Hi all!
I have this bead necklace which we found in my deceased mother-in-law’s jewelry hoard. I have no idea where she got it, or how old it could be.
The color in the photos is accurate.
Does anyone care to take a guess at the origin of this turquoise?
I really have no idea. I’m about to shorten it, because it’s 24" long and I don’t like that length.
The beads measure about 9-10 mm.
Any opinions are welcome!
@Stracci “Jewelry hoard” makes me light-headed in a good way, lol. That’s a nice turquoise necklace. For once, this doesn’t look like Kingman turquoise to me. Some beads look a bit like Pilot Mountain but, that’s only a big guess. Turquoise in bead form makes it kinda extra challenging, imo.
Thanks @Patina
I don’t think Kingman, either. I’d love to know more about it.
MIL had a lot of jewelry. Mostly costume, some NA, and a little bit of fine jewelry.
Nice necklace.
Could there be a variety of turquoise? The dark, reddish brown matrix in some and the spiderwebbing in some make me think. The variety of colors, ranging from a greenish to robins egg blue also makes me think a variety of mines.
Hope others chime in.
Pretty! Probably Hubei, from a jewelry supply shop. I don’t know of US/Native made turquoise round beads, maybe other folks do.
@chicfarmer You could be right about Hubei.
She had an office job in the 70s-80s where she had to dress nice, and that’s maybe when she acquired some of this jewelry.
It’s the off-round shape of the beads that make me wonder.
@fernwood
I wondered about the color difference, too.
@Stracci Even though I didn’t mention this in my original post, I also think the beads look like different types of natural turquoise. Also, the not-perfectly-round beads make it look non-commercial made to me, if that makes any sense.
