Can anyone help identify the locality of this beautiful blue hue turquoise?**
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Looks like a Kingman nugget (or Kingman seafoam - we had a discussion on this a bit ago on here) to me. Seafoam, nugget, matrix and all that
You may know this already, but Kingman comes from a mine in western AZ.
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Really has a nice look, could be a couple of different things. Did you polish the piece?
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Thank you very much! I cleaned it up and just anointed it with a little sandalwood oil
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Really? Thank you very much too! Yes I believe that’s the only mine that’s still producing turquoise in America in Arizona
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But I would listen to Jason over me. He’s the one with the most experience!!
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These are all nuggets from different Nevada mines, Bob Brucia’s book. Just gives you an idea of how hard to id stones.
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So the whole AZ turquoise is bluer and NV turquoise is greener should be taken with a grain of salt? Although I know that is just a generality. So interesting.
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Wow that is really Blue! Very Beautiful
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Wow it’s a difficult assignment!!
The 1st photo of the nugget with the belt really resembles the nugget pendant that I was trying to classify the best!! Wow
Thank you, that’s what zat’d out to me to go and purchase it
eeee i wouldnt deliberately oil turquoise - it can discolor over time. also, cushioning material under the stone (sometimes cardboard or sawdust) can swell and push a stone out of its setting. I wouldnt use anything more than a soft toothbrush or cloth to clean it, and not get it wet.
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@Jemez2 thank you very much for that tip because I recently bought a ring with some sleeping beauty( I believe ) and I was cleaning it in the sink and a stone popped right out with out any hard abrasion, luckily I managed to save it from going down the drain!! But like you said it swelled up and popped out!!!
Thank you for the oil heads up!! I won’t do that anymore!!
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Do you mind sharing what your reasoning was in putting oil on it?
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Also, I learned the hard way, don’t wash your hands while wearing your turquoise rings. The water will do the same thing that @Jemez2 mentioned. And… When you take them off to wash them, put them in your pocket. Not on the side of the sink. I’ve almost lost them that way.
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@OrbitOrange After a bathe I felt like it needed some moisturizer!
@Ziacat thank you for the heads up with that tip
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Ha. I’ll echo Jemez and Ziacat’s comments. Best to avoid getting your turquoise jewelry wet–not because of the turquoise itself, but because it’s often set with sawdust or cardboard behind it. Over time the expansion of these materials from getting wet can loosen the stone in it’s setting. Water itself is not bad for turquoise at all, nor is dryness. In fact, both of those things are what form turquoise in the first place. Turquoise forms from minerals dissolved in water trickling through host rocks in arid environments. Also, lapidarists usually cut turquoise wet because it helps prevent breakage. You mentioned the pretty blue color is part of what attracted you to the stone–if that’s the case you definitely want to avoid oils, which will discolor natural turquoise over time, usually turning it to a “greasy green” color. Stabilized turquoise won’t change color. I’m so particular about keeping soaps and oils off my natural turquoise that my four year old, who’s fascinated by my jewelry, knows “we can only touch it if it doesn’t have stones.”
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Great info @OrbitOrange! And yes the water just flattens down the sawdust. My mom’s very old earrings had a stone pop out and you could totally see the flattened old sawdust at the bottom.
With some of my pieces that have a lot of small stones, I’ve actually liked the stones that have changed color. One of them is an old Fred Harvey piece from the twenties, and the other is a cluster ring. I feel like it gives them personality.
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Yes, I like the color variation in old Zuni petit point and cluster work too. It shows that the stones are old and natural, and they’ve been worn and loved, and gives them character. And old greasy green stones are often beloved for the same reasons. But to me at least, knowing that an old natural stone changed color over time with continued wear is different than letting my soaps and lotions get all over the stones in my newer jewelry, many of which I picked because I liked the color of the turquoise. Also, I’ve heard that some people have intentionally rubbed oils and grease into turquoise to darken the color, especially in the pre-stabilization days. That’s why I asked the OP his intentions.
Also, I’ve definitely learned/almost learned your side of the sink tip the hard way! One time when I was at the Wheelwright there was actually a sign on the bathroom mirror saying something to the effect of “Did you remember your rings?”
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