Rare(?) White turquoise?/ centrifigal magnetic finishers

Jewelry Discussion
1

I have been asked by some customers if we have any white turquoise.
I do not think it exists. Anyone know what the material really is?
Question #2 Has anyone used a centrifigal magnetic finisher? I have
seen them at trade shows and have not picked anyones brain about it
because they are so costly. Do they work? What are they good for
and do the pins damage stones?

2 
I have been asked by some customers if we have any white
turquoise.  I do not think it exists.  Anyone know what
the material really is?

I’ve heard Howlite referred to by that misnomer… There may be
other things called that too. Turqoise itself is blue due to
intrinsic chemistry. There’s no white version that is actually
turqoise, though some turqoise may be so low quality and so chalky
and so pale a blue as to be almost white.

Peter

3

The White Buffalo Mine (Arizona?) produces white turquoise which is
actually a very, very, very pale blue (but not chalky), often in
black matrix. There is also stark white with black matrix material
which comes from this location but a reputable turquoise dealer I
know said he was calling it White Buffalo stone because he hadn’t
had it assayed yet to verify that it contains turquoise.

Beth

4

I went out on Google and found numerous sites touting the “white
turquoise” and most of them carried the same story about this stone -
and yes it apparently does exist. I’ve never seen it, but they
(whoever “they” are) had it assayed. Take a look at some of the
sites listed on Google under “white turquoise” and decide for
yourself.

Kay

5

Mary, I too, have had inquiry about the white turquoise, by the name
of Buffalo Creek turquoise. I know that Howlite has been dyed to
simulate turquoise. In its natural state it is white and has the web
/ matrix pattern familiar in turquoise. Beyond that I could venture
no guess.

Pam Chott
@Pam_Chott1
www.songofthephoenix.com

6

I’ve seen the “white turquoise”. Of course, if it is white, it
isn’t turquoise! I think it’s just another marketing ploy to sell a
white rock someone found. (and it seems to be working; what I saw
wasn’t cheap!) Just goes to show the power in a name.

Margaret

7

Mary I don’t know exactly the name of it, but there is a rock that
has the same make up as turquoise only it is white and sometimes
people dye it to make cheap turquoise. Check around and you will surely
find it. Tnks.Lois

8

White Turqoise? Yes, it really exists! I knew a guy in NM, who found
some in a mine south of Santa Fe… more than fifteen years ago. He
had it tested at the lab in Los Alamos and it had all the identical
properties…just not the color. Think of it as albino turquoise. I
was making some jewelry for him with the stones (he didn’t have tons
of the stuff) and for payment I asked for stones. Sure am glad I did
that! I have several still, and with the Turquoise craze I just set
one in gold and added a topaz…matches perfectly with the golden
color matrix. Don’t confuse it with Howlite…not the same.
Mary Ann (Nibbelink) Archer

9

All the identical properties"? This could not be true – because if
it had the copper in it that gives turquoise the blue color, then it
would be blue. If it did have the copper, it could not possibly be
white! Turquoise is the name that has long been given to the BLUE
material. If it isn’t blue, it isn’t turquoise. Possibly it has
all the properties of turquoise except the copper. But it still
isn’t turquoise! But calling it “white turquoise” certainly enhances
its market value to people who
don’t know any better. Margaret

10 
 I went out on Google and found numerous sites touting the "white
turquoise" and most of them carried the same story about this
stone= and yes it apparently does exist.  I've never seen it, but
they (whoever "they" are) had it assayed.  Take a look at some of
the sites listed on Google under "white turquoise" and decide for
yourself.

Remember that any idiot or scam artist can put up an authoritative
looking web site, even if they info is total garbage. Don’t believe
what you read just because someone has published it on the web. Look
at the qualifications of the source. If someone can show me a cert
for this stuff from the GIA labs or one of equivalent stature,
stateing that a truely white material is properly called turqoise,
only THEN would I believe it. Assaying, by the way, is done to
metals or ores to determine metal content. it’s not an
identification procedure for an unknown mineral. I’d want to see
x-ray diffraction studies and a true chemical analysis, or other
similarly scientific determinations. Someone who just says hardness
and density and maybe even refractive index estimates is the same
has still not proved it’s turqoise. All these are too variable even
in real turqoise to be of great use here. In order to be turqoise,
of any color, it MUST contain copper in the correct chemical formula,
and have the correct crystal structure too. If it does, then I see
no way it would remain white in color. Show me a seller or web site
that properly documents this to the contrary, and I’ll shut up.

Peter

11

All, This another case of marketing badly representing the material.
Turquoise color is blue to blue green, not white. White material is
something else. Just like in corundums, red corundum is ruby, blue
corundum is sapphire. Pink, purple, white, and any other colored
corundum are something else. Red beryl is not red emerald. Emerald
is green, My thoughts are that this kind of marketing are dishonest
disclosure and should be illegal. If a material cannot sell on its
own properties then it is not a marketable material. This is not
“purist” thinking. This is disclosure and honesty in representing
the product.

Gerry Galarneau
www.galarneausgems.com

12 
it(turquoise) MUST contain copper in the correct chemical formula,
and have the correct crystal structure too.  If it does, then I
see no way it would remain white in color.

Well, I certainly wouldn’t buy anything promoted as white turquoise.
I can’t understand why anybody would favor that white stone over
the beautiful color in all its variations that we recognize as
turquoise. But the anything-for-a-buck hucksters are so cynical
that they’ll push anything on to a gullible public just waiting to
be fleeced. Next thing you know they’ll be selling packets of
dehydrated water to folks who want to travel light. Dee

13

Several years ago I bought some white turquoise called “White
Buffalo Turquoise”. I believe it is from Nevada. I haven’t seen
any since.