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Sleeping Beauty Turquoise
Top Drilled Tribal Style
(10" temp strand)

Sleeping Beauty Turquoise - Tribal Style Beads

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Sleeping Beauty    Campo Frio    Kingman    Mongolian Natural Jet    Heishi    Nacozari   Chinese Turquoise   Sterling Silver   FAQ
 

Kingman Boulder Heart Cabochon

Valentine's Day Special
Kingman Boulder Turquoise Heart Cabochon 40mm

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We Specialize in
Sleeping Beauty Turquoise 

 

 

 

 

 

Why Our Turquoise Is Different 

 

Our turquoise is natural color, never dyed or enhanced. We process our own turquoise here in New Mexico, so we know what happens to it from the mine to you. We certify in writing the authenticity, quality and color of our beads. Plus, we offer a "no risk" buying guarantee. If you are not happy with your beads, we'll buy them back from you! Guaranteed! 

  

Turquoise Beads

Accent & Small Beads

Rough Turquoise-
Turquoise Stone
 

About the Mines

Kinds of Turquoise

Blog Articles - All About Turquoise

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     Wholesale
$500 minimum purchase,
Contact Us for wholesale pricing.

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This is a GREAT resource for people who sell their jewelry, art or crafts at shows, fairs, and festivals.

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Click Here!

 

Just wanted to tell you how much I like the BLUE Campo Frio turquoise! Received the strand yesterday & it's really gorgeous! So nice to find turquoise that looks blue on the computer screen and actually IS blue when you see it in person! Beautiful stones!  
~ Karen, NH 

Thank you so much!! The turquoise strands are impeccably gorgeous!! The quality is unbelievable!! LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!!!!
~ Sharon, CA 

I received my order of turquoise, silver & Heishi today, and am extremely pleased with your products and service! The Sleeping Beauty Turquoise is just gorgeous. I also appreciate the personal touches… 
~ Rick, NY  

 

 

 

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Turquoise Beads - New Styles


all beads are on 16" temporary string unless noted otherwise

NACOZARI TURQUOISE

Soft Blue...Round Beads
Limited Supply
See More Like This>>>

BOULDER TURQUOISE

Kingman Boulder Turquoise
Round Beads - Available in 3 sizes, 6, 8, 14 mm
See More Like This>>

KINGMAN TURQUOISE

Blue & Blue/Green 
Graduated
Disc Style 
See More Like This>>>

  Sleeping Beauty Turquoise  
Sleeping Beauty Turquoise - Rough Splinter Style Beads
7-10mm 
Mini Splinter/Nugget Style
See More Like This>>>

Sleeping Beauty Turquoise Beads - Mini Nugget Style
Sleeping Beauty Turquoise
Nugget Style Beads 
See More Like This>>>


20-30mm
Disc Style Beads
See More Like This>>>  

Green (Rare) Sleeping Beauty Turquoise 



7-12mm Flat Style Nugget 
See More Like This>>>

5-7mm Nugget Style
See More Like This>>>

8mm Nugget Style
See More Like This>>>

 

  Blue Kingman Turquoise 

Kingman Blue  
10-14mm Center Drilled Nugget
See More Like This>>>

Kingman Blue  
10-15mm Long Drilled Nugget
See More Like This>>>

Kingman Blue  
8-10mm Splinter Style 
See More Like This>>>

 

  Blue Campo Frio Turquoise  

Campo Frio Blue  
7-10mm Freeform
Rugged
Bright Blue Nuggets w/Pyrite 
See More Like This>>>

Campo Frio Blue  
4-5mm Greenish-Blue Mini Nugget Style with Some Pyrite
See More Like This>>>

Campo Frio Blue  
12-25mm Large Graduated 
Nugget Style Beads
See More Like This>>>

 

Chinese Turquoise Beads - Carefully Selected



3-12mm Blue Graduated
Rondelle Beads
 
See More Like This>>>

3-12mm Gorgeous Blue Chinese Turquoise Button Style Beads
See More Like This>>>

5-9mm long Blue/Green Chinese Turquoise Splinter Style Beads
See More Like This>>>

 

 Natural Jet - Most Popular Styles 

Rondelle Style
Available in 2 Sizes
4mm and 6mm 
See More Like This>>>

Button Style
 Available in 2 Sizes
(turquoise Heishi sold separately)
See More Like This>>>
Natural Mongolian Jet - Graduated Rondelle Style Beads - CLICK TO ENLARGE
Graduated Rondelle Style
 Available in 2 Sizes

See More Like This>>>

 

Small Round Beads


Fresh Water Pearls

See More Like This>>>

Coral Beads

See More Like This>>>

SLEEPING BEAUTY 

See More Like This>>>

Heishi Bead Selections - Our Most Popular


Voluta Shell Heishi
Voluta Shell - Graduated Heishi
Natural Earth Colors
Voluta Shell
See More Heishi>>>
JET Heishi

Handcrafted Jet, Santo Domingo Pueblo, New Mexico
See More Like This>>>
Turquoise Heishi

Blue and Green Campo Frio Turquoise Heishi
See More Heishi>>>

Accent Pendants / Sterling Silver Findings


Sterling Silver Earring Wires
Handcrafted, Santo Domingo Pueblo, New Mexico
 Sterling Silver Earring Wires

See More Like This>>>

Sterling Silver Feathers
Matched set, detailed on both sides. PLUS Hooks & Eyes, Necklace Cones and more!

See More Sterling Silver>>>
Sterling Silver Cones - For beautiful finishing touch!

Sterling Silver Necklace Cones 
finish off your designs 
like nothing else!

