Episode 8: Sleeping Beauty Turquoise

[@sism3028]

Turquoise is my favorite gemstone. Thank you for this lesson.

[@pauldeasygemstones]

You are so welcome!

[@sondramorgan1637]

So informative. Thank you. I've been collecting turquoise for fifty years. Love the 💚 green. I live in Pt Charlotte and your background looks like my neck of the woods

[@zaphnathphoenix6306]

Thank you sir.I love your lessons.All of a sudden I fell in love with turquiose jewelry,it's like an obsession,and I want to find as much information as possible about it.Your lessons has been great and very informative.Thanks you so much,wishing you and your family well!

[@pauldeasygemstones]

Answer: I absolute agree with you. Turquoise can be quite addicting. When you go to the mines and meet the miners behind the scenes, it gets even worse! So many fascinating stories and characters. Buckle up, it’s going to be a bumpy ride!

[@drpk6514]

Persian turquoise is exceptional because it comes in absolutely all colors and patterns that is out there, although that sky-blue is the more famous color. In fact, the pure clear stones are very rare from that mine although very valuable. The other thing is the stones from that mine (Neishabour mine) are high-quality stones that most stones do not need stabilization. Iran has some other turquoise mines (Kerman and Semnan) that sometimes are sold as Persian turquoise although they arent the historical Persian turquoise.

[@andreah6379]

I bought a pretty "boho" style sleeping beauty turquoise & leather necklace from your collection when you were on shop HQ. I remember you also brought up how Chrysocolla was "...a cousin to turquoise" and how Chrysocolla doesn't get enough attention for all its beauty, looking so much like turquoise. And can be very expensive, I know, when I make my own jewelry. Love it all.

[@caitlyncv]

fantastic video

[@donnavissa]

Thank-you for this.

[@bonniecawley2487]

I urchased a lot of sleeping beauty jewelry from you and it is still beautifl

[@______IV]

Thank you for encouraging respect for the Zachery stabilizing process. Stabilization is often seen as a dirty word in the world of turquoise because it conjures up images of plastic and epoxy treated turquoise, or even reconstituted turquoise (which isn’t even a stone anymore at that point). Zachery stabilized (Zacherized) turquoise can make high quality turquoise even better in my opinion, because I want my turquoise to be just as beautiful ten, twenty, or fifty years from now as it is today.

[@Nnaidame]

Love, love, love your new series and I’m learning a lot! But Paul, personally, I love turquoise with some matrix and think Sleeping Beauty turquoise is overrated! Take care and will be waiting for the next episode😊.

[@pauldeasygemstones]

Sleeping beauty is unique, but I do like spiderweb black matrix and also really partial to the number 8 turquoise with the honey brown matrix!

[@kathleenmayhugh2246]

Thank you for that reply about the Zachary method

[@SkullDivisioN564]

Kiaora from Aotearoa ( New Zealand) I have a Sleeping Beauty Turquoise ring made here, N.Z, I feel very privileged to have a piece of Turquoise from that part of the world...

[@bakshishkaursingh1713]

Love your view priceless!

[@texasceechelle]

Wow, I would love to print off that map!

[@jamesburke6078]

Mr Deasy...I hear Virginia has the only crystalin turquoise...I have a rock with a small trace of blue green crystalized stuff on a piece of granite I found in a drainage ditch.... question... what does a crystal of turquoise look like? 6 sided and flat at the top?

[@wanderwoman5558]

Biggest question....WHY did they close the Sleeping Beauty Mine?

[@corriebeach4458]

I just got a gorgeous engagement ring from the sleeping beauty mine

[@robrabbit2773]

Hi Paul, I have three Turquoise Cabochons that I was given for free with jewellers tools I purchased 12 years ago from the wife of a deceased jeweller. I thought too perfect so had to be dyed howelite but finally tested them and they are real, how would I go about trying to work out what mine they might be from? They are beautiful Robin's egg blue with the slightest of quartz inclusions. Cheers, Rob.

