How can I know if gemstones I buy online have been dyed or treated? Some suppliers don't tell you this information.

Any advice would be appreciated!!!!!! Thanks!!!!!!!

Don't be afraid to email and ask questions before ordering. Most vendors will gladly give you all the details. Also check a lapidary book or gem encyclopedia source online to see the natural state of the stone. If the colors are bright such as hot pink, bright blues or oranges, they are probably dyed or treated. Not a bad thing, but be prepared to share that info with your customers if you are selling your work. Most don't care if the finished effect is what they want.

Same for dyed pearls. There are no lime greem clams! :)

Thanks for the advice, this will really be helpful!!

Thanks again!

Antieal is correct about the pearls. Even the white ones are probably bleached. The only natural FWP are the light peach, cream and near white. All the bright colors are dyed.

Asking your supplier is the right way to find out. But, you should also do a little research on your own to make sure your supplier's answer makes sense. Asking "Are these real?" is not enough. Of course these are real beads! "Is this stone natural or has it been enhanced or dyed to give it a better color?" might get a more accurate answer. Not every seller knows everything about their materials. Some have been lied to by their supplier. Some never asked.

I used to buy lab grown quartz and amethyst beads from a woman who said "Natural, natural, Natural!" when we asked.  We now buy from her supplier in China who is proud of the beads they make from lab grown synthetic quartzes.

Many people do not understand that much of the blue and green "turquoise" they are selling is really dyed magnesite because a lot of dealers call it "stabilized turquoise" thinking that by admitting that it has been treated gets them off the hook for telling that it isn't even a turquoise to begin with.

I can suggest my own Gem Index on the Rings & Things site. It's a free and fairly accurate index of common stones , how they are enhanced and where they come from. http://www.rings-things.com/gemstone/index.html

Many common stones like black onyx and red carnelian are commonly enhanced to make them red or black. Most Hematite is a man made version. Blue sapphires are probably heat treated by the miners to turn the white or yellow stones blue. 

Educate yourself and ask a lot of questions. 

Russ,

What a gem fantastic guide you provide on your website! This is exactly the info buyers need when making informed choices about purchasing natural or man-made stones. This disclosure would definitely make me feel confident when buying from you. I am always leary of sellers who provide little or no info about their stock, or give obviously wrong answers. I wish the term turquoise could be limited to only the real deal. Just recently I saw something called crazy horse turquoise on a website for sale, but clearly it was magnesite. The posting gave no other info, so the use of the word turquoise is clearly misleading. 

 I print tags for every item I sell that lists the major compents used. Customers love this especially if the item is for a gift but my reputation on the line to get it right. I won't waste my time with vendors who are ignorant about their stock or who blatantly lie about the origin of a stone. We all need to do our homework and stay educated. Your website is a great resource that I will bookmark for future reference.

Thanks so much for the advice!!!!!!! The gem index is great!!! I can tell I will be consulting this often!

Thanks again!

 Thanks!!!!

We provide the gem index to help bead buyers understand what they are buying. It's a free resource that we update regularly as we learn about new stones in the marketplace or when we learn new information about  existing stones. If you  have questions or find what seem to be errors in our gem index, please ask us about it. It is a work in progress.

You don't need to be a Rings & Things customer to use it.  It's available free to everyone with an interest in the stones used for beads.

Actually I would like to know if there is any such thing as reconstructed (or is it reconstituted) turquoise, and if so please explain.

Thanks. 

Great question, sweetiepie!  Welcome to our forums!!!   

"Reconstituted" is the word that is usually used even though it makes it sound like the material is dried out and then reconstituted with water. <g> I've seen this type of imitation stone called   "reconstructed,"  "reconstituted" and  "Recon"

 "Reconstituted" or "Recon" is used by sellers to imply that  the material is made up of powdered or crushed turquoise held together with plastic resin and mixed with dyes. Nearly everything I have seen sold under this name is completely man made mix of plastic and dyes. I could even say that  "no stone was harmed in the making of recon turquoise.".

In the trade, the usual name for this material is "block" turquoise because the plastic imitation turquoise is made in blocks. It is made in  various colors and with all sorts of  black "matrix" inside the "stone." When you cut it, the "block" material is consistently very soft and uniform. The only exception I've encountered is some "block" lapis that had tiny pieces of pyrite mixed into the plastic. When polished the pyrite sticks up above the blue plastic because it is much harder. The plastic undercuts the harder pyrite.

There IS a related man made material that DOES contain some real stone. In the trade it is called "compressed nugget."  The purple turquoise, Mojave green turquoise and some other exotic dyed turquoises are made in this manner. Large chunks, cutting scrap and nuggets of real turquoise are mixed with resin and dyes and formed into blocks. The dye soaks into the stone in varying degrees depending on the hardness and porosity of the stone. The dye is strongest in the plastic resin between the chunks of stone. In the purple turquoise you get red plastic surrounding turquoise that is in some places very purple and in others very blue. It does make an interesting material.

When you look at a cross section or slice of compressed nugget you can see the edges of the real stone. Compressed nugget is rarely (if ever) sold as "recon turquoise."

