you!
Well Spoken and excellent points all around, thanks for sharing!
Great simple to follow video, very useful, and many thanks for taking the time to share this knowledge.
Finally a video that actually shows how to identify and test. Thanks buddy.
Thank you, I love Turquoise. The pieces you got are lovely.
So happy you put this video up, never would have though to test, these are easy excellent cheap @ home ways of checking. Thank you so much.
Just learned about testing with nail polish remover, and no dye came off. Am surprised, I didn't pay alot for the strand? Thank you, all this information is so fascinating!
Thank you for an informative, concise and thorough explanation.
Great at home tests idea! Thank you!
This was REALLY helpful! I just bought a ring used and it looked kind of too good - but now I know it at least wasn’t dyed! Thanks for doing this!!
Glad to hear it! You're welcome :)
After watching this video I was able to use this technique to test some recent purchases I made online that I was having some question about. Sure enough one of the pieces rubbed off blue dye, which was funny because as soon as it turned blue on my qtip the stone fell out of the setting. But what was nice was when I checked three other pieces I wasn’t sure about they were fine. Thank you for this wonderful tip. Now I know that there’s a pretty good way to test!
Glad to hear this was helpful. Thanks for letting me know :)
Thank you for great explanation on how to detect fake turquoise. I have added testing some of my jewelry to my list tomorrow.
Awesome job explaining. Thanks for sharing. 👍🙌
Thank you for sharing this information!!
Amazing! Thank you so much. Interesting and now I know more of these beautiful stones. Seems to what u have been showing here is the more flatter stones has a dark back and are real ones.. take care xxx
Thank you for a most informative tutorial.
The really old turquoise and silver jewelry was made from coin silver, rather than sterling, the fragility meant that fewer of these pieces survived intact, thus making for more authentic loose stones.
This video was so helpful!
Thanks so much, I have been looking for a way to tell really quick!!!!!
Great information. Thank you!
Thank you! Great demo! Testing my stash! TFS
I did the one thing you should never do which is buy turquoise off someone on the street. Someone on Facebook posted a Navajo silver ring with set turquoise and red coral which looked worn out heavily. I was mostly after the silver, which to my luck it actually was, and thanks to your video and others I was able to test both stones and they are also 100% real.
Thanks again for sharing this info!
For a bit I thought your story was going to end in tragedy... glad to hear it didn't and glad this helped :)
So if that's true turquoise it won't change color?
Thank you for demonstrating the process.
You're welcome :)
I have had several pieces of what I have though was turquoise for 30+ years. It looks a lot like your dyed howlite. The funny thing is I was planning on buying some white howlite for my collection. It turns out I might already have some! I am looking forward to testing it out now.
Sir,
Your video helped me to identify a fake piece of turquoise using the Acetone test. All pieces passed the heat test.
That being said, I say the following out of love. Your video highlighted all real - non test failure - pieces except for where that one piece, from that $1.50 bag, where it failed the acetone test.
It's good to show BOTH modes - pass or fail for the viewer. I wanted to see a heat test failure.
Thank you again!
I admit, This video could improve by showing the hot needle test failure. Which is why I later made a second video showing what that looks like here: th-cam.com/video/VJf6ibYIiTg/w-d-xo.htmlsi=JGW5X6xRXseatkYZ
@@earthartgems Sir, I thank you but literally minutes ago, I saw your posting "New Untestable Fake Turquoise" which, as I am watching it right now, covers all the things I had requested. I thank you so very much for your video's. Have a great day.
@@stephen6640 You're most welcome :) I feel like turquoise is one of those subjects that could easily fill dozens of videos :) I just keep adding more as I have time.
@@earthartgems Agreed and frankly you and I share the same sentiments about amber. I want to fashion some items with turquoise and will lean on your site to help guide me.
@@stephen6640 let me know if I can help. I have a few jewelry making classes on my channel as well if it helps.
Yes, thanks! I’ve been collecting turquoise & silver jewellery for a few years. It’s nice to have some criteria as I look at stone in a shop. Luckily, I’ve been using a very reputable seller.
