SLEEPING BEAUTY TURQUOISE JEWELRY

The Mine

The Sleeping Beauty mine is located outside of Globe, Arizona and produces blue to light blue turquoise with little to no matrix. Mined from its granite host rock, the Sleeping Beauty mine yields only a small amount of high quality turquoise, making it much more rare and valuable than the larger quantity of lower-grade turquoise it also produces. With the preponderance of turquoise enhanced (often called "stabilized") from the Sleeping Beauty mine, the value placed on the high grade rises. Sleeping Beauty Turquoise is one of the most highly revered and sought after stone, because of its light pale-blue color. The difference between this and other blue turquoise stones is that these turquoise pieces display little-to-no veins within the gem that is common for other types of turquoise. One of the main sources for this type of stone in America is actually Arizona's own Sleeping Beauty Mine.

 

The History

The turquoise inside the Sleeping Beauty Mine was discovered completely by accident. The mine was actually struck to find an expected copper and gold deposit, until fairly recently, turquoise was never found. The reason that this stone has been utilized by artisans in their turquoise jewelry for years is because of its durability. Not only is this stone stunningly beautiful and one pure color, but it's also stable enough for a thorough polishing and can be used in jewelry pieces without any need for stabilization.

 

The Stone Today

One of the best features of this mine is that it's open to the public to visit. People can try their hand at mining for the beautiful stone for themselves. The value of these gems can only increase as their supply is quickly dwindling from the mine; the Arizona mine barely produces enough to meet the yearly commercial demand. Many other mines along the Southwest region of the use continue to become depleted, while this mine continues to produce beautiful pieces that are coveted by artisans for their jewelry.