b'By Jim and Bobbi Jeen Olson,WesternTradingPost.comO ne of the most common questions we get at the Trading Post is, What kind ofClockwise from top: Bisbee, turquoise is this? Its a reasonable question. Many people would like to knowKingman Spiderweb, Sleepingthe origin of the stone in their particular piece of jewelry. They ask us becauseBeauty, Morenci, and Lander Bluewe deal in turquoise and related products. I guess the public would think we are good ones to ask about the origin of a piece of turquoise. But if there is one thing Ive learned about experts, its that if you ask ten of them for an opinion, you are going tobe learned and many (from all walks of life and get about ten different opinions! ethnic groups) have spent years handling enough of it to be pretty good at it. Remember though, Honestly, mine identification (without provenance) is pure guessing. It is educatedwhen someone who is an expert recognizes that guessing, at least in the case of a knowledgeable personbut guessing just the same.certain look, he is still only giving you an educated Once that stone leaves the miners hands, the identification has to travel with it forguess as to what it is. one to be 100% sure of its origins. Unfortunately, once the stone is in jewelry, it often loses its identification as it passes from hand to hand. This is especially the case withI once had a lady bring in a box of turquoise to sell. When vintage jewelry and the passage of time. When an item comes back around into theasked what she knew about it, she told me it was from Bisbee. I looked hands of a dealer who is offering it for resale, that seller is only making an educatedin the box and it looked like Sleeping Beauty (light blue) and a generic green (could guess as to the stones origin (unless provenance came with it). be from anywhere) turquoise to me. It had none of the indicators of classic Bisbee. I questioned the lady further and she said her dad had been an operator at the Bisbee We can get pretty close most of the time. For example, iron pyrite found in turquoisemine for many years. These were samples he had confiscated from the job site. When is indicative of only a handful of mines, so its presence can narrow down yourI told her it sure didnt look like Bisbee, she swore there was no other possibility. After choices greatly. Morenci and Kingman are two of the best-known mines for havinga bit more conversation, I realized this lady was probably telling the truth. She was not pyrite. However, there is pyrite in Mexican and Persian turquoise as well. Some haveasking for a premium on the turquoise because it was Bisbee. She did not even know told me Sleeping Beauty never has pyrite, but others swear it occasionally does. Somethere was a price difference between Bisbee and another turquoise. She even showed people automatically say anything with pyrite is Morenci. Of course, they would,me pictures of her dad on a large loader at the mine. She simply wanted to sell some because out of all the mines known to have pyrite, Morenci is generally the highestlight blue and green turquoise that she inherited from her dad at whatever the going priced! So why wouldnt they call anything with pyrite, Morenci (sarcasm)?price was. Period. It reminds me that most any mine (especially the larger ones) can throw off numerous different looks besides the one they get known for.Odds are, however, if you have pyrite in your turquoise, it came from Kingman. Why you ask? Simply because Kingman is so prolific. There is so much more of it on theA couple of years ago there was a fellow (who I will keep anonymous) that was market than any of the other possibilities, so the odds are for it. To tell the differenceselling groups of Morenci, Bisbee, Kingman, and Sleeping Beauty turquoise.between the pyrite, color, and other fine nuances between a piece of Morenci andHe had it all sorted out by mine, in nice little trays. Light blue - Sleeping Beauty. a piece of Kingman, you have to handle hundreds and hundreds of pieces of it. ButDark blue with reddish matrix - Bisbee. Medium blue - Kingman. Dark blue with even then, its still only an educated guess. One expert I read wrote that if therepyrite - Morenci. But as it turns out, this guy was actually selling Mexican turquoise! is quartz present with the pyrite, then it is definitely Morenci. However, anotherIt all came from Mexico! expert once told me that quartz present with pyrite means its Kingman! Now dont get me wrong, there are many whose opinions I respect about the turquoise origin,No article on turquoise is complete without mentioning Lander Blue, the rarest its just that they dont always agree! turquoise