Thank you! I appreciate it. I definitely will check it out for the future but when I confronted him, he admitted that even the ones that didn’t fall the tests were completely fake. Really frustrating but I’m glad for the resource and that I knew there was a win the first place
My pleasure!
Excellent information! I learned a lot with your video! Thank you !
You're welcome!
I have a few old pieces, I let my daughters and soon my GrandDaughter wear. It is the good stuff form the 1950's and I really enjoy family wearing it. Thanks for a good vid, do us some more.! I have been always into the pottery and have one two Grey Hills rug from early sixtys. Now have experts almost related to help me on rugs. My Grandson immediately knew I had Churro wool and showed me how to tell.
Thanks Austin I Love the stone
Very helpful, thank you!
Great video. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks! My watch tips I bought has real turquoise! Can’t find a lighter to see if it has been treated but at least I know it passed the Acetone test! 🙌
So much info! Thank You!
Thank you so much for this video!!❤
you're most welcome!
What a simple way of testing turquoise. I didnt know you could do this. Thanks for sharing! Next I need to figure out how to value them...what to pay for them.
Loved learning about testing. Thx.
Very educational. Thanks!
very helpful video, thanks man
Thank you so much for this video. Got a bunch of turquoise today that I haven’t yet paid for. I told the guy I wasn’t really into it and he kept pressing. A lot of the ones I tested with acetone today were dyed. Now I’m going to continue with the other tests
You're welcome! Glad this was helpful in spotting some dyed stones. If you're interested, I also have a few other follow up videos I did which might prove helpful, One I uploaded yesterday where I discuss a few man made stones I came across that do not respond to either test, so its worth a peek.
Very useful information. THANKYOU
You're welcome!
Thanks for the heads up. It really helps me out.
😊👍
Good job. I glad you did showed us.
Thanks a lot! You have cleared my doubts!
You're very welcome :)
Good advice!
Very helpful. Thanks
Thanks. Very helpful!
I'm glad I came across this video. I learned alot, I Hve alot of stones and I can see that a few has been painted even though I didn't test them like you did. But looking at them and feeling them I see what's real and what's not real. But it is good to give them all a test. Very interesting video thank you.❤😊
You're welcome! I am glad that it was helpful :)
I'm the lucky gardian of two gorgeous turquoises: one from Iran with pyrite, and a vintage sleeping beauty with an Amazing blue sky color.
Both naturals and non stabilized, I'm so glad!
I've got several stabilized pièces, but I don't feel their energy...
Thanks Lila! So glad you found this helpful :)
I bought a squash blossom necklace from a pawnshop in Placerville CA some years back. My Mom was with me and we asked if we could test the stones. They had no problem with our testing. We had a needle and a lighter and it was negative for plastic. Now I need to check to see if the color come off. Thanks for the information!
Good to know. Thank-you
Thank you for sharing this informative video.
You're welcome, glad you found it helpful
Excellent video!
Thank you!
Awesome episode. Many many thanks. I love torquoise
thank you!
I resell jewelry, and have seen how easy it is to get duped if you don't know how to spot fakes. Great info, thanks!
Very informative, thank you!
You're welcome!
yes it was helpful. thank you so much
Thank you so much for sharing this with us. I really appreciate it very much. Awesome. ❤ Also, BTW, I LOVE YOUR ETHICS. ❤️👍🏼😉
Thank you, and you're very welcome, I am glad it was helpful!
Great video indeed very informative thank you very much !
There's this place in my home town that sells turquoise it's owned by a Arabic the stones there looked sketchy but I just went ahead and bought a stone the only cost 13 dollars this video really helped thank you
Really good and informative video. Thank you. Sonia
Thank you 😊 your video about turquoise was very interesting.
Great Info!
Great info
Thank you!
Can you believe it I must be the only woman who doesn't have nail polish remover!!!! But trust me next time I go out the door!!!! Mr. Moore thank you for this because I need to sell my stuff, matter of life or death, and this will help me in the long run. I have beads and cant tell if there real or not, usually I can with no problem but not these and wont try to sell them without knowing for sure I dont want to under sell for me or over sell for anyone else either. So thank you again. :)
Awesome thank you for sharing your knowledge 👍👍👍👍👏👏👏❤️❤️
Thank you so much for this information. Years ago I bought some big turquoise nuggets but was worried they might not be real. Now I know how to test them. Yay!
