Turquoise

Turquoise is a blue, blue-green or grey-green opaque gemstone typically found in dry, and arid regions where acidic, copper-rich groundwater percolates the stone and reacts with phosphorus and aluminium, which results in the formation of turquoise nodules and veins. Copper particles give turquoise its distinctive blue colour; greenish hues are usually caused by either iron pollutants or dehydration. Depending on the rock in which turquoise develops, it may be interspersed with a matrix of spidery veins – dark and brown for limonite, or beige for sandstone. Occasionally, one can find turquoise speckled with bits of pyrite. Turquoise has a rather porous structure due to its polycrystalline nature. Smoother and sleeker stones are more valuable; their durability is also higher.

Many Names

Turquoise is the oldest ornamental stone in documented history. The turquoise beads found in Egypt and areas of modern Mesopotamia date back to 4,000 BC. Ancient Egyptians called it ‘mefkat’, meaning ‘joy’ or ‘delight’. Aztecs referred to it as ‘chalchihuitl’, which translates literally as ‘heart of the earth’. The modern English name for turquoise comes from the thirteenth century French expression ‘pierre turquoise’ that refers to the Turkish mines from which the European turquoise came from.

Mined for Millennia

Ascribed to turquoise’s prehistoric origins, it is difficult to verify its first emergence. Archeological excavations carried out in the region of Spahievo in Southern Bulgaria suggest existence of turquoise ore fields from the fifth millennium BC. Ancient Egyptians quarried the mineral since the Bronze Age. Two localities in the Sinai Peninsula, Wadi Maghareh and Serabit el-Khadim are presumed to be the oldest known mines in which the turquoise was extracted. Persia has been one of the most important sources of the gem since at least the first century AD. Nishapur province in northeastern Iran is where the most desirable robin’s egg blue colour of turquoise comes from.

Better than Gold

Visually attractive and relatively soft, turquoise has been prized for centuries as an excellent medium for carved jewelry and objets d’art. The Aztecs created elaborate mosaics using turquoise mixed with gold, jade and seashells. According to a sixteenth-century conquistador and author named Bernal Díaz del Castillo, turquoise was valued above gold in the Aztec Empire; it was believed that it was the god Quetzalcoatl who taught Mesoamericans how to cut and polish the stone. Divine parentage was also attributed to turquoise in ancient Egypt: sky goddess Hathor was often commonly referred to as ‘Lady of Turquoise’. The mineral was often fashioned into animal figures representing various deities. Unquestionably, the most impressive example of Egyptian craftsmanship in turquoise that has survived to this day is the burial mask of pharaoh Tutankhamun, inlaid with rows of the chiseled blue stone. The first recorded use of turquoise by Native Americans dates back to the year 1,000. Extracted from the rocks of Mount Chalchihuitl in New Mexico, turquoise was used as a currency and talisman. The Apaches cherished turquoise and believed it could help improve one’s archery skills.

Contemporary Demand

In the modern era, following a short-lived resurgence in popularity during the counterculture movements in the 1960s, turquoise remains in rather medium demand. As of 2019, the American Southwest endures to be its biggest market.