Chrysocolla

Because chrysocolla contains both copper and aluminum as primary ingredients, as does turquoise, the two stones are often confused. To an expert, the differences are usually obvious, but the amateur eye can be easily fooled. Reputable merchants will properly identify the stones, but less-honest merchants have passed chrysocolla as more-expensive turquoise. The photo at right shows a cabuchon of chrysocolla set into the slide of a bolo tie, and I find this particular stone to be remarkably reminiscent of turquoise. The most obvious giveaway is the flecks of grayish-white silicate material.

The reason turquoise is more expensive than chrysocolla is primarily because of its hardness. Chrysocolla that contains more silica as it is forming, as mentioned above, is harder and approaches the hardness of turquoise. Chrysocolla with less silica is somewhat brittle and breaks easily. And, while chrysocolla is a mineral with silica (a mixture of silicon and oxygen) as a secondary ingredient, turquoise has phosphate (a mixture of phosphorus and oxygen) as a secondary ingredient.

^{~holding the stone for size comparison, photo by me~}

^{~photo by me~}

^{~photo by me~}

 😊

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SOURCES
   ¹ Crysocholla image by Octoberwoodland, Wikimedia Commons
   ² Hubpages.com: "Chrysocolla: Looks Like Turquoise But it's Not"
   ³ Minerals.net: "The Mineral Chrysocolla"
   ⁴ Wikipedia: Chrysocolla
   ⁵ Wikipedia: Turquoise

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