Howlite is not turquoise, this is another white stone used in Southwest silver jewelry. It is a white to milky stone, often with brown, gray or black veins.

It is often colored blue and, due to its dark veins, is very reminiscent of turquoise. Chalk is often colored blue and, due to its dark veins, is very similar to turquoise. In some cases, unscrupulous or unscrupulous traders and sellers pass magnesite off as turquoise.

Howlite and White Buffalo Turquoise are different stones. Howlite tends to have a marbled appearance, meaning if normally has veins and a darker tint. White turquoise lacks veins and shines more brightly than howlite. Furthermore, howlite is more susceptible to chemical weathering than the other.

When mining, magnesite is usually chalky white, but there are also gray, brown, yellow, orange, pale pink and colorless varieties. The appearance of magnesite is dim, chalky, white or gray, and sometimes yellow or brown. Magnesite has a chalky, porous consistency, usually white, with brown or gray texture; some items also have a rare transparent crystal.

The stone is veined, hard as turquoise (Mohs hardness scale from 5.5 to 7.5), cut and shines like turquoise. These stones resemble marble or porcelain in their dull white color and black and dark brown veins.

Critical Differences Between Howlite and Turquoise

First of all, Howlite is a natural white stone, but it is easy to paint it in any color. However, howlite (like chalk) is often dyed to mimic turquoise. Magnesite and howlite have the same white, streaky, and porous appearance, and both are often used as affordable alternatives to turquoise and lapis lazuli.

Howlite is a white stone with black veins, similar to turquoise veins. Turquoise is a naturally soft stone, but howlite (imitation turquoise) is softer. This means that if you scratch your stone and it scratches easily, then you most likely have a Howlite.

Usually fake turquoise is composed of a soft mineral called howlite, and its color looks like turquoise. Most of this “white turquoise” is actually one of two substances called magnesite and magnesite. Rare white turquoise jewelry is made of real white turquoise from Dry Creek or Sacred Buffalo Mine, Turquoise Turquoise Mine or Turquoise Peacock Mine.

Turquoise is a compound that includes metals such as aluminum, copper, or iron. Part of what usually defines turquoise is its metallic properties, which give the stones a sky blue or sea green color.

There are imitations such as howlite, which is a white stone with a black matrix, but real white buffalo turquoise can be identified by its unique characteristics. It should not be confused with other stones called “white buffalo”, which are actually magnesite or magnesite.

The Beauty and Oddity of White Turquoise & Howlite

Although there are some controversies and controversies about white turquoise (according to mineralogists), it is still a beautiful stone that is popular with silversmiths and American Indian buffalo jewelry designers.

White buffalo is not technically turquoise, but a similar white stone with black and brown inclusions, mined near many turquoise mines near Tonapa, Nevada. White Buffalo Sacred Turquoise-its origin Sacred Buffalo Stone, White Buffalo and White Turquoise are terms commonly used to describe black and white gems in Native American jewelry.

Howlite is commonly referred to as white buffalo turquoise, white turquoise, buffalo stone or turquoise. Howlite is a white to milky white stone with a texture similar to a charcoal spider web. Below is a tiled image of the natural-looking white Howlite, natural turquoise, and dyed Howlite. You will not often see Howlite in its natural state, white to light gray, with a darker gray texture, called a turquoise matrix.

Howlite looks more like porcelain and is very opaque; it is white or gray with obvious black veins and sometimes dark brown veins. If you look closely, you can see it on the left: the vein is light gray/black, and the stone looks soft, dull and creamy, making it a howlite stone. However, the gray matrix is ​​a unique mark that makes it a different stone. Howlite is porous and easily absorbs dyes, imitating other more expensive stones such as turquoise, coral or even lapis lazuli.

In another example, Howlite has a blue dot that looks like “real” turquoise. The most famous turquoise comes from the Tonopah Sapphire Mine in Nevada. As we all know, the turquoise deposits in Mongolia and Egypt are greener than blue. Blue turquoise is formed where copper is present, and green turquoise is formed where iron is present.

How to Differentiate Howlite from Other Stones

Pale streaks will also appear when the stone appears almost white, dusty blue, or pale green. The transparent veins in turquoise mines are sometimes too soft (less than 5 on the Mohs scale) to be polished and used as gemstones. The problem is that most often the processing of this type of material reveals the color of the stone, and it is no longer “white turquoise”.

However, this allows some people to easily dye and sell it as turquoise, especially since its cobweb-like veins and bright blue dye make it indistinguishable from a blue stone.

Given this fact, it should not be called “white turquoise” because it does not have the same chemical composition as turquoise, which is copper phosphate. Although similar in structure and formation to turquoise, its striking black and white color is due to the absence of heavy metals such as copper, iron and zinc, which are responsible for the characteristic blue, green and yellow tones of turquoise.

Deep blues and greens are known for their captivating abilities, and depending on location, some nuggets may contain other additional minerals that make the mineral even more rare, valuable, and desirable.

The Rising Popularity of White Turquoise

In recent years, this type of stone and related jewelry has become increasingly popular in the Southwest and Native American art communities. The trade name “White Buffalo” is used to identify a stone from the Tonopah mine in Nevada owned by the Otteson family.

Outwardly, these stones have similar veins; however, their chemical composition is completely different from that of the White Buffalo Stone and should not be presented as such. These gemstones are rare, unlike rose quartz or amethyst, making them a better investment. While Californian Howlite and other white stones are very beautiful and are often used in Native American jewelry, they are definitely not turquoise.

At first glance, they may look the same, and if they are painted blue, they may turn out to be imitations of turquoise. It cannot be denied that magnesite and howlite are equally beautiful stones, despite the fact that they are known for being sold as fake turquoise or even beautifully colored stones.

Over the past few years, we have seen the emergence of many names for the White Buffalo Stone and many other distorted stones such as White Turquoise with some newcomers White Mountain and White Horse Turquoise.