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Is your turquoise real?
You have a feeling about your turquoise. Let's find out if you're right.
Most turquoise on sale has been stabilised with plastic or waterglass, and much of it is dyed. Block turquoise is powdered stone in resin. Dyed howlite and dyed magnesite are sold as turquoise and are neither.
A photo gets you close. The test below makes you sure.
127 crystals catalogued1,524 readings written, one per stone per sign113 guides in the Journal
Option one
Upload a photo
Daylight, plain background, close enough to see the surface. Your phone strips the location off the photo before it ever leaves you.
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Option two
Tell us what it was sold as
Pick the name off the label. I will give you the test for that stone, and the cheap thing it usually gets swapped for.
Your stone
You said Turquoise.
Turquoise is one of the ones people get sold wrong. So this is where the checking starts, not where it ends. Run the test below.
The test that settles it
Start with a drill hole or a chipped edge. Dyed stone shows a white interior under the blue skin. Then rub a cotton bud of acetone on a hidden spot. It lifts blue dye off howlite and leaves real turquoise unchanged. A steel knife will not cut the harder turquoise, which runs 5 to 6 on the hardness scale. Dyed howlite and magnesite are only 3.5, so a knife cuts them easily, and their colour sits concentrated in the veins.
Sold under the wrong name
Most turquoise on sale has been stabilised with plastic or waterglass, and much of it is dyed. Block turquoise is powdered stone in resin. Dyed howlite and dyed magnesite are sold as turquoise and are neither.
Treatment
The great majority of commercial turquoise is treated. Stabilisation, which means soaking the stone in plastic or waterglass, is near-universal for chalky material and it is permanent. Dyeing is common too, often with Prussian blue, and so are waxing and oiling. Block or reconstituted turquoise is powdered stone set in resin rather than a solid stone. Dyed howlite and dyed magnesite are sold outright as turquoise and are not turquoise in any sense. Untreated natural turquoise is a small fraction of the market and it costs far more. Stabilised turquoise is normal and usually disclosed.
Confused with
Howlite, magnesite, dyed howlite, chrysocolla, amazonite, reconstituted turquoise, block turquoise
phosphate · CuAl6(PO4)4(OH)8·4H2O · Mohs 5-6
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A photo cannot feel weight or hardness. I tell you what the picture points to, then give you the test so you can be sure yourself.
Still not sure?
Scan your turquoise. It will tell you what it is in seconds, even when the answer is fake.
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Common questions
How can you tell if turquoise is real?
Start with a drill hole or a chipped edge. Dyed stone shows a white interior under the blue skin. Then rub a cotton bud of acetone on a hidden spot. It lifts blue dye off howlite and leaves real turquoise unchanged. A steel knife will not cut the harder turquoise, which runs 5 to 6 on the hardness scale. Dyed howlite and magnesite are only 3.5, so a knife cuts them easily, and their colour sits concentrated in the veins. A photo can only get you close. Treat a match as a strong hint, then run the test in your hands to be sure.
Is turquoise sold under the wrong name?
Most turquoise on sale has been stabilised with plastic or waterglass, and much of it is dyed. Block turquoise is powdered stone in resin. Dyed howlite and dyed magnesite are sold as turquoise and are neither.
Is turquoise treated, dyed or heated?
The great majority of commercial turquoise is treated. Stabilisation, which means soaking the stone in plastic or waterglass, is near-universal for chalky material and it is permanent. Dyeing is common too, often with Prussian blue, and so are waxing and oiling. Block or reconstituted turquoise is powdered stone set in resin rather than a solid stone. Dyed howlite and dyed magnesite are sold outright as turquoise and are not turquoise in any sense. Untreated natural turquoise is a small fraction of the market and it costs far more. Stabilised turquoise is normal and usually disclosed.
What is turquoise confused with?
Howlite, magnesite, dyed howlite, chrysocolla, amazonite, reconstituted turquoise, block turquoise.
What is turquoise made of?
Its formula is CuAl6(PO4)4(OH)8·4H2O, and it sits at 5-6 for hardness, where a steel knife is about 5.5. Scratching it against something you know is the cheapest way to catch a swap.
Is turquoise safe to handle or put in water?
Keep it out of water. Do not soak it.
Still not sure?
Scan your stone. It will tell you what it is in seconds, even when the answer is fake.
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Check the rest of your shelf
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