About Turquoise

THE MAGIC & HISTORY OF TURQUOISE*

• In Persia (Iran) turquoise has been mined since before 2100 B.C. Persian writings tell of large vases carved from huge pieces of turquoise. One of the largest had the capacity of six gallons. The Middle East has been supplying turquoise for ancient Egyptians, Nubians, Greeks, and Romans for centuries. Most early European turquoise came from the Middle East by way of traders in what is modern day Turkey. In fact the word "turquoise" is derived from the French word for "Turkish."

• Turquoise is an essential and highly valued stone in Tibetan culture. It is worn by men and women alike in a variety of jewelry and accessories, as well as being set into statues and other religious and ritual objects. It is considered beneficial to general physical well-being, and its cooling nature is thought to help high blood pressure as well as to purify the blood and benefit the liver.

• In China turquoise was used in very early times and much has always been worn in jewelry. The Chinese are greatly fascinated by turquoise, and to them it is second only to jade.

• Today, turquoise can be found in many countries of the world, but high-grade turquoise is found mostly in China, Tibet, Persia and the Southwest. 

FORMS AND COLORS OF TURQUOISE 

• It can be formed as nuggets
• It can be deposited in cracks in rocks which form vein turquoise.
• It can be formed in a cavity lined with quartz crystals and, most interesting, can take the place of another crystal when that crystal dissolves and become a "pseudomorph," or false form (see pics on left).
• It can give the impression that it is an actual turquoise crystal.
• Since turquoise is a mineral that is deposited by water solutions, turquoise can take the shape of cavities left when the stems and parts of fossil plants were dissolved out of harder rock or matrix and turquoise was left in its place. (This is sometimes referred to as "Fossil" Turquoise, however this is incorrect. "Fossil" means the actual remains of plants or animals preserved in the rocks of the earth's crust.)
• Thin pieces of fine turquoise too thin to be cut alone are backed with an epoxy cement mixture which strengthens the stone and makes it much less likely to break and easier to cut. Many times the gems are small nuggets or tiny vein pieces. Without backing, they would not be usable.

The presence of sky and water inside a stone is indeed miraculous, a piece of heaven on earth, a round ripple of water inside the hard dry pebble. In the mineral world, geologists will tell you, these elements do intermingle. The sky comes down to earth and enters stone. Oxygen mixes with andesite, augite, feldspar, kaolin clay, aluminum, and traces of copper. In time, turquoise grains and crystals grow. The stone holds moisture. If turquoise dries out in sunlight, it will even change color, from bright blue to leaf green. The elements found in turquoise are present in seaweed, hay, eggs and feathers.

The Color of Turquoise can vary greatly within the same mine. If the mix has more copper, the turquoise will be colored in the blue range; if more aluminum, in the green to white range. The addition of zinc yields a yellow-green color and hardens the stone even more. The yellow-green color has been found so far only in Carico Lake, Damali, and Orvil Jack turquoise from Nevada. In many cases, stones from one mine resemble very closely those from another mine and can be virtually impossible for an expert, or lapidary, to tell the difference. No one should say that stones from a certain mine are all one color. Turquoise can also come in varying grades and the higher-quality is generally harder with very little porosity and will not change color by absorbing oil and grease. Usually, however, stones of a lighter color have a tendency to be softer and more porous, and will change color with wear. Years of wear and gentle magic of skin oils can perfect the patina of the combination of gorgeous, rich colors in turquoise and make them glow (zat).

Other colors that appear in a turquoise stone come from the host stone that the turquoise formed in, and are called "matrix." The host rock can be rust-colored, black, brown or be darker shades of green or blue. A black matrix is usually from iron pyrite; a gold-brown matrix from iron oxide, and a yellow to brown matrix from rhyolite. Matrix that is thin and evenly spaced over the surface of the stone is commonly known as "spider web" matrix. Spider web matrix usually enhances the collectivity and value of turquoise.

Turquoise is set throughout the world, with the exception of the Southwest, in gold. Because yellow gold forms a quite different background for blue stones than does silver, light blue stones are favored for finer pieces, stones often so pale that they are not wanted by workers in silver. Most Persian Turquoise, set at very high prices, is pale and almost always set in gold. It is impossibly hard to find enough Gem-Grade Turquoise to set in gold on a large scale as it is so rare, much rarer than diamonds. Only 1/10 of one percent of all the Turquoise mined is of a high enough grade that can be set in gold.

First and foremost, the 'best' color of turquoise is largely a matter of personal choice. Most turquoise authorities in the world would agree that the ideal color for turquoise is called "Royal Blue". It is the most vivid and intense of all shades. Some mines, even good mines, may never produce a single carat of it. Other mines may yield only a few ounces of it in thousands of pounds of normally high-grade material. There is also new evidence that suggests the Green shades were highly prized by the Navajo. 

THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF TURQUOISE AVAILABLE

• NATURAL turquoise means a stone with no alteration to its composition. Such stones are merely polished and cut into shapes before being mounted in jewelry. Natural turquoise remains porous, as all natural stone is to varying degrees, and may tend to change color over time as it is worn and handled.
• STABILIZED turquoise means that the natural mineral has been chemically altered to harden the stone, usually by infusing epoxy or polystyrene into the porous surface of the stone. The stabilization process serves to "freeze" the color of the stone so it will not change.
• COLOR-TREATED, color-enhanced, or color-infused turquoise means that the natural mineral, usually too soft and pale to finish for use in jewelry, has been chemically altered to change the color of the stone (and often the hardness also). Dye is mixed with a stabilizing epoxy or polystyrene liquid and infused into the stone under pressure. Treated turquoise is best recognized by its transparent plastic appearance. It looks unnatural because it looks too blue and too highly polished. Treated turquoise, since it is soft originally, can be easily scratched with a hard knife blade. High quality turquoise cannot be scratched with a knife. 
• RECONSTITUTED turquoise is the name used for turquoise dust and chips that are mixed with plastic resins and compressed into a solid form so as to resemble natural turquoise.
• SIMULATED or IMITATION : There is imitation turquoise that is pure plastic which is colored with blue mineral pigment. It contains no actual gemstone whatsoever. As well, there are mineral-based compositions, usually pressed or molded together, sometimes referred to as 'block turquoise.' Rocks, sand, pyrite and color are added to imitate matrix.

The treating of turquoise is not to be condemned and it is not wrong to buy or sell it; but it is wrong to misrepresent it or to mislead people. It should be sold as treated or stabilized and should not hold the status and value of Natural Gem Turquoise, which is the true gemstone. 80 percent of all turquoise mined is stabilized or enhanced in some way. This is generally the turquoise that is softer, porous and chalky and will not hold together by itself. Treating the stone in this way makes it darker and harder, less likely to fall apart or crack when worked.

To complicate the subject even further, there is high-quality turquoise that is stabilized due to the seam-structure in the stone that might fracture if not treated. This turquoise is too hard to absorb the plastic, most of it settles in the matrix cracks. It is getting harder and harder for even gemologists and turquoise experts to tell the difference between treated and natural turquoise.

The turquoise in many of the pieces we offer on this website represents less than 1 percent of the all the turquoise mined. If we state that the turquoise is Untreated and Natural, we can guarantee it. We buy our jewelry and rough stones either directly from the miner or from the lapidary who cut the rough stones and had them made into jewelry. That way we can guarantee the quality and authenticity of our jewelry and stones. The best guarantee to the buyer as to the authenticity of a piece and the stones that are set in it is to deal with a reputable dealer that you can trust. After 30 years as an Indian Trader, and being fortunate to live and work in Santa Fe, the 'heart of the Indian Jewelry business', we have access to the sources that enable us to offer such quality items.

Native American artisans may buy turquoise cabochons directly from miners, but most buy from jewelry supply stores or trading posts. 

MINING FOR TURQUOISE 

Turquoise deposits, with few exceptions, are not massive and often productive mines return good earnings for a few months or years and then the deposits are depleted, the vein pinches out or the pocket is exhausted. Years often pass during which a mine lies unworked. Then, as has often occurred, a new owner buys or leases the claim and reactivates the workings.

Most turquoise mining operations are very small, some as small as one family. The mining sites, of course, are very isolated, and living and working conditions are primitive and sometimes dangerous. One advantage modern miners have over previous miners, who worked with hand tools, is a gas generator. To this the miner hooks up a saw with a diamond cutting blade and a machine with a grinding wheel. Using water to cool the cutting blade, the miner cuts away chunks of host stone to get to the turquoise vein. Refined extraction and shaping of the turquoise is done with the grinding wheel. Final shaping is done and some of the the pieces are backed by epoxy to form a cabochon, a cut and polished stone ready for setting. The epoxy backing helps to protect the stone against chipping and breaking when it is set in silver jewelry and worn. This is all very labor intensive and time consuming.

Initiating a larger-scale mining operation for turquoise today requires an immense amount of commitment, equipment and money running into the millions of dollars. Due to environmental regulations, bonds are required to be put up that will guarantee that the surrounding area will be returned to its natural state when the mining operation is finished. It can become so complicated and costly (with no guarantee of return) that few people are mining for turquoise on a large scale today.