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You
probably thought that the name of the stone, “turquoise” comes
from its color. If so,
you’ll be surprised to find out that the word
"turquoise" actually means "Turkish stone"
because it was brought to Europe on the trade route that went via
Turkey. Turquoise has
been a popular gem for so long that the deposits in Sinai were
already worked out by 4000 B.C.
Even back then, turquoise was used for jewelry. Today,
much of the turquoise we use in North American comes from either the
USA or China. Some
authorities believe that the best turquoise comes from north east
Iran, (called Persian turquoise) while others feel that the best
comes from the Sleeping Beauty Mine in Arizona.
The color of Sleeping Beauty turquoise – a pale robin’s
egg blue – is sometimes referred to as “Persian color” and
because of its color and clarity, is a favorite. Turquoise
comes in three colors and several
types of clarity. You
will find natural turquoise in sky blue, blue-green and apple green. Most turquoise has markings called “turquoise matrix”.
The matrix can be brown, dark gray or black and can be
spider-web like, lumpy, etc. Very
little turquoise can be found without matrix.
Sleeping Beauty is one of these which usually has no matrix.
Normally, the more clear the stone and the less matrix, the
more expensive it is although prices do vary, of course. Since most
turquoise in its natural state is porous, fragile and highly
susceptible to color-change from light, oils, cosmetics,
perspiration, water and detergents, it’s a good idea when you are
buying turquoise to ask if your turquoise is natural, stabilized,
re-constituted, synthetic, compressed, fracture-sealed and/or
enhanced. Natural
means
that it has not been altered from its natural state in any way
(other than cutting it into various shapes).
Stabilized
means that resin, acrylic or epoxy has been used to
harden the stone and darken the color.
Stabilized stone maintains its color and is therefore an
important point to consider if you are matching it with clothing or
other jewelry, or if you just simply like the color. Re-constituted
means that bits and pieces of the natural stone have
been crushed and pressed together
with paste so they appear to be a whole stone.
Re-constituted stone is more economical than other turquoise
and often looks just as good. Synthetic/Lab
grown
stones are man-made but the stones have the same chemical
composition and physical characteristics of the natural stone.
These are usually less expensive than the natural stone. Compressed
turquoise has been hardened by the use of pressure. Fracture-sealed
turquoise
has been treated with a sealer which hardens the matrix in the
turquoise. Enhanced
means
that the stone has been treated electrochemically to enhance the
color and harden the stone. These
stones won’t change color over time. Because
the color in natural turquoise is so easily changed, you should take
off turquoise jewelry
when you are swimming, bathing or washing dishes.
If you wear make-up, be careful of getting it on your
turquoise. At 482 degrees F (250 C), sky blue changes to a dull green,
so if you work anywhere where you may be exposed to this degree of
heat, don’t wear your turquoise to work.
Leaving your jewelry in the hot sun for extended periods of
time can also affect the color due to the long periods of bright
light. Because of
all this, you must take certain precautions when cleaning your
turquoise jewelry. Normally,
I clean my silver with toothpaste, which is a wonderful cleaner for
silver. However,
toothpaste can damage turquoise quite a bit so if you get a soft
cotton polishing cloth, available from nearly any jewelry supplier
such as those I’ve used as references here, you can clean your
silver with minimal damage to the turquoise. Try to touch the turquoise as little as possible and if it
needs a bit of polishing, use a clean soft cotton cloth. The polishing cloths are treated with chemicals so you need
to use an untreated cloth for the turquoise itself. There are also other cleaners around. I found a good one called Jewelry and Gemstone Cleaner,
Made in USA. Unfortunately,
the jar has no brand name or any other identifying feature. It’s a green liquid in a jar with a little brush in a
“basket” inside. It
works very well with no damage to any gems.
I’ve also seen recommendations for a cleaner called MAAS
but haven’t tried it myself. Despite
all these cautions, turquoise is still one of the most popular and
beautiful semi-precious stones.
With proper care, you can easily keep yours looking beautiful
for a lifetime. Do
enjoy!! Linda
Sereda References: Gemstones
of the World, Walter Schumann Thunderbird
Supply Company Jewelry Source Catalog 2006 Indian
Jewelers Supply Co., Materials Catalog, Volume 3, 2005-2007 Fire
Mountain Gems and Beads Gemstone and Precious Metals Catalog
2006-2007 |