I further looked up Blackjack Turquoise online. Overall I prefer more traditional looking turquoise, but it is pretty dang cool looking. Some of it I totally would have thought was from a Chinese mine, especially when it gets that olivey look with black. Like this one…
This was kind of a fun video about it. https://youtu.be/XxddpxSnoPQ?si=Am_5xuNrs8S_H7qF
Gotta admit this Blackjack certainly fits the polychrome catagory. Should have known it’s the Ottesons! But most of it, especially the yellowish-orange, is not, as they say, my “cup of tea”. The darker lime colored pieces, however, are truly yummy!
I agree, I don’t like all of it. But I really like the ones with the black and turquoise. That square black one with the diagonal turquoise lines running all through it at the back of the picture that you just posted, is the one I really like. That would be so cool in a cuff.
I love the last bunch with all the black, too.
Sure looks similar to what is in my grandmothers old cuff, I’ve never been able to figure out what turquoise it is (she bought it when I was tiny, so it’s relatively old)
@Ziacat I agree that black square cab would be killer set in silver!! And @fernwood, are those in the last photo considered boulder cut. They are sure unusual! I’ve never been a fan of boulder turquoise, but recently found a cab that is speaking to me:
That is a really cool stone! And I don’t usually prefer boulder turquoise either. I think what I read recently is it’s just a generic term for any turquoise that is in a ribbon in host rock, but it usually is Royston. I think sometimes I’ve heard things referred to as Royston Boulder turquoise. I have to see if I can find that article. Or maybe we talked about it on here?
That’s in your Avatar photo isn’t it? What a cool bracelet. I don’t know what that would be either; I think Blackjack is a newer mine.
That makes sense @Ziacat. I read somewhere it was sourced in northern Nevada, so Royston makes sense. The ribbon or boulder cab I posted is from a new mine I just learned about, Stone Mountain. It’s another northern Nevada mine. They refer to it as boulder- cut Stone Mountain turquoise. Likely the Ottesons were the first to market their Royston boulder turquoise. Makes me wonder if other mines will be following their lead.
You’re correct - her cuff purchase predates (from what I can tell) the opening of the Blackjack mine by at least 10 years, and who knows when it was made. I just like it because it’s very different, it gets it’s own share of comments when I wear it.
I think the name boulder turquoise came about the same as boulder opal.
Here is an excerpt from an Australia mining compay regarding boulder opal.
Boulder opals, as the name suggests, are mined from large ironstone boulders under the ground. Thin veins of colourful opal forms in cracks and fissures in these boulders. Because these veins of colour are so thin, opal cutters need to leave the ironstone on the back of the opal to form a full sized stone.
I posted some boulder opal that my Australian niece sent me in the non-turquoise stones thread.
I need to throw up a different aspect. This is my Bisbee Boulder cuff but it was a much earlier version and you can see how they cut the stone across the veins of turquoise rather than showing a ribbon. I love the heart shaped vein.
Great cuff! I had Pilot Mountain jump in my head when I first saw this cuff. You know Id is a guess and after a lot of years it’s even more so, but I thought I would put it out there.
Look at the new pictures of the concho belt that GT75 just added. Similar colors but newer. Now he’s thinking Royston. I’m still leaning towards Pilot Mountain. Either way it’s a great cuff and was your Grandmother’s.
Just Wow @Islandmomma! That’s an incredible Bisbee cab & cuff. I’m only familiar with Royston Boulder/Ribbon turquoise. Seeing Bisbee Boulder turquoise is a delight 🩵. Thanks for posting it.
Hope Jason can bring in his expertise, he seems to be very knowledgeable in that Royston vs Pilot Mountain domain. Surely my belt stones count as multicolor turquoise.
Hopefully @Jason will chime in. Either way your belt has beautiful stones! Great belt!
I know it’s fun to try to figure it out, but you may never know for sure. And in the end as long as you love the turquoise that’s what matters.
I’ve thought about this and I believe this is the first time I’ve heard the term “polychrome turquoise”. Had anyone previous heard of the term used for turquoise? When I did a search for the term what I found was two colored turquoise with a third (+/- a fourth) color matrix.
I know in pueblo pottery it’s typically used to describe more than two colors of clay paint used to decorate a vessel…as opposed to two colors, “black on white” or “black on red”:
Example of black on white:
I had never heard/read it before either. I think @chicfarmer makes sense in saying that it’s most likely a marketing term. I was just watching a Durango Silver YouTube video on Royston (the video was about 7 years old), and the gentleman on the video was talking about blue and green Royston (in the same stone), he called it a fade from blue to green, but he said some people refer to it as polychrome. Weird that I just happened to watch that video today.
Love your pottery! Especially the top one.