I have some samples of most these materials. I'll have to shoot pictures of them and post them to this forum. 

Here's a picture from the Rings & Things website showing blocks of various color imitation turquoise of the type that is often called "reconstituted" turquoise. This was shot in a supply store in Thailand. Most of the "stone" is block material made in the US.  Below that is a shot taken in China of a large stack of Chinese made "block" imitation stone.

Here are 2 sample cards showing "Block" material offered in China. Most of this is probably material made in China. 

Thanks Russ,

Your comprehensive explanation  was a great help and I am sure many would have benefited from it.  Somewhere along the way I acquired some heart shaped turquoise beads which were really popular made into earrings.  Later on I noticed the ones that were still with me seemed to acquire a 'powdery' layer which was easily removed with a polishing cloth.  Its then that I suspected that they may be reconstituted - although I am not absolutely sure still, from the pictures it looks very much like the material made in China.

Thanks once again, your doing a great job on this forum.

 You are very welcome, sweetiepie!

I've not seen the  'powdery' layer you describe on block material after it is polished.

.There could be a lot things that could cause that.

Russ, what great information.  I work for a jewelry store and it is so difficult even for my manager to get proper information.  She has depended on me (I have been into stones for years) and now you have given me a great source!  Another problem I find is the different names.  For example we had one stone come in as Marra Amber, and then it came in again as Marra Mamba.  So off to the internet and it is actually a rare type of Tiger iron!  If you have any more information on this one, I would appreciate it. 

 I intend to use you to double check my information.  You have more information than other sites!

auntieal wrote: 

"   I wish the term turquoise could be limited to only the real deal. Just recently I saw something called crazy horse turquoise on a website for sale, but clearly it was magnesite. The posting gave no other info, so the use of the word turquoise is clearly misleading. "

The term turquoise is SUPPOSED to be limited STRICTLY to turquoise. (Same thing for quartz, malachite, etc.) Unfortunately, many vendors, suppliers and sellers think they are off the hook if they use the name with quotation marks. I ranted a while ago on one of these forums about red "malachite" that was actually a banded red jasper. The FTC and the JVC (Jewelers' Vigilance Committee) require jewelry to be properly labeled with the components/stones used. Unfortunately, it seems to me that most bead suppliers and a good number of LBS think that "mere" beads don't need to comply with these requirements - that's why we see "white buffalo turquoise" and "banana quartz" in many LBS. (FMG isn't blameless in this, either - I've seen a number of "quotation mark" stones in their listings.)

We've had vendors in the store trying to sell us magnesite who tell us "You can charge $50 or $60 per strand for this if you call it sacred horse or crazy horse turquoise" and then they add, "The Native Americans won't buy it if you call it magnesite because they only know it as sacred horse turquoise".  

Any vendor who says, "I've got white buffalo turquoise..." gets shown the door in a hurry! 

Just my 2 cents. 

Deb 

 I don't think I've run into the name Marra Mamba before Carmen.

Let me give you a tip on searching the internet for stones. If you append the word "mineral" after the stone name in a search  youget moe sites talking about the stone and less trying to sell stuff made with the stone.

"Marra Mamba mineral"  has a very different set of links from plain "Marra Mamba."

Thanks, Deb, for reminding us that the law says we should disclose actual names of stuff we sell.

 Speaking of magnesite and turquoise FMG just published a pretty good turquoise buying guide.  I say "pretty good" because they continue to confuse the market with "chalk turquoise." In the Turquoise Buying Guide  Jamie S., from the FMG Marketing Group defined turquoise as "copper aluminum phosphate hydrate. "  That is correct.

In the same document Jamie describes "Chalk Turquoise" as "Porous white turquoise from China, after it is stabilized and dyed, is often referred to as chalk turquoise. It is generally dyed lively shades of blue, apple green, lime green and fuchsia pink. This form of natural turquoise has a white chalk-like consistency and has the same chemical composition as turquoise with one exception, it does not contain copper, the element that causes the blue color of naturally occurring blue turquoise." (my emphasis)

I think this is an error. Turquoise is hydrated copper aluminum phosphate. Without the copper it is hydrated aluminum phosphate. Hydrated aluminum phosphate is called varascite. It is not any kind of turquoise. Under AGTA guidelines it should not be called turquoise. Turquoise contains copper, a stone without copper can not be a turquoise. Their chalk turquoise does not look like varascite which is a fairly rare, quite pretty and valuable mineral.

Turquoise miners call the pale soft porous turquoise that must be stabilized "chalk turquoise." In my opinion Jamie's use of "chalk turquoise" to describe a stone that is not turquoise is confusing since the name is also used to describe a true turquoise.

From my experience buying stones in Chins I suspect much of the so-called "chalk turquoise" sold by FMG is dyed magnesite that was sold to them by a less than accurate dealer. FMG has added dyed dyed magnesite to their stock recently and does include accurate information about dyed magnesite in their Turquoise Buying Guide.

Here's the link to the Buying Guide. http://www.firemountaingems.com/printdocs/printdocs.asp?docid=8559
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