in the world. There were only about 100 pounds of it found and most of it was high grade. It can be authenticated within reason (by only a few knowledgeable Another popular stone is Bisbee. Top tier Bisbee is well-known for its deep blueexperts, however). Because of its fine look and rarity, prices for Lander Blue are many color and muddy-red host rock, or matrix. However, other mines can throw similar- times higher than other turquoise mines. This leads to some calling any dark blue looking turquoise. Naco, just south of Bisbee and over the Mexican border by aspiderweb turquoise with black host rock, Lander Blue. Bob Brucia, of Nevada Gem few miles is one place that has produced Bisbee look-a-like. China and Persia alsoand owner of the Lander Blue mining claim, writes on his website, Today, because of produce some. Josh Colbaugh, of the Kingman mine, once told me, Kingman canits rarity and value, there seems to be more Lander Blue for sale than was ever mined. mimic almost any mine out there. And then informed me about the numerous looks they have mined out of that one mine. A while back, a well-known turquoise dealer posted on social media, some pictures of Lander Blue turquoise he had found. I thought they didnt look right to me for Sleeping Beauty is another popular mine. It is known for its sky blue color. MostLanders, but hey, what do I know, hes an expert. Then, a few days later, he retracted Sleeping Beauty has little to no host rock present. When it does show host rock,his claim that they were Landers, saying that after conferring with some of his however, most of the time it is white (like caliche). However, there is a lot of Sleepingcolleagues, he had been mistaken in his attribution. I thought it was pretty big of Beauty set in jewelry that has black matrix! How does this happen? The host rock hashim to admit the mistake publicly, but it just goes to show you that everyone, even been dyed black of course (it resembles classic Kingman with this look). And sincethe so-called experts, makes mistakes.Sleeping Beauty has become so popular, anything with a sky blue look to it gets called Sleeping Beauty by some. But other mines in the US, Mexico, Persia, and China canI believe unless you are a turquoise expert or connoisseur, you should probably just throw off a similar-looking turquoise. As mentioned above, some purists say thatbuy what you like and dont worry too much about what mine somebody thinks it Sleeping Beauty never has pyrite present, but others swear once in a while it does. is. Dont pay extra for X if you do not know, or cannot tell, the difference between X and Y. Everyone has a different opinion on what appeals to them, so you should There are a lot of generalizations thrown around at times. Green turquoise comeslisten to your heart and buy what feels right. And if you are the person who collects from Nevada. Blue from Arizona. Spiderweb from China. Dome cuts are fromhigh-grade turquoise only, then you already know provenance is key. What stone is Persia. Light blue is Sleeping Beauty. Pyrite means its Morenci. Red host rock has tothis? Does the seller know where this stone came from, or is he simply making an be Bisbee. On and on. So what do we believe? attribution? In any case, you will only want to deal with reputable sellers you can trust and who stand behind what they sell. One I laugh about is when somebody tells me that they have X in their piece of jewelry and when I ask how they know that, they say, Because an Indian told me thats what itIn the end, I usually tell folks that only God and the miner who dug the rock truly was. I assure you, being a Native American does not make one an expert on turquoiseknow where any particular stone comes from. The rest of us are only guessing. any more than being from Wisconsin makes you an expert on cheese! An expert onMeaning, unless the person selling it has a trail leading back to the miner, he is only turquoise gets that way by studying and having an eye for it, not heritage. making an educated guess. And, as mentioned in the beginning, you will get many different opinions when asking people for their best guess. So educate yourself, In my opinion, somebody who has handled enough turquoise from different minesread what the experts have written and listen to what they say. Then you will form can get pretty good at being right most of the time. The top-grade out of many minesan opinion of your own. Who knows, maybe someday you will be one of those is fairly recognizable. The classic look that any particular mine gets known for canfrequently asked, What kind of turquoise is this? ArizonaRealCountry.com June 2021 41'