Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons

Above - Spiderweb Bisbee Turquoise

High Grade Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons are a rarity in Turquoise as less than 1% of Turquoise is collectors quality and less than 1% of that has spiderweb matrix. There are many different colors and matrix variations of Turquoise that will enchant you beyond imagination, however, to us, Spiderweb Turquoise is the pinnacle of rarity and beauty! This is a presentation specifically on Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons and their attributes. This presentation has a lot of educational information as well as many great examples that will help you understand why we believe Spiderweb Turquoise Gemstones are so valuable.

Mining, Collecting and Cutting high grade Turquoise has been a passion of the Hartman family's for over 40 years. Our entire family creates Turquoise Jewelry and our specialty has always been the exceptional quality of Turquoise that is in the Jewelry we make. We have always found it difficult to purchase one or two Turquoise Stones from the Turquoise Cutters of the American Southwest, that is called "high-grading", so we began cutting our own stones before we began making Turquoise Jewelry. It did not take long for us to learn there is a big difference between common Turquoise and high quality Turquoise, it also did not take long to figure out how hard it was to find high quality Turquoise and how dear it was to the miners themselves. When we went to Arizona or Nevada to buy rough Turquoise, we never saw high grade until the miner knew we had plenty of money and were prepared to pay big money for their best. As it turned out, we are lucky that we chose to pay big money for the best and left the rest behind - today we have a generous collection of authentic, high grade American Turquoise and a fair amount of Spiderweb Turquoise from all locations around the globe.

Family origins - Growing up in the American Southwest, John and Estell Hartman found a true love for Turquoise in their early years. John gave Estell a Bisbee Turquoise friendship ring when she was 13 years old and by time they reached 20 they were mining Stormy Mountain and Number 8 Spiderweb Turquoise with Cutler Edgar. Cutler is one of the most famous Turquoise Miners in American history and was the founder and owner of the largest producing Spiderweb Turquoise Mine to date, the Number 8 Mine.

The Hartman's built their Turquoise Trading Company just west of Durango in 1975 and opened for business with High Grade Turquoise Jewelry being the the primary focus of their trade. John and Estell had two children, Dillon and Crystal in the 80's and today the entire families main focus is still authentic, natural, high grade American Turquoise. Dillon and John mine, collect and cut Turquoise on a daily basis and Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons are the type of gemstones they seek when cutting their Turquoise.

A Fact! We often cut more that fifty Turquoise stones before we find one fine Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochon that we consider "High Grade Spiderweb Turquoise." Those 50 stones are out of rough material that we hand picked that looked like high grade, not just any rough Turquoise! So, when a Turquoise Cabochon costs a lot, there is a good reason, exceptional collectors quality gemstones are not common.

Natural Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons

Above - Natural Number 8 Spiderweb Turquoise

Natural Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons are rare and they can be very valuable. There are many variables such as color of the Turquoise, color of the webbing, hardness, rarity of the Turquoise deposit of its origin, historical value and the demand for the particular type of Turquoise. The structure of the webbing is also important, a dense and unobstructed webbing pattern that has good character is highly desirable. Red Iron colored webbing is the most rare in American Turquoise and Black webbing is also high in demand, however, golden brown to brown colors are very attractive thus very collectible. We have always tried to cut picture stones and feel there is a big difference in Spiderweb Turquoise Stones that are attractive for the perfectly spaced and balanced spiderweb matrix and those that have unevenly spaced web, yet have a beautiful picture. Most of the time collectors look for as even of webbing and distribution as possible. The ideal stone should have perfectly spaced webbing that is even all across and has no inclusions. Having said that, there are more stones which have great spiderweb, but do have chunks or inclusions in them. Those that have inclusions or imperfections would seem to be less valuable, but in rare cases can bring just as much as perfectly webbed stones if the beauty is there. So, the difference we found is the buyer, the buyer for the evenly spaced web is a perfectionist, seeking purity and perfection and bases their logic around a more scientific aspect, the buyer for the picture stones is more likely to be looking at the overall beauty of the stone and viewing it from a more artistic stand point then a scientific or mathematical view point so to speak.

