Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Blue or Green Only!

Turquoise is only blue or green!

There is no such thing as white,White Buffalo, purple, pink, yellow or apple green turquoise! Well they exist but they aren't turquoise. These are trade names.


Identifying turquoise:
Turquoise is copper aluminum iron phosphate, chemical formula: CUA6(PO44OH84H20. Mohs hardness of 5-6.

These two minerals are often dyed to simulate turquoise.
Howlite is calcium barium hydroxide,chemical formula:Ca2 b5 SiO9(OH)5
Mohs hardness 3.5


Magnesite is magnesium carbonate,chemical formula:MgCO3
Mohs scale hardness 3.5-5


This misinformation of the trade is misleading and in my humble opinion criminal!

Sources Wikipedia.com

No comments: