Blue Turquoise Jewelry

Blue turquoise has been coveted and sought after for its use in jewelry since the ancient Egyptians scoured the Arabian Desert searching for deposits of this treasured gemstone. Since then cultures all over the world have prized blue turquoise for its beauty and spiritual properties, and it has become increasingly featured in contemporary jewelry. Napoleon gifted his bride Empress Marie-Louise a crown of diamonds and blue turquoise from Persia.

Blue turquoise is formed when there is the presence of copper and the absence of iron in Mother Nature’s complex and delicate process that crafts turquoise over a million years. There is a broad range of hues seen in blue turquoise stones, ranging from pale sky blue to deep ocean blue to all sorts of delicious blue-green combinations.

Since we’re great lovers of turquoise in general, and turquoise jewelry in particular, we are periodically going to share great pictures we find of both. Today’s pic is of a stunning group of Kingman Turquoise cabochons (cabochon, for the uninitiated, means a polished finished gemstone), courtesy of Garlands Jewelry. Kingman Turquoise has been used by the Navajos in their jewelry since 600 AD when they starting harvesting from the legendary Kingman Turquoise open-pit mine in Arizona, and is recognized by its electric blue hues traced with black matrix, and is some of the best blue turquoise you’re likely to find. Very high-grade Kingman turquoise has a silver matrix, making for a stunning mixture of electric blue and silver, which makes for some truly gorgeous turquoise jewelry.