American Turquoise Mines are known worldwide for the exceptional Spiderweb Turquoise that they have produced in the past as well as their ability to produce true blue Turquoise. Nevada Turquoise Mines produce the majority of the highest quality American Spiderweb Turquoise. Arizona has produced a fair amount of Webbed Turquoise in the past. Presently (2014) the only Arizona Turquoise Mine producing substantial quantities of Spiderweb Turquoise of high enough quality to cut Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons is the Kingman Turquoise mine which is said to run out of natural spiderweb Turquoise vein this year (2014). There are a few American Turquoise mines that have the capability to produce Spiderweb Turquoise rough, such as the Apache Blue Turquoise Mine, the Royston Turquoise mine, the Blue Moon Turquoise mine, the Carico Lake Turquoise mine, the Tortoise Turquoise mine, and a few other Ma and Pa mines in Nevada. As mentioned above, spiderweb Turquoise is a fraction of a percent of what any given mine will produce, so all Turquoise mines have the potential to produce spiderweb Turquoise, but not all do.

American Turquoise Mining Struggles - In approximately 1985, a vast amount of Spiderweb Turquoise was discovered in the Turquoise dumps in China. For the past several hundred years the Chinese had been discarding what they thought was inferior Turquoise, as sky blue or clear blue Turquoise was what sold throughout Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. American Turquoise Buyers bought tens of thousands of lbs of Chinese Spiderweb Turquoise that was very hard and rich in color from being out of the mines curing in the elements of the earths surface. The original Chinese Spiderweb Turquoise was a hit with American Turquoise Collectors as American Spiderweb Turquoise was expensive and hard to acquire. The early Chinese Spiderweb Turquoise is still today great material if you can find it - in fact, now the Chinese are desperate to get their high grade Spiderweb Turquoise back as they now realize what they gave away!

Unfortunately for China, The finest quality Chinese Spiderweb Turquoise is now in the hands of American Turquoise Collectors in the form of Native American Spiderweb Turquoise Jewelry! Another major share of their high-grade Spiderweb Turquoise was also imported into the United States in the form of Spiderweb Turquoise Beads which also reside in America.

There are a couple unfortunate situations that have came from the Chinese Turquoise import mess;

1. The Chinese went after the American Turquoise Industry, they saw a market and began mining for more Spiderweb Turquoise that was left in their mountains. The Turquoise in the mountains was soft and so it all had to be stabilized with resins, so since about 1990 most all of the rough Chinese Turquoise being sold globally is treated and in many cases stabilized and considered cheap or low end Turquoise. By 2000, the Chinese began making fake Turquoise from Howlite and Magnisite - dying it and then stabilizing it with resin and in recently they have begun making Turquoise with cement.
2. When the American Jewelers, Collectors and buyers found out what China was doing, nobody wanted Chinese Turquoise and the price dropped to a little more that the cost of dirt! It has taken a few years but there is very little fake Chinese Turquoise being sold to the Native American Jewelers and I believe the world is also onto their tricks as well. In the process it has become very hard to convince western people that Chinese Turquoise is good and of value. Natural Chinese Turquoise is very valuable.
3. In the interim of this mess, the American Turquoise Miners were put out of business. In the early 1980's, there were over 180 American Turquoise Mines producing substantial amounts of Turquoise and by 1995 there were less than 12. As you could imagine, we have a major authentic Turquoise shortage now and it is going to take some time for the American Turquoise Mines to start producing once again. The Chinese episode will never happen again, but, this is a good example of how a thriving economy can be destroyed by cheaters and fakes!

With the above in mind, American Spiderweb Turquoise has become very scarce and those who have it are scared to use it as they feel they may never get it back. Everyone realizes the cost of mining has gone up exponentially and the cost to locate and get the old Turquoise Mines up is astronomical. The Mining of American Turquoise will come back as the whole world loves Turquoise these days, partly from mass marketing by China, however, the cost of authentic Turquoise will continue rise and the cost of high grade Spiderweb Turquoise will become very high!

