Stabilized, reconstituted, color enhanced, natural... What's it all mean? The word “stone” can be a little deceiving when used in relation to turquoise. Most turquoise is better off being called “chalk” or even “powder”. Even the highest quality turquoise in it's natural state only has a hardness of 3 or 4 on the Mohs scale. Obviously this is not good for cutting shapes and using in jewelry. And, although turquoise comes in many colors, it is only the blue-green color that really sells. As a result, most turquoise undergoes treatment of some kind.

Stabilized

This is the most common treatment. Turquoise nuggets are soaked in resin, taken out, and dried. What's left is natural turquoise held together with clear, wax-like substance. Without stabilized turquoise, turquoise would be one the rarest gemstones to exist. Prices vary, but 15 to 40 cents a gram is common.

Reconstituted

When turquoise is mined there are always pieces that are too small or simply too imperfect to do anything with. The turquoise bits are ground up, reshaped, and stabilized. Usually it is also dyed as well. Reconstituted turquoise is considered simulated turquoise by many. Of course it is low quality, but it has its uses for those looking to make inexpensive jewelry.

Color Enhanced

Basically, color enhanced translates to dyed. Dyed turquoise is very affordable and found in a lot of jewelry. Unfortunately, the dye will wear off as it rubs against a person's skin or if it comes in contact with moisture. On the up side, dyed turquoise has that perfect turquoise-blue color that makes it so popular in the first place. Dyed turquoise is better used in simple jewelry than in large elaborate pieces that need to last a long time.

Natural

Natural, unstabilized turquoise beads do exist but they are very expensive and hard to find. Nowadays most vendors will use “natural” to mean “natural color”, not “straight from the mine”. If you are buying natural turquoise for under a hundred dollars there is probably a misunderstanding somewhere. Some vendors are starting to say “natural stabilized” to mean that the stone is stabilized but the color has not been tampered with. But not every store has caught on, so if you are looking for natural turquoise be sure to get as much information as you can.