Turquoise Used in Native American Indian Jewelry

Turquoise comes in all shades of blue, to blue-green, with a possible shading towards brown-veined greens. Matrix (veining) may or may not be present in any color(s). It is the natural variations in turquoise that make it appealing. The color of turquoise in American Indian jewelry ranges from brownish green to bright blue.

Found in veins sandwiched in between layers of mother rock, the turquoise can show some of the influence of the mother rock in its matrix or veining. The matrix colors range from blue to golden brown to black and sometimes with golden flecks (sometimes called "fools gold" or iron pirite) which is very desirable.

The more blue, the higher the copper content. The more green, the higher the iron content.

Sometimes turquoise is cut so that it takes some of the mother rock with it. This is referred to as "Boulder Turquoise" and happens to be very popular right now as it shows great contrast between the turquoise and the rock which surrounded it.

Not All Turquoise is Created Equal

If you are looking at two turquoise bracelets one at $30 and the other at $500, what is the difference? Well, there are many uses and misuses of the word turquoise.

Natural Turquoise is a stone that has not been altered in any way. It is the way it was found in nature. Natural Turquoise looks very real and beautiful but, over time, when exposed to light, sweat, perfume, makeup, oils and detergents, it can deteriorate (crumble) and lose its color or change color to a pale green. It can also lose its structural stability and crumble and crack. To deal with these problems, methods have been developed to preserve turquoise. Manufacturers and dealers use the following terms in a non-standard fashion, so if you are ever in doubt when purchasing a turquoise item, you should ask about the origin of the turquoise and its treatment.

Enhanced usually refers to a natural stone that has been treated with electrical currents that hardens the stone and enhances the color. Nothing else is done to the stone. Enhanced turquoise should not change color over time.

Stabilized turquoise has been impregnated with an acrylic or epoxy to harden the stone and enhance the color. Almost all turquoise used for heishi necklaces and fetish carvings is stabilized because otherwise the heishi would quickly fade and break.

Compressed stones have been hardened by extreme pressure.

Fracture-Sealing uses resin or polymer to harden the matrix in the stone. (Matrix is other minerals mixed in the turquoise or portions of the "mother rock" in which the turquoise formed. Matrix appears in the turquoise as uneven areas of brown or black).

Artificial or Imitation Turquoise - There are a number of manufactured turquoise products, some of which look like real stone and others that look like plastic. Some minerals, like howlite, can be dyed to look like turquoise.

Synthetic and Lab Grown Turquoise have the same chemical composition and physical look of natural turquoise.

Block Turquoise is manufactured in blocks and is made to look like turquoise. It may be all plastic polymer or it may have crushed or powdered turquoise or other stone mixed with resin or polymer. Block Turquoise sometimes has swirls or blobs of dark dye added to simulate the look of matrix.

Some of the turquoise mines in the US:

Bisbee (Cochise County, Arizona) Deep blue color with smoky black matrix.

Blue Diamond (central Nevada) operated from the late 1950’s to 1980. This stone typically has dark smoky swirls with brilliant blue windows.

Candelaria (Northern Nevada) A small depleted (closed) mine. Stones have luminous quality.

Carico Lake (Lander County, Nevada) Blue and green.

Cripple Creek (Teller County, Colorado) Green and blue with brown matrix; by-product of gold mining.

Dry Creek (Battle Mountain, Nevada) Pale blue or white because no heavy metals are in the ground where it forms. Also called Sacred Buffalo Turquoise because the White Buffalo is a very sacred and rare buffalo. Read more...

EASTER BLUE An old Nevada mine owned and operated by Danny and Dean Otteson. It is located in Nye County near the Royston turquoise area. In was opened in 1907 and produces turquoise from surface and underground mines. The turquoise is hard, of fine quality and a rich blue color with beautiful matrix.

Fox Turquoise mine (Lander County, Nevada) discovered in the early 1900’s, was once Nevada’s largest producer of green or blue-green turquoise with a distinctive matrix. The different sites of Fox deposits were developed using the names of Fox, White Horse, Green Tree, and Smith to differentiate among the colors of turquoise produced. The Fox mine is now closed.

Kingman (Mohave County, Arizona) Blue stones with white matrix sometimes dyed black.

King's Manassa (Conejos County, Colorado) is best known for its brilliant greens and golden and brown non-webbed matrices, but blue and blue-green stone is found there as well. This site, east of the town of Manassa, was originally mined by Ancestral Pueblo peoples. It was rediscovered in 1890 by gold prospector I.P. King, and his descendants still work the claim.

Lander Blue (Lander County, Nevada) The rarest of all Southwest US turquoise; high grade and most valuable.

Lone Mountain (Esmeralda County, Nevada) Deep blue stones with fine spider webs.

Morenci (Greenlee County, Arizona) Blue color with "Fool's Gold" (iron pyrite) matrix.

Number Eight (Carlin, Nevada) Exceptional spiderweb turquoise with the matrix ranging from golden brown to almost black, but a deep golden webbing is most characteristic.

Royston turquoise mine district (Nye County, Nevada) consists of several mines including Royston, Royal Blue, Oscar Wehrend and Bunker Hill. Discovered in 1902 it is the oldest patented mine in Nevada. Royston turquoise is known for its beautiful deep green to rich light blue colors in the same formation and the stones are often two-tone, displaying both dark and light green and sometimes blue. It has a heavy matrix ranging from dark brown to gold in color. Royston turquoise is considered very collectible.

Sleeping Beauty (Globe in Gila County, Arizona) Uniform blue turquoise that is easily matched and cut. Often clear but sometimes with white matrix that is dyed black.

Pilot Mountain (Esmeralda County, Nevada) Blue and green stones with dark brown, reddish or black matrices.

Turquoise Mountain (Mohave County, Arizona) Blue and green.

Stormy Mountain (Elko County, Nevada) Dark blue with black matrix looking like blotches.

White Buffalo Turquoise comes from only one mine in Nevada owned by the Otteson family. Absence of copper in the stone causes it to have no blue color so it is white turquoise with black or brown inclusions, or both. Some pieces are partially blue. Some unscrupulous dealers pass off died magnesite or howlite as White Buffalo Turquoise.

Turquoise is the birthstone of December and is thought to bring good fortune, strength and helps overcome illness.

The Navajo consider turquoise to bring good fortune and appease the Wind Spirit.

The Zuni believe blue turquoise is male and of the sky and green turquoise is female and of the earth.

Hopi legend tells of the lizard who travels between the above and the below, excretes turquoise. This stone can hold back floods.