[@pauldeasygemstones]

Hi Rob! That is an excellent question. First of all, I deduce that you are from Great Britain (or one of the British Territories) as you spelled” jewellers” with 2 L’s. I comment on that language difference in my Colored Gemstone book. The easiest (or laziest) answer would be to say it is Sleeping Beauty Turquoise due to the robin’s egg blue color. Unfortunately, that would not necessarily be correct. While the majority of the turquoise from the Sleeping Beauty mine from Globe, Arizona is indeed a beautiful robin’s egg blue color, that is not the only mine where you can find that color. The famed Persian turquoise mines have produced that color. I have also seen (and sold) some perfect robin’s blue specimens from the Kingman mine clear across the state in Golden Valley, Arizona. Of course, I disclosed that Kingman was the source and not the Sleeping Beauty mine. To make matters worse, while a testing lab can determine whether a turquoise stone is real or fake, they can’t definitively determine where it came from. Not even the Gemological Institute of America. As a result, the name “Sleeping Beauty Turquoise” has been diluted. Even colleagues of mine in the business refer any robin’s egg blue stone as “Sleeping Beauty Turquoise”. The only way to truly know is to buy your stones from a source that you trust. Now the good news! You have 3 spectacular (and I suspect valuable) turquoise specimens regardless of where they came from. If they were indeed Persian, they would be even more valuable. My guess is that you were very fortunate that the jeweler’s widow didn’t care much for turquoise. Her loss is your gain!

[@robrabbit2773]

@@pauldeasygemstones Thank you so much for the quick reply Paul. Yes I am in New Zealand (British Colony) The stones were apparently 10 years old when I was given them 12 years ago so 22 years now and as I mentioned I thought too perfect to be real so had them sitting in a box. The demand for turquoise pushed me to test just in case, I was very shocked to say the least. Thank you for your answers and information and yes I feel very blessed to be given them. Loving your videos. Bless you too for your wisdom given, Kind regards, Rob.

[@anthonyhernandez7582]

So did the mine close in 2010 or 2012

[@kimobugman]

I have a question? I have a bunch of turquoise rough. The story is it was from this exact mine. How can I find out if it is what I think it is?

[@synchronicity67]

I've had a sudden desire to wear wats called firoza n trying to find out more about it n other turquoise stones.. Can u do a video on iranian turquoise and Tibetan turquoise stones..if u have those in yr collection wer can one buy them? Thanks 🙏 Ps - I'm from India n know lots of fake stones sold with any names..hence trying to research more before I buy..

[@kathleenmayhugh2246]

So the Zachary method was just how to test for stabilizing?

[@pauldeasygemstones]

No, Kathleen. The Zachery method is a different proprietary method of stabilization for turquoise that uses no plastic or resins in the process. It is used to stabilize high-grade sleeping beauty and some other high-grade turquoise. I have seen Zachery treated high grade Kingman turquoise as well. It was developed by a man named James E. Zachery who was an electrical engineer who also grew up in and around the turquoise mining areas. He developed the method to stabilize turquoise without using resins. His method uses certain chemicals and electrical currents to make the turquoise harder and less porous.

[@MsSheilaC]

What would 16” strand sleeping beauty (certified seller) 10mm beads be worth? I paid $300 wholesale in 2009.

[@pauldeasygemstones]

First of all, congrats to you. 2009 was before all of the craziness started. The mine closed for good in 2012. I can’t believe it will be 10years next month since they mined there. With a documented sleeping beauty necklace, I would say a hell of a lot! Consider that SB rough was $100/lb in early 2012. By December it was averaging $2,500-3000/lb. I also recall there were many imposters that suddenly appeared during this time. Some were blatant fakes (including plastics) and others that were legit turquoise of robins egg blue color, but were not from the actual sleeping beauty mine. In fact, after the mine closed, I saw more people selling it AFTER the mine closed. Completely impossible!

[@pauldeasygemstones]

P.S. the fact they are 10mm is even more impressive. Ever mm you go up in size, the price per carat goes up exponentially!

