Last Updated on December 29, 2023
Now that you’ve got your crystal, gem, stone, and mineral collection on the go, you might be interested in adding a slightly pricier piece to your collection, and turquoise is the perfect place to start.
So, just how much is turquoise actually worth?
That’s not necessarily a simple question to answer since each piece of turquoise is unique and thus has a different selling price. Generally, turquoise can be worth anywhere from $0.5-1000 per carat.
Yet it is worth noting that these numbers depend purely upon the quality of the turquoise itself.
If you’re interested in learning a bit more about high-quality and low-quality turquoise, and just how much a high-quality piece of turquoise might cost you, then keep reading!
How Much is Turquoise Worth?
On average, and without taking its actual quality into account, turquoise is worth $3-5 per carat, $15-25 per gram, $450-750 per ounce, and $6795-11350 per pound.
These numbers do fluctuate depending upon the quality of the turquoise. Some of the factors that affect how much turquoise is worth include its color, texture, matrix, hardness, weight, and cut.
If you really want to get into how much a specific piece of turquoise is worth, it’s beneficial to refer to the Turquoise Quality Index (TQI) as it takes all these factors into consideration and ranks turquoise on a scale of 8-100 where the higher numbers represent high-quality turquoise, and vice versa.
However, when you are out and about searching through your local shop for turquoise, there are a few key indicators that you can look for in order to help you determine whether turquoise is high-quality or low-quality.
What is High-Quality Turquoise?
We’ll begin with color: Although color is not the ultimate determining factor when it comes to how much turquoise is worth, it’s a good place to start. As a rule of thumb, if the turquoise is sky blue—or what is often referred to as “Robin’s Egg” blue—it typically means that the turquoise is high-quality.
Another indicator of high-quality turquoise is the texture. High-quality turquoise is smooth and fine with low porosity. It’s also quite hard sitting between a 5 and 6 on the Mohs Hardness Scale.
High-quality turquoise also has little of what is known as “matrix”—dark or tan colored webbing left by a host stone—on its exterior. And if turquoise does have some webbing, it is preferred that it is in a delicate and visually appealing pattern.
And, finally, heavier is usually better when it comes to all crystals, stones, gems, and minerals. So, the heavier your piece of turquoise, the more it is worth.
What is Low-Quality Turquoise?
Low-quality turquoise has basically the exact opposite qualities of high-quality turquoise: It is a dull cloudy green or yellowish color, it is very porous and soft, it has plenty of discolored webbing, and—yes—it’s lightweight.
Beware, though, as you might come across some sky blue and hard turquoise that is worth very little. Synthetic plastic turquoise—which usually gets its bright color from blue dyes—can sometimes be mistaken for high-quality turquoise if you’re not careful.
If you pick up a piece of turquoise and it looks too blue to be true—and it also has an absolutely flawless exterior—then you may be holding synthetic plastic turquoise.
How Much is Blue Turquoise Worth?
Excluding synthetic plastic turquoise, sky blue turquoise is typically worth the most of all turquoises because it is so rare. Blue minerals, in general, are quite rare. If you’re looking to purchase a piece of high-quality, sky blue turquoise—or perhaps sell your own—it is sometimes valued at as much as $1500-25000 per gram.
Depending upon the size of the piece, you’re basically looking at a small fortune!
How Much is Green Turquoise Worth?
Color is not always a key factor when determining value for turquoise, in fact, eastern markets in Japan and China actually tend to prefer green turquoise over the sky blue variety, but green turquoise is typically less desirable then sky blue turquoise, which means that it is worth less.
For green turquoise, you can generally expect a value of $10 per gram in the United States.
If you are looking to get rid of a piece of green turquoise, then it might be beneficial to try and barter with another collector across seas as they may have a piece of sky blue turquoise that they are willing to trade!
