First, I apologize for these photos. Ill take some better ones soon.
Thought I would share a scarce specimen of Number 8 from the 1950s. Some of my turquoise specimens are in the form of jewelry.
The Edgars unearthed this Number 8 looking for other things, and it turns out they dug up some of the better material to come out of the mine. I remember my uncle Buddy Culpepper walked into his house when I was visiting back in the 70s with a few rough pieces of this turquoise and exclaimed that this turquoise was going to be a part of his retirement program. He thought it was considered that special.
I love the chocolate matrix in this Number 8. Of drooling calibre in my never-to-be-humble opinion. This ring is sans any distracting ornamentation. Though If I had a do-over, I would make it lighter. Now, methinks it qualifies as brass knuckles. 29 grams of 14 K. Takes some getting used to for me.
@Bisquitlips Boy Howdy, that’s a beautiful turquoise cab! I especially appreciate the simplicity of the setting because it allows the turquoise to be the focal point. Thanks for sharing this info & photos.
Wowza @Bisquitlips! Your lucky wife😊. I agree a different setting would better showcase this wonderful cab.
I almost bought a vintage black web No. 8 turquoise ring from the C G Wallace collection a few years ago. Gene Waddell had several in the 2022 Heard Show brochure he mails yearly. I called them to hold a ring for me, but this was one of those situations where it didn’t live up to my exceptions when I saw it in person. The rings were quite a bit smaller than expected. Regardless, these are great vintage rings:
That is an absolutely beautiful stone! Thanks for sharing it. I’m not a huge fan of some of the newer Number 8 I’ve seen lately, but this is beautiful. To me this matrix is more of a golden brown, but maybe that’s just the lighting in your photo? I actually like your stone better than the ones that @Bmpdvm posted below (I think I like some warmth to the webbing versus stark black), although I prefer a silver setting.
You are correct Ziacat. In my experience the hallmark of the vintage #8 was the chocolate matrix with the upper grade but not deepest blue turquoise. Not the deeper blues and darker matrix, which started in the mid-60s and especially the limited mining of the late 70s and beyond…
Another characteristic of the older #8 was the light feather touch of iron staining you see on the turquoise dug closer to the surface of the mine in earlier years. It is very subtle, but always a dead giveaway to the older 50s and prior turquoise. You can see a smidgen of it on the left side of my 2nd photo.
It is also the iron that gives the matrix a lot of its chocolate coloring. Hence, the darker matrix in the deeper turquoise.