Checkout Informational Pages About Different Mines that Produce Spiderweb Turquoise

Authentic American Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons

We Mine, Collect, Cut and Sell Authentic American Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons

Above and to the left is an Easter Blue Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochon - The Easter Blue Mine is located northwest of Tonopah, Nevada a few miles from the Royston mining district. Turquoise from this claim has also been called Blue Mountain Turquoise and Blue Gem Turquoise. The Easter Blue Mine was never considered a large producer and it changed hands many times, probably due to hard times of mining. The deposit was discovered in 1907 by Lew Cirac who then sold it to Lee Hand in 1915. Production here has come from both surface pits and underground tunnels. Easter Blue Turquoise is found in both nuggets and veins with the vein material being a much higher grade including spectacular Spiderweb Turquoise as in the cabochon above. Total production is estimated at nearly 8 tons of Turquoise of all grades. Most of the material from the mine is beautiful blues with hard golden to brown matrix. Easter Blue Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons are scarce and when you find them you have really got a prize!

Above and to the right is a grouping of Morenci Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons - Morenci Turquoise was mined in Greenlee County in southeastern Arizona from approximately 1940 through 1984. William “Lucky” Brown had the exclusive rights to mine Turquoise at Morenci in this period, retired from mining Turquoise in 1982 and his sons, Charles and Wayne continued to mine until the lease ended. This Turquoise is highly sought after for its true Arizona blue colors and iron pyrite matrix. Morenci Turquoise has an unusual matrix and even spiderweb matrix of irregular quartz and pyrite that resembles silver. On occasion you will find Morenci to have beautiful red iron spiderweb matrix, this is rare and valuable. Most individuals like the iron pyrite matrix and iron pyrite spider webbing as shown in the stones above is highly desirable. Morenci Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons are scarce and dear to their "Lucky" owners!

Above and to the left is a grouping of Blue Wind Spiderweb Turquoise from Lander County, Nevada USA, it was discovered by Cutler Edgar and mined by the Edgar family in 1974. The early workings of the mine only produced about 100 pounds of turquoise before it played out, another one of Nevada’s turquoise ‘Hat’ mines. The Blue Wind name came from the windy black swirls that were seen blowing through the stone. Blue Wind Turquoise is a medium to dark blue Turquoise with deep black spiderweb. The webbing in most of this turquoise is very evenly distributed. Blue Wind Turquoise was some of the greatest Spiderweb Turquoise to ever come out of the ground, it is one of the most valuable and illusive types of Turquoise in the world. Learn more about Blue Wind Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons

Above and to the right are several Damele Spiderweb Turquoise Gemstones - The Damele Mine is located thirty miles from Austin, Nevada. This mine was discovered by Benny Damele around 1973 and was mined until 1990 when Tony Cotner purchased the claim from Benny. Damele is most distinctive because it is one of the few types of Turquoises that can be truly yellow-green, which is caused from iron or environmental conditions. Turquoise from the Damele mine is very hard, rich in color and very attractive. Damele Turquoise forms in veins and occasionally as nuggets, there is a fair amount of Spiderweb Turquoise that comes out of this deposit as well. It’s colors range from pure lime-green through bright chartreuse; it can also be yellow with black webbing or even a caramel color with bright green spots. Due to its limited quantity as well as its rare color and quality, Damele Turquoise is a highly collectible type Turquoise and Spiderweb Damele Turquoise Cabochons such as these in the photo above are eye candy and dear to anyone who owns stones like these. Learn more about Damele Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons

Above and to the left is a group of Tortoise Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons - The Tortoise Turquoise Mine is located west of Mina, Nevada USA. Dillon Hartman of Durango Silver Company owns this mine with his partners from Nevada Turquoise Company. Tortoise Turquoise runs in black manganese. There are small to giant nuggets which are found in a clay type material as well as thin to wide vein material that is encrusted in walls of manganese. A very large percentage of the material has black manganese spider webbing, especially in the veined material. We believe the webbing is caused from prehistoric plant roots as the native plant found in this canyon has roots that look like spiderwebs. We think, as the plant died, the roots became voids in ground, the water carried the manganese minerals downward, which ultimately became black spiderweb in the Turquoise. Tortoise Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons are most often spectacular as the color range is phenomenal.

Above and to the right is a White Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochon from the Tortoise Turquoise Mine. This is an example of a type of white Turquoise with jet black manganese spiderweb matrix. The Tortoise Turquoise Mine produces a wide range of colors from white, yellow, caramel, lime green, emerald green all the way to deep blue and all color ranges are found to have spider webbed regions within the deposit. Tortoise Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons make some of the most beautiful jewelry and are especially appealing to men.

