www.luisdunckerlavalle.org

by www.metaphoricalplatypus.com

Turquoise—a treasure from the southwest and more

What region do you think of when you seen turquoise? Most see turquoise and think of Native Americans, and that’s understandable. In fact, since my stay in New Mexico years ago, I have developed a love for turquoise.

Turquoise is a blueish green color and made of a hydrous phosphate of copper that is fairly soft. The hardest specimens of turquoise reach only 6 on the Mohs scale, but despite its softness, turquoise takes a very good polish.

Color preferences for turquoise vary by region—and it has long been thought that a stronger blue with less green is a more valuable turquoise. But not always. For example, in Tibet a greener blue turquoise is preferred.

Turquoise displaying a spiderweb pattern, from the matrix or mother rock from which the turquoise came, is valued in the USA; whereas in the near East clear vein-free material is preferred. Most consider this bluish spidery gemstone to be a very distinctively American gemstone – and turquoise jewelry can definitely be found in desert towns, craft fairs and even in airport gift shops. But while it is mined in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada, and has a very long history in Native American jewelry, turquoise jewelry actually can be found in cultures worldwide. In fact, turquoise is one of the oldest gemstone materials known to man. For thousands of years, turquoise and turquoise jewelry has been an important staple in many eastern cultures.

In fact, turquoise jewelry was found in ancient graves in Turkistan and, in the 1st to 3rd century A.D., in graves throughout the Caucasus. The name “Persian Turquoise” is now generally used to refer to any turquoise stone that does not have the black or brown veining commonly found in turquoise mined in the United States.

Like many gemstones, the demand for high quality turquoise exceeds the supply. This has led to the development of treatment methods to improve the color and durability of lower cost material. Softer turquoise can be enhanced by impregnating the stone under pressure with hot acrylic resins. The resins improve the color, hardness, and durability of the material. As long as the materials are represented as treated, this is regarded as an acceptable practice in the gemstone industry.