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Turquoise

$220.00 $214.99

Turquoise has been valued since antiquity.   Turquoise ranges in color from robin’s egg blue to greenish-blue blending the energies of heaven and earth.The copper content (it’s a copper aluminum phosphate mineral) helps give it its color. It crystallizes in the triclinic system and occurs as veins and nodules as a secondary mineral in the oxidized portions of copper deposits.

 

 

Locality: Kingman Mine, Kingman Arizona, USA

 

SKU: TUR2.

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TURQUOISE

 

HISTORY, NAME, LOCALITIES: Turquoise, pronounced TUR-coyz, has been valued as a gemstone since antiquity.  Its name stems from turkeis, a French word for Persian turquoise brought to Europe via Turkey that was mistakenly thought to have been mined in Turkey.  Important collecting localities are found in the United States (Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado), Australia, Chile, China, Democratic Republic of Congo, Russia, Iran, and Mexico.

 

MINERALOGY, PROPERTIES, OCCURRENCE: Turquoise [basic hydrous copper aluminum phosphate, CaAl6(PO4)4(OH)8·4H2O] crystallizes in the triclinic system and occurs as nodules, crusts, and veinlets.  It is opaque and ranges in color from sky-blue and robin’s-egg-blue to greenish-blue, bluish-green, green, bluish-white, and yellowish-green.  It has a Mohs hardness of 5.0-6.0, a waxy-to-dull luster, and a specific gravity of 2.6-2.8.  As a secondary mineral, turquoise forms in conditions of low temperature and low pressure by hydrothermal deposition in the shallow, oxidation zones of copper-rich deposits.  It occurs mainly in warm, arid climates.

 

METAPHYSICAL PROPERTIES, LORE, USES: One of the oldest known gem materials, turquoise was mined extensively by Native Americans in the Southwest.  As a very popular gemstone, it is fashioned into cabochons for use in pendants, necklaces, belt buckles, rings, and bolo-tie clasps.  Almost all turquoise gems have been treated or color-enhanced.  In metaphysical usage, turquoise is a powerful healing stone that helps overcome the fear of public speaking and enhances creativity, empathy, intuition, and happiness.

 

COLLECTORS’ INFORMATION: Turquoise is collected for its rarity, unusual forms, and association with such matrix minerals as quartz, limonite, and kaolinite.

SKU: TUR2

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