Wild Horse Magnesite Design

This design features some wild horse magnesite disks; pretty white background with a little bit of brown-to-black veining on the stones. They are a great match to the round calcilica stones; nice stones of earthy color with a stream of turquoise color running through, I’ve accented them with big star bead end-caps.

To keep the star theme going I added medium sized stars between each of the wild horse magnesite disks along with some smooth silver tone pewter rounds.


A causal, a little southwest, a little western, a little something to add to your jewelry box!


For this and many other jewelry designs available for purchase at our Ruby Lane shop!

Wild Horse Style

A touch of the old west in this style of necklace done by Gayle; it features Wild Horse Magnesite in pendant, barrel and rondelle beads, then accented with Ivoryite disks and silver tone links. The pendant is mounted in sterling silver. It can be worn short or long with the extender and includes a pair of dangle leaverback earrings in the same stones.

These and many other designs available on our website.

A Stone of a Different Horse

Discovered in the mid-90’s near the Globe copper mine in the Gila wilderness area of southern Arizona, Wild Horse is naturally striking and beautiful. It is often called “Wild Horse Turquoise” however the composite is not the same as Turquoise. It is a mixture of Magnesite and hematite, generally white with brown or purple matrix veining; no two Wild Horse stones are the same retaining a high value and making it remarkably popular among jewelry designers and mineral collectors.



This design highlights the magnificent colors of Wild Horse Magnesite, deep shades of purple and a little bit of black matrix, capped with swirled pewter end-caps. For sparkle we’ve added Swarovski faceted Crystals in a pale shade of pink/purple and finished with freshwater cultured Pearls in a matching pale color of purple and bronze/copper.


Browse our collections for this and other custom designed jewelry pieces in natural stones.

Inspired Arizona Turquoise

This design was inspired by the bright southwest colors of nature, specifically Arizona Turquoise chips; matched with pillow stones in Wild Horse Magnesite that has light brown/black/purple matrix, hints of gold saucer spacers and a stunning Brazilian Agate handcrafted in non-tarnish brass wire.

Available for purchase along with many other Artisan crafted designs in nature’s treasures on our website.

Wild Horse Crystals & Turquoise Mixed Design

Another new design for our fall collection! This one is a beauty in Wild Horse Magnesite disks, accented by hex light Topaz crystals and gold-tone spacers and hanging from the center is a brown matrix Turquoise cross, handcrafted bail in non-tarnish brass wire. Wear it long or short with the extender and matching dangle earrings.

Turquoise: Spiritual attunement, cleansing, healing, protection, valor, soothing, peace of mind, guidance through the unknown, romantic spontaneity.

Magnesite: Promotes original and dynamic ideas. Instills peace, good for meditation, eliminate self-deceit and stimulate passion.

Custom handcrafted natural gemstone designs, visit and shop our website!

A Style of Southwest

The Southwest meets again with tradition in this beautiful necklace set. Natural stones in Turquoise and Wildhorse Magnesite and a hint of Paintbrush Jasper all accented with pewter and silver spacers. Large dangle earrings complete the set in same natural stones.

Jaspers: Protection, nurturing, joy, awareness; balancing of physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual energies
Turquoise: Spiritual attunement, cleansing, healing, protection, valor, soothing, peace of mind, guidance through the unknown, romantic spontaneity.
Magnesite: Promotes relaxation, positive attitude; removes feelings negative feelings and oversensitivity.

To see more unique handcrafted jewelry designs visit Timeless Designs.

Wild Horse Magnesite, Ivoryite, Agates & Turquoise

Visit Timeless Designs for these and many other gemstone favorites.

Wild Horse Magnesite, Ivoryite and crystals


Banded Agates in shades of pink, cream and grey

Heart of Turquoise & Pearls Set

Magnesite Ivoryite Howlite Turquoise

In the lapidary and gemstone world, Magnestie, Ivoryite, Howlite and Turquoise are all natural gemstones in their own right. But how does one tell the difference and know which is which, since there are so many different stones with the same type of names and looks. For a lesson in geology and lapidary, I posed the questions to my resident Gemologist for clarification.

Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is ahudrous phosphate of copper and aliminium. It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gem and ornamental stone for thousands of years owing to its unique hue. In recent times turquoise, like most other opaque gems, has been devalued by the introduction of treatments, imitations, and synthetics onto the market, some difficult to detect even by experts. The substance has been known by many names, but the word turquoise was derived around the 16th century from the French Language either from the word for Turkish (Turquois) or dark-blue stone (pierre turquin). This may have arisen from a misconception: turquoise does not occur in Turkey, but was traded at Turkish bazaars to Venetian merchants who brought it to Europe. It originated in China. Turquoise has a hardness of 5 to 6 on the Moh's scale. Tuerquoise is found throughout the American Southwest and Mexico; in Virginia and Pennsylvania, USA; throughout the Middle East except for Turkey and Iraq, China and Western Australia.