Were they real?
Thank you, very good to know! Explained well.
Thank you, I am glad this has been helpful. I know it really helped me when I learned these two techniques. I also recently added a short follow up showing what the hot needle actually does to fake turquoise.
Great video 👍🏼💯
Holy flip!! I got chills, they're multiplying!!
Extremely helpful 💙🧿💙
Thank you, I Learned Something new.
Me too.
Thanks!! I am new to this, but I have always wanted to make some really cool guitar straps with some turquoise. I have been a guitar player for a million years, and about 14 years ago, I took a really nice suede guitar strap and glued on (with the correct glue from Michael's) Native American beads, and man, did it come out great! Anyway, I have a lot of really nice straps, suede and finished leather, and yesterday, I went to a yard sale and I bought a necklace with turquoise (I think) and I already cut the stones apart and taped them on the strap (upon the advice of my 17 year old son) to establish the correct placement before gluing it on and I can't believe I didn't think of that myself. so, man, it looks so beautiful, and I am going to take the strap out to my workshop and put it on the bench and glue the stones on tomorrow. I have been a professional guitar player for years, but I am a BEGINNER at turquoise. THANK YOU!!!!!!
Thank you Curtis, those guitar straps sound pretty cool!
I really enjoyed this video, thank you!
Twenty years ago we traveled around out West in the 4 corners area and met a Zuni native that made it his mission to educate people on the different types of turquoise and imitations. He didn't mind people at the tourist traps selling fake stuff, he did mind that it wasn't labeled as an imitation. He would show you the scratch test on fake stones. People would come into a Native Artisans shop and say they saw the same squash blossom neckless in a shop on Navahoe land for 1/3rd the price, not knowing the stones were not 100% turquoise. Some of the unscrupulous sellers sold imitation jewelry from Tiawon that was marked Zuni, they got around the law by naming a town in Tiawon Zuni so they could put their mark on it!
We found a Zuni collective that sold only original native-made jewelry and the Craftsman got a full 90% of the sales price, no price gouging, and guaranteed real stuff.
It is sad jut how prevalent this type of activity is. It gives the entire industry a bad name. I agree, there is plenty of room in the market for imitation turquoise or other man made stones. The importance is honesty at the sellers counter. Thanks for that little tidbit of history as well, I learned something today.
Thank you!!
Thank you so much!
Thank you so much
Great Video. Very well Done And Informative...
Thanks Emily!
Thank you very helpful ☺
Thanks for this. I have used the acetone test but not the hot soldering pick test before. I have a large amount of old mine stock Qingu rough turquoise and will be testing each piece before I sell it. I have cabbed quite a bit of it and know it to be naturally hard but double checking for resin will give me more peace of mind! Thank you.
Thanks! I agree, it is nice to at least have a better idea of what one is selling :)
@@earthartgems Yes exactly! The last thing I want to do is misrepresent anything to anyone! Thank you again, you now have a new subscriber!
@@GeoRockNerd thank you!
Is there an easy way to do the hot soldering trick without, well soldering? I have tried acetone trick and it passed! Buuut i really don't have the tools to test with soldering 😂
@@xenyadominguez8209 You just need a needle, some pliers to hold it and a lighter or gas stove top to heat the needle. I heat the needle for a few seconds and then touch the back of the piece with it immediately.
Thank you for this
Great information ty
Thanks very helpful
This was great!!!
thank you!
I lived in Nevada many years ago and the native American at the turquoise shop showed me what to look for. Never put real turquoise in water ,over time it will turn green because of the copper content.
Yes, that is right! And is why a vintage ring with turquoise that was worn a lot will often be more green.
tshaffer9681, share the useful tips that nobody has mentioned.
WOW great experiment that was the best teaching video iv cn. 💋
Thank you so much.
Thank you
you did find some nice pieces
Thank you.
thanks for knowledge and insights .. youre a gem thanks
I love a good pun :)
Very interesting, thank you for sharing.
You're most welcome, and thank you!
What is name of the liquid you are using???
Thankyou i have a bunch of Indian jewelry this will help me.
Wow, what a score!