Man has been fascinated by
the stone turquoise for centuries
and with good reason. This
beautiful natural stone comes
in colors ranging from sky
blue to greenish yellow and
has been used in jewelry as
well as for it’s healing
properties for centuries.
Turquoise is mined in China,
Iran, Turkey, Egypt, and Persia.
In North America, it is found
in Arizona and New Mexico.
The stone can be rather porous
and chalky and is usually
treated before it is suitable
for use in jewelry. The stones
are treated with a resinous
substance to “stabilize”
them. This treatment hardens
the stone making it less susceptible
to chipping and keeps the
color from changing due to
contact with the oils in your
body.
Turquoise is also reputed
to heal all kinds of ailments.
New age healers use it for
the skeletal, digestive and
respiratory systems. It is
said to help remove toxins
from smoking and other pollutants
from the body. The stone is
also said to help improve
your attitude as well as enhance
creativity. It is reputed
to bring you inner awareness
and help strengthen friendships.
Turquoise is reputed to help
those who have trouble speaking
in public, improve empathy
and honesty.
One of the most beautiful
types of turquoise is mined
from the Sleeping Beauty Mine
in Arizona. Called sleeping
beauty turquoise after the
name of the mine, these stones
are a vivid sky blue color
with no matrix to speak of.
These beads and stones are
well sought after for jewelry
making and a favorite of the
Zuni Pueblo silver makers
who incorporate it into their
traditional inlay jewelry.
Another popular turquoise
is White Buffalo Turquoise
which is mined from the Dry
Creek Mine in Nevada and is
a beautiful stone used in
jewelry. Highly prized as
the White Buffalo vein has
only been found in one spot
and once it’s gone there
may never be new stones in
this coloration again. The
stones are a light turquoise
with white colorations and
dark veins. Not to be confused
with howlite, White buffalo
turquoise is not solid white
in color.
Persian turquoise has been
used in jewelry since ancient
times and there are many mines
in Iran that produce this
beautiful stone. This turquoise
can have a wide variety of
color from sky blue to pale
green. Ancient Persian carvings
using turquoise have been
found and it is evident that
ancient jewelry was made with
stones from these mines.
If you have turquoise jewelry
or stones, you need to take
special care to clean them
since it is porous. Some people
feel that there is an added
value in vintage turquoise
which has had years to develop
a patina and excessive cleaning
can destroy that value. The
preferred means is to cleaning
native turquoise is to gently
wipe it with a soft cloth
but there are instances where
you may require more intense
cleaning and our advice is
to use warm soapy water. If
the turquoise is set in a
piece of jewelry you should
avoid submerging it in anything
liquid as it can seep into
the fissures of the jewelry
and cause deterioration years
down the road.
One gentle method for cleaning
turquoise is to dunk a Q-tip
in warm soapy water and swab
the jewelry with that - make
sure you remove any soapy
residue by swabbing again
with a clean Q-tip dipped
in clean water. Never clean
your turquoise in ultrasonic
or steam cleaners or use any
type of chemical.
