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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;quirkygirl, post: 334346, member: 106&quot;]heehee <img src="styles/default/xenforo/smilies/smile.png" class="mceSmilie" alt=":)" unselectable="on" />&nbsp; </p><p>Thanks, Bronwen, my bracelet is working on trying not to be overly sensitive <img src="styles/default/xenforo/smilies/wink.png" class="mceSmilie" alt=";)" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>There are some frighteningly good turquoise imitators out there ... even nuggets are being faked.&nbsp; Dyed howlite used to be easy to identify, but I&#039;ve seen photos of some recently that look just like real turquoise.&nbsp; I think the small bits of quartz in the matrix of the stones in the bracelet may be a clue.&nbsp; I didn&#039;t research whether quartz can form within the cracks of howlite ... I know that it can be present in the matrix of some turquoise (Sleeping Beauty, for one).&nbsp; My nuggets also have small specks of what looks like pyrite in the matrix ... also present in some turquoise.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>The second thing I did when I got the bracelet home, after looking it over with a loupe, was to take an acetone soaked Q-tip to the very black matrix.&nbsp; The Q-tip blackened a little, not a whole lot, which lead me to conclude that the matrix was darkened ... but no blue dye was evident when the stones were swabbed.</p><p><br /></p><p>I always think of hammering looking more like a series of joined (or nearly joined) &#039;dents&#039; ... where these marks look like something pushed into, and sometimes sliding along, the surface ... such as a small, blunt stamping tool would make.&nbsp; Probably easier for me to see through a loupe than is visible in the photo.&nbsp; Stippling may not be the correct term at all, though ... simply the first word that came to my mind.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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