Natural Turquoise

Generally turquoise is not naturally hard enough to cut and polish, the few stones that are hard enough to be used are classified as natural turquoise. Natural turquoise is less common than treated turquoise making it more valuable. Turquoise is also porous consequently some natural turquoise can change color over time due to being exposed to oxygen or absorbing oils found in our skin. Given the fragile nature of natural turquoise we almost always back each cabochon with a thin layer of epoxy to greatly reduce the chance of the stone cracking.