Turquoise is a beautiful precious stone that makes exquisite silver turquoise jewelry. Chemically it’s a combination of aluminum and phosphates with a small amount of copper oxide, from which it gets its blue color, and iron, calcium, zinc and manganese oxide. The gem’s green color arises from the iron or aluminum and yellow from zinc. Green is the most common color for turquoise gems, and furthermore blue gems frequently transform into green if exposed to light for a long time. Different blends of these elements give turquoise its range of colors, with the most highly valued being those with a deep blue color and yellow gemstones having the least value. The finest quality gems, for instance Persian turquoise, usually don’t change color and keep their gorgeous blue color for a long time.
Some stones have a main color with the surface marked by a spider web pattern of lines of different colors. This is caused by uneven distribution of the various elements present in the precious stone and the marks can be black, yellow or brown in lots of patterns. However unmarked stones are more highly prized than those with a spider web matrix while turquoise stonse of a deep blue color, even though they have a spider web matrix, are more sought after than yellow or green pure colored stones. Natural turquoise gems of a pure color, i.e. those which are not marked with spider web matrix, are much rarer and are extremely highly prized.
Turquoise Treatments
Around 10% of turquoise used in jewelry is natural, high quality gemstone. Over 90% is processed from rough, soft turquoise to make it hard enough for use. The treatment also increases durability and develops the color of the gems. Turquoise that comes from a few countries, China for example, is much too soft and needs to be treated. Nevertheless the procedure yields attractive gemstones, which, although less valuable than unprocessed stones, nevertheless make fantastic jewelry. These procedures enhance the color of the gems as well as making them tougher which gives them a longer life. A procedure that is used to improve the color consists of injecting a dye in epoxy resin into the gemstone. The color is durable and will remain unchanged. Turquoise from China is toughened by injecting stones with liquid plastic. An additional method is to inject epoxy resin alone that will harden the gemstone but will not change the color.
Simulated turquoise is also made from powdered turquoise in liquid plastic. This type of turquoise is obviously very cheap. These fake gems may perhaps be sold as natural turquoise and are often waxed or plastic coated.
Taking Care of Turquoise Gemstones
Turquoise is both soft and porous so needs to be looked after carefully. It must never be worn when it can become scratched and ought to be shielded from impact always. Never wear turquoise jewelry when you are gardening or washing up! Store turquoise jewelry in a box that is lined with soft material and never store with other, harder gemstones which may possibly damage the gems. Turquoise gems can soak up liquids so do not let them come into contact with hot water, oils, chemicals and even perfumes and cosmetics. These may be absorbed by the gem which will become dull and may change color. Turquoise can be cleaned with very mild soapy water and drying gently with a soft cloth. Make certain it is thoroughly dried before putting it away and on no account use ultrasonic jewelry cleaners which may cause cracking of the stone.
In Conclusion
Turquoise is an exquisite, attractive precious stone which is rare and highly prized. While it does have a few disadvantages in that it needs to be taken great care of and a number of the blue stones can change to green over time, it makes magnificent silver turquoise jewelry as the lovely blue color is perfectly complemented by the silver.
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