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Turquoise Facts and History
Turquoise and Turquoise Jewelry have been highly desireable for many, many centuries by people all over the world. This Turquoise facts section of the site will help you find the locations of mines and sources of Turquoise. Most Turquoise deposits are in arid to semi-arid regions in igneous rock formations that contain high copper concentrations. Deposits of Turquoise can be found in America, Afghanistan, Africa, Armenia, Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, Egypt, Europe, Iran, Israel, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Russia, Siberia, Tanzania, and Turkey. American Turquoise FactsThere are Turquoise deposits in Arizona, California, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah and Virginia. High Grade American Turquoise is of the greatest value around the world, second to none. American Turquoise has adorned many wonderful pieces of jewelry, sterling silver jewelry and gold jewelry alike. Turquoise Jewelry has adorned many people, from many countries for thousands of years. American Turquoise specimens are usually cut with the matrix in them, a good cutter tries to create a picture in the cabochon, the stones have black, white or brown matrices. Many times cutters around the world try to cut Turquoise from other countries and sell it as American Turquoise. The Arizona copper mines-These mines are famous for many exquisite mineral specimens, including Turquoise. Virginia-Miners found the first examples of crystalline Turquoise in Virginia in 1911, but Virginia has never been a source for much gem turquoise. Pre-Columbian America Middle East - Persian Turquoise FactsThe major sources are in the Sinai Peninsula and Iran. Iran-The finest of the worlds Turquoise specimens come from the deposits in Northeastern Iran. The stones from here have the much sought after Robins Egg Blue with few or now streaks and are among the most valuable opaque gemstones. To no surprise Turquoise is the national gem of Iran. Sinai Peninsula-The Egyptians began mining Turquoise and making turquoise jewelry here as early as 5500 BC. This section is intended to uncover references in history to gems,
gemstones, minerals, crystals, precious metals and semi-precious stones
and to investigate the role they played in the development of the
cultures in which they were utilized. We believe examples of royal
jewelry and ancient jewelry from anthropology, sociology and archaeology
from the ancient societies of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome and
especially the work of Pre-Columbian American cultures of the North
American Indians, Aztecs, Mayans, and Incans to be of craftsmanship
that has not been equaled since. Where possible in our history of
jewelry, weve tried to include methods of manufacture, materials
and technology. From the bible, commerce, celestial beliefs to modern
crystal collecting. The Bible-The book of Exodus contains an important reference to Turquoise.
The Breastplate of the Hebrew High Priest Aaron contained twelve stones
set in four rows. Turquoise was the first stone on the second row. Asia - Chinese and Tibetan TurquoiseBy the middle of the first millennium, AD, China had begun using Turquoise and although they had mines in their empire, they imported most of their stones from Persians, the Turks, the Tibetans and Mongols. Chinese turquoise and Tibetan Turquoise is now one of most common varieties of turquoise on the market today. Much of the turquoise jewelry that you will see today in markets and galleries features Tibetan turquoise or Chinese turquoise. Japans use of Turquoise began in the 18th Century AD and has prospered greatly. Today the Japanese are some of the great collectors of turquoise and have been known to pay whatever it costs for the best, as the collectors only want the best turquoise, usually high grade Natural American Turquoise and Native American Turquoise Jewelry. Europe Jewelry
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Created by Durango Silver Company 2009