Hello Forum!
I have this pendant from my Greek great grandmother that im trying to identify if the stone is turquoise. I have many other examples of jewelry that contain turquoise, but this example is unusual to me. Id value any feedback.
Thanks, Ares
Could you include a photo of the hallmarks?
The pin is 14k gold. These are known as Greek protective eye pins. That’s my limited information. I can’t get a true translation since I don’t have the Greek alphabet on my tablet. Hope this helps.
Thank you for your contributions. The translation to my knowledge reads “To Life”. Im familiar with the evil eye of protection. Im more curious to know if the stone in the center is Afghanistan turquoise.
I was hoping to learn more from the marks. Being continental there is a better chance it is Middle Eastern turquoise. It could also be sleeping beauty. A non-destructive elemental analysis compared to known examples might narrow it down.
A bit off topic, and not much to add here except the Greek “Na Zheh” sounds like the word “Naja”, which symbol and nomenclature the Navajos inherited from the Spanish, who inherited the word from the Moors, and which in those traditions was also protective against the “evil eye”.
I find myself wondering if it was originally an Arabic word adopted by the Greeks, or vice versa.
ETA: The ‘stone’ looks like turquoise colored art glass to me.
I was just about to comment on that @mmrogers . The stamping is typical 20th century and after seeing the back I agree with you.
this test will break it down without breaking it.
What is XRF (X-ray fluorescence) and How Does it Work?. Thermo Fisher Scientific
below is a Nishapuri Feroza stone
https://youtu.be/n1VqPNgNRoU?si=94suqsg_FSuwGE2Z
google image search results <<<<<<<click
I thought about the possibility of the stone being colored glass, but there are no indications of paint peeling. Also, if it were colored glass i would expect there to be additional detail of the eye pupil on the stone. Which is to be expected among Greek evil eye Jewelry. Atleast from all the other examples of evil eye jewelry i have.
On the other hand, the stone seems too flawless to be tourqoise. And the mid blue shade of color seems inconsistent with other examples of tourqoise.
this is a nice toy to have 
still waiting for the day I stumble into one at GW or an estate sale.
I’ve personally cut a lot of turquoise. At one time we had our own in house cutting shop. Without a physical examination of the material in your pin it’s impossible to say exactly what it is, but I’m very confident the material in your pin is not turquoise.
The Feroza stone looks like a good possibility for the stone in my pendant. Although, the stone in my pendant seems like a darker shade than other examples of Feroza I’ve found on the internet.
