Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Turquoise
绿松石 (Market (The southwestern US is the world’s largest…
Turquoise
绿松石
Color
Color Range: Dull grays and yellows to grass greens to a bright, medium-toned, sky blue.
Finest Color: An intense, uniform, medium blue
"Persian Blue": Traditional source color, robin's-egg blue or sky blue, from the Nishapur district of Iran
- Any greenish color tends to lower value.
- In any turquoise hue, an even distribution of color is preferable
- The color in some turquoise is unstable --> More porous the turquoise, the more likely it is to absorb foreign substances that can spoil its color
-
Texture
A cryptocrystalline aggregate of microscopic crystals that form a solid mass. --> Close crystal formation, less porous and finer texture
-
Matrix
-
Stones with no matrix at all command the highest prices. Gems with attractive spiderweb matrix rank second in value.
Treatment
-
Most comment treatment (Relatively Stable):
- Soak in the melted wax (previous method)
- Soak in Colorless oil or polymer plastic (current)
The Zachery Treament
- Appeared in the late 1980s
- Result: better color, less porosity, can take better polish, also stable results
Market
The southwestern US is the world’s largest producer of turquoise, while China’s Hubai Province is the major source of its top color.
The largest, most consistent turquoise market is the American Southwest.
Today’s sources: China, Egypt, Chile, and new sources in the US and Iran.
2 Types of Consumer Market:
- Mass produced, inexpensive sliver jewelry
- Top quality jewellery with fine design
The supply is stable and plentiful, and price is reasonable
Synthetics & Imitations
It’s important to be on the lookout for plastic turquoise imitations, which are common in the market.
Gilson synthetic turquoise
- semi-translucent to opaquea
- light to medium blue color, often with an artificial-looking, charcoal gray matrix that resembles the spiderweb pattern
- Reconstructed turquoise: An imitation made of a mixture of powdered minerals, dyed & bonded with plastic or epoxy resin.
- Variscite: Neveda or California turquoise
- Chrysocolla-in-chalcedony: strongly resemble turquoise
Cut
Most often cut into cabochons, but it might also be cut into beads or flat pieces for inlays.
Turquoise is relatively soft, so it’s ideal for carving
Turquoise is judged by
its color, texture, and matrix.
-