Authentic Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons

Authentic Spiderweb Turquoise is valuable for its rarity as well as its beauty, however, it is imperative that it has not been altered in any way for it to have real value. Authentic, Natural Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons means they are free of any treatments and were cut from was 100% natural Turquoise as it came out of the ground and free of any treatments such as wax, resins, oils or other. There are many ways to alter gemstones to make them look like they are something they are not and Turquoise is no exception. There are also many methods to test the authenticity and integrity of the Turquoise if, in fact, it is a rare and valuable gemstone.

We are Leading Turquoise Authorities in the United States and we know High Grade Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons. We have been mining, collecting and cutting Turquoise for well over 40 years and nothing takes the place of "hands on" experience. We know the characteristics of most American Turquoise and we are well aware of the treatments and fakes that others are producing. We started our business over forty years ago with high standards and we have kept them for the duration of our Turquoise business. We guarantee everything we sell to be 100% authentic and as good or better than we described the piece.

In the past we only cut our Spiderweb Turquoise to put in the Jewelry that we produced, now we are offering our authentic spiderweb turquoise cabochons to collectors, investors and Jewelers as well. We enjoy cutting Turquoise and we cannot use as much as we cut in our Jewelry. We invite you to browse through the Turquoise Cabochons we currently have available and we encourage you to come back often as we are working on putting new cabochons up on a daily basis. We also invite you to join our Newsletter, read this info and join at the bottom of this page. Take a look at the Quality Turquoise Cabochons we presently have available by clicking on the "Shop Now or the "Turquoise Cabochons Link" to the left side of this page.

Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons Available

Above and to the left is a spider webbed Bisbee Turquoise Cabochon from the Bisbee Copper Mine located near Bisbee, Arizona USA . Bisbee Turquoise is known to be some of the finest Turquoise ever produced in North America. The majority of Bisbee Turquoise is hard and blue with chocolate to iron red matrix. A fairly small portion of Bisbee Turquoise has spider webbing and when it does it usually does not find its way to the market. You can read more about this Bisbee Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochon on its presentation page. We also invite you to view other Bisbee Turquoise Cabochons we have available at this time. Learn More About Bisbee Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons

Above and to the right is matched set of Black Spiderweb Kingman Turquoise Cabochons from the Kingman Turquoise mine located near Kingman, Arizona. The Colbaugh's (Mine Owners) ran into this deposit of Spiderweb Turquoise about two years ago, it is true Arizona Blue in color with black spiderweb matrix The configuration of the spider webbing is tight and beautiful. Durango Silver Company has a fairly good supply of these Kingman Black Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons available on our Kingman Turquoise Cabochons page and you can see additional information on this set of Cabochons on their presentation page.

Above and to the left is a Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochon from one of the first known Turquoise Mines in the world in Egypt. This Turquoise has been stabilized but we handle it because of its importance in world history. Turquoise was first found on the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt approximately 5500 B.C. - we invite you to read our page on Egyptian Turquoise as it is most interesting and here is you once in a lifetime to own an Egyptian Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochon.

Above and to the right is a fabulous Persian Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochon from the old Persia. This is an Antique Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochon from a very historic period in time, the time of Persia. This Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochon has red spiderweb matrix which is very rare in Persian Turquoise as well as mines in other parts of the world. The red matrix is cause from iron in the soil at the time of formation. This is an exceptional gemstone.

Spiderweb Turquoise Wanted!
We buy High-grade Rough Spiderweb Turquoise - We sell high-grade Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons

If you have high grade Spiderweb Turquoise in the rough, we are interested in what you have! We pay top dollar for authentic, natural, high-grade Spiderweb Turquoise rough!
Contact John Hartman at 970 375-2401 and/or send photos of your material to John@DurangoSilver.com

Spiderweb Turquoise Bracelets | Spiderweb Turquoise Rings | Spiderweb Turquoise Jewelry | Spiderweb Bisbee Turquoise Cabochons | Blue Wind Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons | Damele Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons | Lander Blue Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons | Tortoise Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons | Natural Turquoise Jewelry | Turquoise Rings

This document was created by Durango Silver Company on 7-15-2014.

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We hope you have enjoyed our presentation on Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons and we also hope you will think of Durango Silver Company 
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