WAIT! Don't wash your hands yet!
"Why shouldn't I get my turquoise jewelry wet?"
Because of this 
.... now this didn't happen because I got this ring wet. I made the mistake of allowing someone I thought knew what they were doing, attempt to resize my ring. She damaged it by smacking two or more of the bezels with a hammer. Unfortunately for me, I didn't notice the damage until after I got home a couple of days later and now she's back in New Mexico. I knew this would turn out to be a problem but finding someone who can fix the ring correctly isn't easy.
Fast forward to yesterday. I was wearing the ring (yes I knew this was risky) sitting at my computer working. Noticed all the sawdust on my desk and then saw the stone. I took a chance wearing it and fortunately, it happened at home where I could scoop up the sawdust and the stone and now hope I can find someone to properly repair it.
So what does this have to do with getting it wet you ask?
The use of sawdust is a traditional jewelry making technique in most Native American Jewelry. The sawdust is used to level the stone and tighten the setting inside the bezel. If your jewelry is made this way, that is good. But, getting your ring or any handmade turquoise jewelry wet is bad. It can be damaging to the sawdust, changing its structure and causing stones to become loose resulting in potential loss. Getting a perfect replacement stone if it's lost is difficult, if not close to impossible.
It can also be expensive because to properly fix this ring now, every stone needs to be removed to protect them from the silverwork repair processes, the bezels need to be repaired and the stones reset.
That's why I recommend treating authentic handmade Native American jewelry as though your stones are set this way. Better safe than sorry.
If you have been washing your hands or showering with your jewelry on, check your stones! If they are loose, get them repaired ASAP. There are a few ways you can tighten the bezel yourself but that will be discussed in a future blog.