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Turquoise – the sacred stone

For thousands of years the ancient Persians exported Turquoise to the world, was very popular and demand that this day is still huge this demand is so great that an industry in the entire developed world has not only mine, but to imitate and reproduce it as well.
The precious stone turquoise is the official stone for December and is also used to celebrate five years of marriage. Originally Persia (Iran) was the most important source of turquoise, but is now virtually mined out; good sources of the stone include Afghanistan, Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, Mexico, Russia, Tanzania and Turkestan. The best material comes when the Sleeping Beauty mine in Arizona.

The color of turquoise can vary from deep blue to blue / green green dark green blue yellow one. The impurities in the gemstone to give it the color of turquoise, copper is responsible for its blue color while iron gives the stone a green tint.
Persian turquoise was less porous than most of the material removed today and was meaning less tractable than bought natural gemstones, untreated. Turquoise sleeping beauty mines, however, are very porous and are often impregnated with a resin or coated with wax to leave the material deformation and improve appearance and general coloration, this treatment is known as stabilized Turquoise.
Tinted or colored turquoise is another way to improve the color of the materials, oil, paraffin and copper salt will improve the stones color and luster, but are only temporary solutions, such treatments as a result what is known as a more turquoise.

Natural turquoise can be very expensive and for this reason many different imitations are available on the market today. Glass imitation turquoise has been present since the time Victorian and can be difficult to distinguish from natural turquoise, sometimes you get lucky and see air bubbles near the surface that you can discard it. Enamel has also been used to imitate turquoise, but has a much higher gloss than the original material.

The precious stone turquoise has long been believed to be a stone magic that connects spiritual awareness and develops inner strength and calm. Turquoise has always been used as a natural protection against the powers of darkness, even now used as a stone of protection of pilots and air crews and many other occupations considered high risk.
The Indians of North America still produce a lot of silver jewelry with turquoise traditional type, and we believe that the gemstone opens a connection between the sky and sea.
Navajo Indians have had a long love affair with the turquoise or skystone referring to the stone, believing that using the stone offers them good fortune. Some spiritual ceremonies are held in turquoise into a river to help bring rain to their land. Ancient manuscripts from Persia report that the health of a person wearing turquoise can be assessed by variations in the color of the stone. Turquoise is also believed healthy emotions and improving communication and creativity.
Turquoise is the national gemstone of Iran (Persia) and is used to decorate the floats. Montezuma's treasure, which is displayed in the British Museum, includes a carved serpent covered by wonderful a mosaic of turquoise.

Turquoise has a hardness of 5.6 Mohs scale, with a conchoidal fracture which means it is a fragile stone can collapse, and scratch easily. Unlike other gemstones, turquoise may darken and turn slightly green with age. Due to the porosity of the stone may lose its color when in contact with detergents, grease or perspiration.
If you wear a turquoise ring, you should always be removed before washing hands and sweat should be cleaned thoroughly with water.
Turquoise Jewelry should always be stored in a cooler, dark tissue paper acid free, away from other jewelry that may cause damage.

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