Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Battara · 8th December 2016, 03:01 PM

I do know that there are old turquoise mines that both the Chineses and Tibetans have been using for generations. Even the Bukharans use these. I doubt they would be needing to use glass or fake stones on older pieces with the supplies they had. Fake stones I have seen on more recent items, but those are tourist items from the Tibetan community in exile with little to no access to the old mines. The community in exile is of course south even of Kashmir. Perhaps the further away from those mines the more the fake stuff pops up.

8th December 2016, 03:01 PM	#2
Battara EAAF Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 7,257	I do know that there are old turquoise mines that both the Chineses and Tibetans have been using for generations. Even the Bukharans use these. I doubt they would be needing to use glass or fake stones on older pieces with the supplies they had. Fake stones I have seen on more recent items, but those are tourist items from the Tibetan community in exile with little to no access to the old mines. The community in exile is of course south even of Kashmir. Perhaps the further away from those mines the more the fake stuff pops up.