Magnesite is magnesium carbonate. Dolomite is almost indistinguishable from magnesite. Magnesite occurs as veins in and an alteration product of ultramafic rocks, serpentinite and other magnesium rich rock types in both contact and regional metamorphic terranes. These magnesites often are cryptocrystalline and contain silica as opal or chert. Magnesite is also present within the regolith above ultramafic rocks as a secondary carbonate within soil and subsoil, where it is deposited as a consequence of dissolution of magnesium-bearing minerals by carbon dioxide within groundwaters. Magnesite can be used as a slag former in steelmaking furnaces. Magnesite also forms within a crystal group that have the rhombic habit. Magnesite is usually associated with calcite, dolomite, aragonite, strontianite and serpentine. Magnesite is 3 to 4-1/2 on the Moh's scale. Magnesite in of itself does not ordinarily form good crystals, or solid pieces of rock, but can make up a substantial portion of some rock types. If it does form crystals or hard stones, it is about a 7 on the Moh’s scale. Stones hard enough for lapidary and jewelry purposes are found in Bisbee, Warren District Mule Mine, Cochise Co, AZ: Bangge Xainza, Nagchu Prefecture, Tibet: Jianchanling Mine, Western Qinling Tibet: Jianchaling Mine, Lueyang Co, Shaanxi Province, China: and Saertuohai, Tuoli Tacheng Prefecture, Xinjiang, China.

Ivoryite is a great substitute for ivory. Ivoryite is a synthetic material made to look and feel like Ivory, an animal friendly alternative! A substance called Ivoryite, which is a Misnomer, is a sedimentary precipitate of magnesium, calcium and silica. It is 5 to 5-1/2 on the Moh's scale, which makes it slightly harder than ivory. Ivoryite can be worked with metal tools, but cuts effortlessly with diamond tools. Polishes well with diamond, tin oxide, cerium oxide or white rouge. Excellent material for inlay, cabochons and small carvings. There is actually no specific mineral named Ivoryite, it is a misnomer given to harder varieties of Magnesite. Found all the same locations as Magnesite or Howlite.

Howlite is a calcium borosilicate hydroxide is a silicate mineral found in evaporite deposites. Howlite was discovered at Tick Canyon, California in 1868 by Henry How (1828 - 1879), a Canadian chemist, geologist, and mineralogist. In appearance, it is white with fine grey or black veins in an erratic, often web-like pattern, and is opaque with a sub-vitreous luster. Its structure is monoclinic with a Moh’s hardness of 3.5 and lacks regular cleavage. Howlite is commonly used to make decorative objects such as small carvings or jewelry components. Because of its porous texture, howlite can be easily dyed to imitate other minerals, especially turquoise because of the superficial similarity of the veining patterns. The dyed howlite (better known as Ivoryite or Magnesite) is marketed as turquenite. Howlite is also sold in its natural state, sometimes under the misleading trade names of "white turquoise" or "white buffalo turquoise", or the derived name "white buffalo stone". Noe “sacred White Buffalo Turquoise does exist in one mine in Nevada). Howlite is found in its natural state only in the Southwestern United States; Nova Scotia, Canada; Germany and Turkey. A accepted misnomer for a variety of Magnesite.

Appaloosa Stone or Wild Horse Magnesite is a natural Gemstone from a single source on an Indian Reservation near Bisbee, AZ. There is much discussion over this material, because it is too hard to be a magnesite (ivoryite or howlite), so most lapardists consider it to be a jasper deposit mixed in with the turquoise. A standard explanation of this material is “Wild Horse, often called Appaloosa Jasper or Magnesite, is a one source stone. The Navajos like using this unusual stone in their Jewelry. It has shadow hues in it, along with lots of lined matrix, and lots of white, all giving it an striking effect. Wild Horse “stone” completely captivate whoever gazes upon it!“

Arizona Wild Horse Magnesite

A Pinto horse has a coat color that consists of large patches of white and another color, usually browns. The color pattern existed in prehistoric times, and has been specifically bred by various cultures throughout history. Although pinto coloration is rare in the wild, people have always had an eye for animals of unusual colors.

The Pinto horse originated in Spain and was introduced to North America by Spanish and other European explorers. The Spanish explorers brought over Barb horses that had been crossed with other European breeds including Russian and Arabian strains, which are thought to give the horses their color patterns. When the Spanish herds were brought to North America, these horses mixed with the wild horses and were later domesticated by the Native Americans. Later, when the West was being tamed, the pioneers had to cross their refined European horses with the wild herds to develop a stockier and heavier muscled horse that would be more suited to the rugged and arduous conditions. Often referred to as piebald or skewbald horses in literature about the Wild West, the Pinto horse was a favorite among American cowboys and Native Americans. So would it be any different for a miner’s find to be named for the famed wild American horse.
A miner’s find among pockets of varying types of Turquoise, a new and rare discovery in the Gila Wilderness Area of Southern Arizona is Wild Horse Magnesite (a mixture of Magnesite/Hematite). This exceptional beauty is named for the gemstones resemblance to the Pinto horses with brown on white patches known to roam free in the Southwest and the favorite horse of many Native Americans. Wild Horse is antique white color with rich chocolate brown matrix, with varying degrees of browns, rusts, olives, and some light pinks. It is not a Turquoise, for it does not have the same mineral composite of Turquoise, but is a mix of Magnesite and Hematite or considered an Ivority/Hematite mixture. This is only mined in Arizona and should not be confused with Wild Horse or Appaloosa Jasper which can be found in California and Oregon.
This rare beauty retains a high value and is becoming remarkably popular in jewelry making. At the Holiday Shopping Extravaganza this weekend in San Antonio, I’ll be premiering this new stone in a design of Wild Horse mixed with Ivoryite, Crystal and gun metal daisy spacers.







Side note: As a former horsewoman, I know the difference between Pinto and Paint horses. These two breeds look identical in some cases; the difference is in the breeding bloodlines as to whether they are registered as Pinto or Paint horses.


Some excerpts are from Pinto Horse Association website