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Handmade sterling silver beads have a long history with the Native American community.  We started researching the construction of these beads close to 50 years ago.  It was important to us to be accurate in our descriptions and information, and the comments we gave out on all of our Native American items that we handled and sold.  We had been misinformed about some products, and didn’t want to continue this practice, as many sellers thought it didn’t really matter.  

We had met a gentleman who lived way out in the country specializing in handmade beads done by a brother /sister team, Dan and Helen Chee.  They not only handmade all sizes of sterling silver beads but also created many products using these beads. Included were baby rattles of several styles, miniature pots of all sorts, thimbles, and a full assortment of other unique items.  We watched them work, starting with stamping out the circular discs, stamping designs, punching the discs into half domes and punching a hole in the centers (this creates a ring of silver that is pushed out and creates a small ridge, noticeable on handmade beads).  They then threaded the half discs onto a wire creating bead shapes, and then added a small piece of sterling silver solder inside each set.  They then tightened the wire and rolled the soon to be beads on a flat surface while applying heat, which soldered the beads from the inside.  They then treated the beads as normal sterling silver soldered items.  This produced a true handmade sterling silver bead with a seam that possibly showed but did not make a “lip.”  

Most sterling silver beads at that time were buffed to a high shine and were generally a heavier silver weight.  Some artists today are buying pre-punched silver discs to make their handmade beads, but we don’t consider that as a problem.  Bench beads are a different item.  These are manufactured beads with a hole pre-drilled that are created with a seam or solder lip to make it easier to line them up to solder.  These are many times hand soldered by a Native American artist, but not handmade.  The lip would be noticeable on the finished sterling silver bead.  Originally these were referred to as a sterling silver bench bead.  The largest percentage of necklaces and squash blossoms made were strung on these sterling silver bench beads due to the comparatively high cost (even back then) of true handmade sterling silver beads.  These beads were generally made of lighter gauge silver as well.   Fast forward to today and we have seen a movement to grind the lip down on the bench beads (which many times leaves the top a little flat), then the beads are oxidized and buffed with steel wool to give the appearance of wear or patina.  These are generally lighter weight sterling silver as well.   The next bead is completely machine made out of a manufactured silver strip that is run through a machine that creates a 100% round (no seam) bead in about every size.  Sometimes these are called ‘blow beads” and are generally lighter sterling silver weight – nothing handmade about them.  These beads are hand strung and may be satin finished by a Native American artist.  Some machine made beads might also be silver plated on a base metal.  The price of these beads is indicated by the amount of actual handwork and weight of the sterling silver used in the manufacturing.

Defining Some of The “Impostors”

SilverTQ, LLC often receives questions concerning how to properly identify and distinguish the White Buffalo stone from similar looking stones such as Magnesite, Wild horse, Crazy horse or Howlite.  What details can one look for that sets the White Buffalo stone apart from others?  Wild Horse and Crazy Horse stones are the same, just two different names.  They are in fact composed of magnesite from southern Arizona near the Globe copper mines, and contain some hematite that gives its distinctive colors.  Consequently, this stone can technically be referred to as either Wild Horse Magnesite or Crazy Horse Magnesite.

Magnesite is magnesium carbonate, and found in veins in ultramafic rocks such as serpentine and other magnesium rich rocks.  The color is milk white to pale yellow with brown and sometimes black inclusions.  The colors are generally more swirled in pattern as opposed to the White Buffalo having more distinct division of colors.  The color of the Wild Horse or Crazy Horse stones distinguish it from the other colors of Magnesite.

Magnesite, Wild Horse or Crazy Horse have no copper for blue or iron for green coloring.  Their white coloring is more of a milky or creamy white.  The color of their matrix is of varying shades of brown from dark to light from the host rock. The borders of white to color are often less defined, tending to be more mottled than that of White Buffalo.  These stones are often dyed different colors and can at times be quite confusing to recognize.

What Is White Buffalo?

The White Buffalo stone originates from the Tonopah Nevada area found in the same general veins as Dry Creek turquoise but has no copper content.  Considering this fact, it should therefore not be called “white turquoise” as it does not have the same chemical composition as turquoise, which is a copper phosphate.  There is no copper to cause blue color or iron to cause green color.  It is a mostly clean white calcite/quartz mix with black chert inclusions (matrix) that are more sharply defined as opposed to being smutty.  The better stones have clear delineations of black and white.

How About Howlite?

