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> A few weeks ago I bought some turquoise colored rocks in an
> antique store. The clerk told me they came from the owner's mother
> who bought or found them in the 60's in the Southwest. I am also
> curious about what these are. Also, should I polish them or leave
> them in their raw state?
That depends on what you want to do with them. Since you don't have
provenance on which mine they came from their collectable value is
not very high. Check to see if it's stabilized or colorshot.
Stabilized turquoise rough nuggets will have noticeable clear plastic
like matter in cracks and crevices. Colorshot (dyed) turquoise from
the 60's is usually easy to spot. It has a very deep unnatural blue
spots and is commonly referred to as Tidy Bowl turquoise because Tidy
Bowl (yeah the stuff that turns toilet water blue) was used to dye
pale turquoise back in the day...
You can leave them as is or you can tumble them and polish them.
When tumbling start at 120/220 grit and check it every day. Turquoise
can disappear on you when tumbling.
Or you could have it cut into cabs and set them in jewelry.
Rick Copeland
rockymountainwonders.com
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