All about Turquoise

The ancient history of Turquoise

One of the oldest known gemstones, turquoise has been prized since ancient times. The name itself comes from the French turquoise, meaning "Turkish", since the first turquoises to arrive in Europe came from Turkey (even if they were originally mined in Iran!).

What is turquoise?Back to top

Turquoise is a compound of aluminium and copper phosphate, which gives it its vibrant blue colour. It is typically found in arid, desert regions

What makes a good turquoise?Back to top

Turquoise is usually cabochon-cut or into flat segments if it is to be inlaid, as it does not "sparkle" like more transparent gemstones if faceted. Turquoise is usually valued on a combination of its colour, size, hardness and inclusion patterns. Turquoise from different areas will have different colours, ones that are especially prized include vivid green turquoise from Tibet, or "robin-egg" blue turquoise from Iran.

The pattern of inclusions or veins in a turquoise gemstone often enhances, rather than detracting from its value. Stones with an attractive patterning can sell for many times the price of plainer specimens. Many old turquoise mines produced stones with a characteristic colour and pattern, stones from famous mines that are no longer active, such as the Bisbee or Turquoise Mountain mines in Arizona, can be particularly valuable.

Turquoise treatments and imitations

Unfortunately, perhaps because the term has come to refer to the colour, as well as the gemstone, there are many forms of imitation turquoise that may be passed off as the real thing. Some forms of imitation turquoise are nothing more than coloured plastic - usually a mere touch is enough to tell these apart from a natural gemstone. Howlite is another popular form of imitation turquoise - howlite itself is a naturally occurring, white stone that lends itself readily to turquoise dye. It can look just as good as real turquoise, but is obviously not as valuable as the real thing.

Because gem-grade turquoise is rare and expensive, there are also a number of treatments that are commonly used to improve stones or even manufacture them. "Reconstituted" turquoise are stones that are made from turquoise powder (either from grinding up poor quality stones, or from the residue after cutting and polishing other turquoises) and mixed with epoxy resin to form a new stone. This can be sculpted into any shape or size, as the jeweller desires. Other common treatments include impregnating the stone with wax or resin to strengthen it and prevent cracking (so-called "stabilisation"). If done well, these can be very difficult to tell apart from a completely natural gemstone and are accepted as "legitimate" treatments.

How to care for TurquoiseBack to top

Turquoises vary in hardness, but even the hardest can be scratched by glass, metals or other gemstones. Care should be taken when storing turquoise jewellery that this does not happen.

The stone is also porous and will absorb oils and grease from your skin, make-up and other liquids that it comes into contact with. The colour may therefore change slightly over time and in order to prevent this, turquoise jewellery should be removed if practical when applying make-up, washing-up, swimming and so on. They should not be cleaned using an ultrasonic cleaner - a little soap and water should be all that is necessary - and never let them contact silver polish.

Famous TurquoisesBack to top

Turquoise was prized by the ancient Egyptians and Aztecs and some of the most famous examples of turquoise jewellery date back to pre-history. The fabulous burial mask of Tutankhamen was made from turquoise and much turquoise jewellery has been found inside other Egyptian pyramids.

Myths and legendsBack to top

Many ancient cultures believed that Turquoise had mystical properties - it has been used to protect against demons and evil magic, as well as helping secure a safe journey to the afterlife.

Traditionally Turquoise symbolises prosperity, good fortune and success. It is the birthstone for December and the gemstone for 5^th and 11^th wedding anniverseries.

Place of originBack to top

Turquoise is found in many countries around the world. Large deposits were mined in the US by the Native Americans and it is still found in the Mojave Desert in California, New Mexico, Nevada and Colorado. Other important sources for Turquoise include Iran, which produces a wonderful sky-blue turquoise, Tibet, which has a more greenish hue, Australia and Siberia. Smaller deposits are found all around the world, from Cornwall to Egypt, Chile to China.

Technical informationBack to top