Turquoise Jewelry

History of Turquoise

The name turquoise is most likely a misnomer; the French first acquired the stone from Turkish traders and the root “turq” signifies that the stone is of Turkish origin, however more likely than not, the stones were brought from either Egypt, or Persia. Both Egypt and Persia were heavily involved at copper mining around the time the stone was believed to have made its way into trading circles, and turquoise is exclusively found near copper mines. You see turquoise is a combination of three major elements, copper, aluminum, and phosphate, when these elements are combined with oxygen and the right conditions are met, they form the mineral we know as turquoise. The ratio and percentage of each of these elements determine the stones color. Occasionally iron can be substituted for aluminum in natures process of creating the stone, the higher the iron to aluminum ratio, the more green the stone will appear, you will notice we have some lime green sets of turquoise, you can tell that they have a high content of iron in their chemical structure. Originally blue turquoise was seen as the most desirable; however in modern days when turquoise is almost always associated with a blue-ish color, the green variety has seen a reemergence as a unique, alternative.

Types of Turquoise

Turquoise has been such a popular stone, especially over the last few decades that most of the world’s resources have been mined so that most of the great quality specimens are long gone. The best turquoise is called gem quality, this turquoise is of such high quality is that all a jeweler has to do, is cut and polish it, before putting it on the market. This turquoise is extremely rare, and has usually changed hands quite a few times; it also fetches an extremely high price. All of the mines from which gem quality turquoise comes from, have been striped dry, and presently there are no active mines which produce turquoise like this.

Don’t fret though! You still have the option to buy nearly identical jewelry, at a vastly cheaper cost. It’s called stabilized turquoise. The majority of the turquoise sold at the Russian store is stabilized turquoise. It is created by taking the mineral, and soaking it in an epoxy resin. The resin penetrates the stone, and leaves it hard enough to be cut, polished, and worn, without fear of breaking. The natural structure of the stone is maintained throughout this process. The majority of the turquoise on the market is stabilized. Stabilized turquoise is in high demand, since the integrity of the stone is left intact, so the natural beauty is protected, but still left in tact.

Now in case you were interested, the lowest form of turquoise is called reconstructed turquoise. Stones that fall in this category would not be suitable to cut even after receiving the stabilizing treatment. The turquoise stones are instead ground up into a powder, and mixed with an adhesive, and molded into the desired shape. The finished product does not display any of the spiderweb patterns, or veins, that one would normally see in turquoise jewelry. We do not sell any of reconstructed turquoise.