The term “Zat” -
Is that a term specific to turquoise? What quality does it indicate? Is it a specific quality like translucence or is it an over all quality?
I am thinking it means something like it is all that. The stone stands alone, no matter what is said the stone looks gorgeous. I had never heard the term before that thread.
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“zat + turquoise” search results
seems to be along the same lines of sparkle, luster, gemmy in terms of ranking speak
Turquoise By Joe Dan Lowry page 190
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It’s about subjective experience rather than mineralogical facts. I bet that a given stone would be said to have zat by viewer A, but maybe not viewer B. I’ve wondered if it’s in fact a made-up, Arabic-sounding term for the American turquoise market, which took off in the 60s and 70s: does the word appear anywhere in US publications earlier than that? I must research.
So it’s a way to express that a turquoise stone has unusual beauty, pizzazz, and even mystical, in the sense of being especially captivating to the viewer.
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Persian roots
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@Steve Excellent! There we are. So, not made up but rather imported from the Persian trade, though that region’s aesthetics regarding turquoise differ dramatically from the US. Their zat wouldn’t include matrixed stones, for ex.
I’d still like to know how far back in US usage it goes; better check my Pogue (Turquois).
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And here I thought it was slang for “that”. As in, that indescribable quality.
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Thanks for researching this!
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team effort and we all learnt something today!
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I think it is used as slang in that context in things besides jewelery, at least I’ve heard it used so.
Interesting where words come from.
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Well, I’m late to this topic, but enjoyed it immensely and definitely learned something new. I will say I DO feel a little drunk after looking at a bunch of gorgeous turquoise - especially some of the stuff I’ve seen here. 
Just sayin’…
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First saw the term “Zat” used in an Arizona Highways magazine back in the early 70s. I believe the issue was the one with the article about “The New Traders”. I don’t remember them discussing the root word or language, but at that time it was used to describe turquoise stone that had a level of quality and beauty that just reaches out and grabs you.
Root word could be the German “Sat” pronounced “Zat”, which means satisfied or full.
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Interesting, that was the definition I posted above (sated, full).
This is just me, but all I can hear in my brain is “whazzat” like “whasup.” Doesn’t seem turquoisey to me 
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This has got to be a record for the most "Z"s ever used in one thread. 
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Full (German: voll) can also mean drunk. “Zat” is an odd term to apply to Turquoise in any case. Always seemed strange to me.
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whenever i hear someone refer to turquoise with “zat,” i always hear it with Zsa Zsa Gabor’s accent. 
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That’s so interesting! The definition I had posted also went on to say, “sated, full, as with an alcoholic beverage…” I Googled definition of zat, and it came up with this in Wiktionary. It does sound like a German word. Maybe somebody just liked the sound of “zat.”
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I like the idea of a word meant to describe the unique beauty of and human response to turquoise, so I’ve always been open to Zat. To me it’s like the beautiful word chatoyancy and its adjective chatoyant in gemology, about the light-reflectance quality of stones like tiger’s eye.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chatoyancy
Zat, though, is subjective vs. objective,… so in the end it functions I guess mostly as marketing. 
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