Several conspicuously colored specimens marketed as dyed and/or stabilized turquoise were recently examined. They were purple to purple-pink, yellow-green, and blue, in veined and unveined varieties. Testing revealed that all the specimens were composites of turquoise pieces bonded together; the purple to purple-pink and yellow-green samples were bonded with a colored polymer, and the blue ones had a colorless polymer. This article presents the gemological properties and EDXRF and FTIR analyses of this material, along with its reaction to the solvents acetone and methylene chloride.
Several conspicuously colored specimens marketed as dyed and/or stabilized turquoise were recently examined. They were purple to purple-pink, yellow-green, and blue, in veined and unveined varieties. Testing revealed that all the specimens were composites of turquoise pieces bonded together; the purple to purple-pink and yellow-green samples were bonded with a colored polymer, and the blue ones had a colorless polymer. This article presents the gemological properties and EDXRF and FTIR analyses of this material, along with its reaction to the solvents acetone and methylene chloride.