Howlite is a cream white calcium borosilicate hydroxide with more of grey erratic veining and is often represented as White Buffalo.  The grey matrix is,  however, a differentiating marker that makes it a different stone.  Howlite is porous and easily absorbs dyes to imitate other more costly stones like turquoise, coral and even lapis.  This stone when dyed can be confusing to recognize.  Howlite has a marble like look and does not generally have as high a shine as white buffalo.

The Long History of Turquoise

Turquoise stones have a long association with Native American Indians.  Originally called the Turkish stone by the crusaders, turquoise was long used and mined in China and Tibet.  It has also been associated with the Anasazi American Indians from thousands of years ago to today’s Native American Indians.  Turquoise was also found to be used by the Incas and Aztecs of Mexico into South America.  The color captivated these early people, and continues to do so today.  The Zuni Pueblo people credited the sky blue color as male from the heavens, and the green colors as female coming from mother earth.  Turquoise is the birth stone of December and is said to enhance the good things in your life.

What It’s Made Of

Turquoise is a hydrated copper aluminum phosphate with the ingredients of copper, aluminum and phosphorous, creating a blue color.  Zinc, iron or chromium are minerals which also may be present.  Turquoise consisting of a higher iron content tends to contribute to a more greenish colored stone.  The presence of zinc tends to give the turquoise a yellow tint.  Found in veins, the color of turquoise can vary from one area of a deposit to another area.  Due to the change of minerals, the same mine can and does provide more than one color.  This makes it difficult to absolutely identify a mine origin entirely by the color of the stones.  Turquoise is created as water percolates through the above mineral bearing rocks, and settles in and fills the voids in those stones.  These rocks create what is commonly known as the matrix found in Turquoise.

The manner in which the way the stone is cut largely determines how the matrix and turquoise will be configured or displayed on the finished stone.  The stones found deeper in the ground are generally not as hard as the stones found closer to the surface. The stone hardness can be a MOH value of 2 to 6 (1 being the softest to 10 being the hardest) which is not quite as hard as window glass.  The harder the stone the less porous it will be.  Due to its inherent porosity, turquoise can be discolored by detergents and oils, even skin oil.  Some treatments altering and/or enhancing the color and hardness of turquoise have been used for thousands of years due to this characteristic.

Naturally Rare

It is estimated that only about 10-12% of turquoise is hard enough to be considered gem quality and is not treated in any way.  Some of these stones do not change colors, although because of varying hardness, some might change generally  to a more greenish color.  These natural stones are much more difficult to find and thus command a premium price.

Old Treatment Methods

One of the oldest methods to treat Turquoise was to rub the stones with various types of oils or wax.  This “old school” method works to add a protective layer and brighten the color of the stone.  It is common to spray rough cut turquoise with water to see its real color.   These oil and wax methods are designed to mimic the natural look of the wet stone.  It should be noted that these common methods do wear out over time.  Treating the stone with wax is more effective and longer lasting than those associated with using oils.  Older, worn stones will eventually exhibit a patina resulting from the body oils of its wearer being absorbed.

Other Methods of Treatment

Stabilized stones have had exposure to epoxy and resins that seals the pores and generally retards the ability of the stones to absorb detergents and oils and thus change color.  These are real stones that are now protected.  If a plastic is included the stones might have a more ‘glassy’ look.  Pressure might also be applied to drive the application deeper into the stone.

Enhanced Turquoise hasn’t had the pores filled but is treated with electricity and added potassium to give it an improved color and luster.  This treatment is virtually undetectable to the look of completely natural stones and is used for higher quality stones.

Color injected stones have had a dye added for color enhancement and also to darken the matrix for a more vivid contrast to the stone color.  This method is used for lesser quality stones and can have an unnatural look to an experienced eye.

Reconstituted Turquoise is generally lower quality grade of stone that is ground to a powder and then mixed with color dye and a binding agent and cured into slabs that are then cut into stones.  This is real Turquoise but is not generally used for higher quality jewelry.

Block stone is entirely imitation and has no Turquoise whatsoever.  It is mostly a plastic imitation that can have iron pyrite added and swirled to imitate matrix.  This plastic is then formed and made into slabs that are then cut to size and shape.  There is no real value to this ‘stone.

One should always make informed decisions of what they purchase.  SilverTQ, LLC only markets and sells high-grade natural or carefully chosen stabilized turquoise that can be enjoyed and marveled at for many years to come.