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| Natural Turquoise Overview: | |
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Turquoise is a non-translucent stone whose most valuable specimens are a robin’s egg blue or deep-blue azure. Most of these fine specimens come from Iran and indicate the presence of copper within the stone. Less precious stones come from North America and are greener (from iron) than the Persian stones. North American specimens also contain impurities that form matrix streaks within the stones. The veins are inclusions from nearby rock fragments or oxides and form during the creation of Turquoise. As mentioned above these veins can contain sandstones, limonite, malachite, chrysocolla jaspers or psilomelane. The veins in some stones interlock in patterns to form "spider-web" turquoise. |
| Legend and Lore: | |
| Turquoise is a vibrant light blue stone often seen in southwestern jewellery. Turquoise has been thought to warn the wearer of danger or illness by changing color and also believed to bring happiness and good fortune to all and also helps in the initiation of new projects. Legend has it that the Indians believed, that if Turquoise was affixed to a bow, the arrows shot from it would always hit their mark. Turquoise is found in the United States, Australia, Chile, Iran, Mexico and Tibet and is one the birthstones for the zodiac sign of Capricorn, with the other one being Zircon. | |
| Physical Properties: | |
Color:
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sky blue, bluish-green, pale green |
Refractive Index:
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1.61 - 1.65 |
Pleochroism:
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Weak to Moderate Depending on Color |
Chemistry:
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Hydrous copper aluminum phosphate |
Hardness:
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5 - 6 |
Density:
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2.6 to 2.8 |
Crystal Group:
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triclinic |
Occurrence:
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Australia, Chile, Iran, Mexico, Tibet, USA |