See More Like This>>>

 

Wholesale  Rough Turquoise by the pound
(Click on the links below to contact us for quotes. 5 pound minimum.)


Rough Sleeping Beauty Turquoise
Rough Sleeping Beauty 
9-11mm, 12-15mm, 16-20mm
Rough Mexican Chip Beads - sold by the pound
2-4mm
Mexican Turquoise
Rough / Undrilled
$100 lb
Rough Sleeping Beauty Chip Beads - sold by the pound
1-2mm
Sleeping Beauty
Rough / Undrilled
$110 lb

 

To be or not to be? 
Stabilized turquoise is the question.

Jewelry made with our round and nugget style Sleeping Beauty Turquoise beads     "Is your turquoise stabilized?" This is a question I get asked all the time. Many people are actually proud of the fact that they will refuse to buy turquoise that has been stabilized, only to go to another store or vendor and purchase turquoise that has been stabilized. Yep, you read that right. They end up buying stabilized turquoise elsewhere, thinking they are getting "natural" turquoise just because someone told them it was natural. 

Surprisingly, there are also many people who believe the myth that stabilized turquoise is a
bad thing or means you are getting fake or dyed turquoise. This is not always the case, but you can be fooled if you are not careful.

Stabilized does not mean dyed, it means the color has been stabilized, but you DO need to be very careful. Armed with a little bit of information, you can protect yourself against buying turquoise that is not the real deal.

In truth, *about 97% of all (I'm not kidding... all) turquoise on the market today is stabilized. Stabilization is necessary in order to maintain the beautiful color of your turquoise and harden the stone. Turquoise changes color over time because it gradually absorbs oils from the skin as it is worn and as it comes into constant contact with the natural elements. The colors in stabilized turquoise, however, are permanent. The color is stabilized.

Another reason for stabilizing turquoise is that turquoise is a relatively soft stone. Stabilizing hardens the stone so we can easily cut and drill it. (By drilling I mean the little hole we put in the bead so you can string it.) The hardness of gemstones is measured on what is called the Mohs (sounds like hose only with an M) hardness scale measuring from 1 to 10. As a comparison, diamonds are a 10 on this scale; turquoise is a 5 or 6.

Now here is where some of the mis-information comes in. Many people associate stabilization with dying and treating the stone. We (meaning our shop) stabilize our turquoise under pressure using a clear organic process that absorbs into the rock, permanently hardening it and deepening its color. Sort of the way a sponge turns a darker color when you put water on it. We use a proprietary colorless process, meaning we created our own closely guarded formula that organically stabilizes without the use of dyes. All of our turquoise beads are natural color and you will get that in writing when you purchase from us.

Just so you know... it is during the stabilization process than many other processors use dyes to color the stone to make it more blue, which provides a higher perceived value to the stone. In other words, it is very easy to take a stone that is not turquoise (like Howlite for instance) and make it look like turquoise to an unsuspecting buyer. It is also easy to enhance cheap turquoise to make it look like the more expensive Sleeping Beauty turquoise or other American mined turquoise. Those who dye and enhance turquoise know that American turquoise is more valuable and a true investment turquoise that has steadily increased in value over the years, and they know they can put a higher price tag on their turquoise, thinking you won't know the difference.

If you prefer natural color turquoise, my advice is that you make sure if you are buying stabilized turquoise that the process did not include dyes of any kind. Stabilized does not mean "dyed". This is another misconception floating around in the public domain. When in doubt about anything during your turquoise purchase, insist on getting it in writing from the seller. Ask them to certify the turquoise as natural (not stabilized and not dyed) or natural color turquoise (stabilized but not dyed or enhanced in any way). You can see some examples of dyed turquoise on our website at http://www.theturquoisechick.com/examples.htm to help you discern your purchases online or in person.

Also, please check out our reference guide to the five kinds of turquoise as described by law available on our website. Here is the link: http://www.theturquoisechick.com/kinds.htm Remember, knowledge is the best way to protect yourself when buying turquoise online or otherwise

Until next time... 

Lin Valentine
Turquoise Specialist
Southwest Turquoise

Copyright © 2010 Lin Valentine and Southwest Turquoise
This article may not be used without the express written permission of the author.

 

Thank you so much for visiting The Turquoise Chick, a division of Southwest Turquoise – your online source for Sleeping Beauty, Campo Frio, and Kingman turquoise beads, and your shopping destination for spiny oyster and Heishi beads, which beautifully accent turquoise when combined in a handcrafted jewelry piece.

We take special pride in offering our customers unique turquoise beads and fine sterling silver. We still hand select all of the beads for our store in order to maintain our high standard of quality. If you have any questions about your purchase or about our turquoise call or send us an e-mail at Customer Care
If you are not signed up for our free newsletter, but you wish to learn more about turquoise, head on over to my Blog for all the 'scoop'. Be sure to bookmark our Blog site so you can check back regularly. Be sure to sign up for our special newsletters by filling in the form above. You will be notified of unadvertised sales and you'll get to see new items before they are made available on the website! 

We wish you great success in your jewelry designing and look forward to serving you often!

To your great success!

The Turquoise Chick

Lin Valentine
Turquoise Specialist
Southwest Turquoise

www.theturquoisechick.com  

 

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All of our turquoise beads are natural color

A Certificate of Authenticity Provided With Each Turquoise Purchase 

It's a privilege to serve you! 

www.theturquoisechick.com
Albuquerque, New Mexico

 

Our bead supply company has been on the Internet since 1995 
Copyright ©  Southwest Turquoise and The Turquoise Chick
Last modified: February 5, 2010

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