[@MsSheilaC]

@@pauldeasygemstones Thats what I thought! I really appreciate your responses. Just found your youtube channel and subbed 🙏🏻😊

[@coolsupermario]

I bought some cabochon claimed as stabilized sleeping beauty turquoise. I tried to test it and I soaked them in acetone, they turns white after several hours. Are all stabilized turquoise like this?

[@pauldeasygemstones]

Awesome question, Mr. Coolsupermario! I will be including your question on a future video. The answer is no! The acetone indicates that the turquoise has been dyed as well as stabilized. Remember, stabilizing turquoise is just filling the pores that naturally occur in the stone so it will be more durable. Not all stabilized turquoise is dyed. Sadly, yours was. It is difficult to know who to trust when people tell you the provenance of a gemstone-Especially if you don’t know them!

[@bennywolf2169]

you kind of skipped through the zackary method, I had to go back multiple times to make sure it wasn't just me being really stoned

[@pauldeasygemstones]

Loved your comment, Ben. That is funny! Being stoned while learning about stones! Brilliant! Believe it or not, I was trying to make the Zachary method of stabilization a little simpler to understand. If you read the entire article written on the subject, it wouldn’t have been the weed that would have been responsible for putting you to sleep!

[@dougjohnson8881]

I wanted to let you know that I have Sleeping Beauty Turquoise that I received from a gentleman by the name of Larry Aruther who owned Southwest Indian Traders in Apache Junction Az. He has passed away a few years ago. He also told me that what I have is natural. My question is , who and how do I get in touch with someone to verify what I have?

[@pauldeasygemstones]

Great question, Doug. It is fairly easy to determine if your turquoise is natural (meaning not stabilized). First of all, if you have been to a lot of turquoise mines, certain natural turquoise feels lightweight and sometimes quite chalky in appearance. Also, if the color is exceptionally light, it probably hasn’t been stabilized. Turquoise turns a little darker after it is stabilized. However, that is not absolutely foolproof-particularly since you probably didn't see it prior to stabilization. Sometimes the old timers will take a hot needle to a turquoise specimen or even an open flame to it. If it starts to smoke, that is also a pretty good indicator of resins or plastics in the material. That means it has been stabilized. Another option would be to go to a reputable turquoise shop. I have told you about Ernie Montoya and his Sunwest Silver store in Albuquerque in the past. I consider him the Godfather of turquoise. Every turquoise dealer in the world knows Ernie. He also does quite a bit of business in Native American hand-crafted jewelry. That doesn’t mean he will have the answers you seek, but he is a valuable resource (and an all-around great guy). Another reputable miner would be Marty Colbaugh from the Kingman mine in Golden Valley Arizona. The Kingman mine produces a lot of turquoise that can look like sleeping beauty turquoise. He always discloses that it is not, even though his customer would pay more for the sleeping beauty, That's what I call integrity! The most reliable way is to send it away to a testing lab. I have mentioned in the past the GIA, and the New Mexico School of mining and technology. Of course, there is a cost associated with that. However, I have a word of caution for even that method. While a full spectrum analysis of the stone can tell you if it is natural or not, it is unlikely that the testing lab could (or would) verify that it was mined from the Sleeping Beauty Mine in Globe, Arizona. They would likely say something like, “This turquoise has a robin’s egg blue color and no matrix which is consistent with turquoise that has been found in the Sleeping Beauty material mined in Globe, Arizona”. Talk about hedging your bets and avoiding liability! They definitely don’t want to get sued, and they cannot definitively tell the exact mine the material came from. Ultimately, my best advice is to buy from a source you trust.

[@overitspeaks39]

I'm insane about turquoise. I'm concerned it might sprout into a career field someday like dealing turq or something

[@brendaspear9157]

Paul, I have been following you ever since you were on QVC (HSN and then Evine). I always find your information valuable, accurate and interesting. I had known the SB mine had closed but was not aware that it had been part of reclamation too. I have several SB pieces which I purchased from you and I have a question about one of which I'd rather not discuss here. Is there another way to email you?? Thank you, and Judy, for all your efforts.

[@pauldeasygemstones]

Probably the best way is through messenger on Facebook. Paul Deasy or Paul Deasy Gems