Anyone Know Much About Raw Turquoise?

[NorvTex]

A few years ago I bought a 5 gallon bucket of raw turquoise from an elderly man who was an avid Indian artifact hunter. Some of his collection was so special, that it was actually bought by Ralph Lauren. I have had this turquoise in my knife shop ever since thinking I'd use it for castings or inlays on knife handles, but have so much I don't know what to do with it. Do any of you guys know what stuff like this is worth, and what value it should add to knives if used in handles or such?

 

[ATwistedStaple]

If I'm the buyer and the inlay's done well I'd say it adds quite a bit of value. I think as far as loose value goes it depends a lot on color, figuring, size, structural integrity, etc. I'd bet that the scraps kept in a bucket probably weren't too valuable.

 

[puukkoman]

If I were you, I'd start by making a few beads for knife lanyards -- whether or not you use lanyards on your own knives, plenty of other people do, and I'll bet there would be more than a few interested parties.
(If you want, I'll be happy to make you some, in exchange for a few pieces to keep for my own purposes. [emoji106] )