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Turquoise
"If cold December gave you birth, the month
of snow and ice and mirth, place on your hand a
Turquoise blue; success will bless whate'er you do".
Unknown Author, Pamphlet Published by Tiffany
& Co. (1870)
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The Aztecs
began mining Turquoise in Mexico
around 900 AD and created elaborate
mosaic masks like the one pictured
above |
Despite its long history, Turquoise wasn't
always called Turquoise. In Persian, the gem is
called 'ferozah', which means 'victorious', and
until the 13th century in Europe it
was called 'calläis' (beautiful stone), probably
from the Roman gem names 'callainos' or 'callaina'.
While some mineralogists and gemstone authors
think these names represented our Turquoise
during antiquity, others disagree. Like so many
ancient gem names, the truth is probably lost to
the sands of time. Even its modern name,
Turquoise, is a bit of a misnomer. When Venetian
merchants brought the gem to France, it was
called 'pierre turquois' (Turkish Stone),
despite its Persian not Turkish origin. Today,
the name 'Turquoise' is synonymous with both its
unique colour and the gemstone.
Its delightful colour aside, Turquoise's rich
history and mythology are probably due to it
being one of the first gemstones ever mined.
Mining Turquoise dates back to 6000 BC in Egypt
and 5000 BC in Persia, which is pretty old. In
fact, a Turquoise and gold bracelet excavated in
1900 from the tomb of the Egyptian Queen Zer
(5500 BC) is one of the world's oldest pieces of
jewellery.
In the Americas, the Aztecs, Mayans, Anasazi,
Zuni, Navajo and Apache people were so taken by
the beauty of Turquoise that by the 16th
century ingenious cultures in the American
southwest were using it as currency. Crafted by
the Aztecs into elaborate masks, the treasure of
Moctezuma II (1466-1520), the ninth Aztec
emperor and ruler at the beginning of the
Spanish conquest, includes a serpent carving
covered by a mosaic of Turquoise.
A gemstone of prosperity in many cultures from
the Persians to the Apache, Turquoise is
purported to lighten or darken in colour based
on the mood or health of its wearer. While such
ability was historically attributed to many
gemstones, in his book 'Gemmarum et Lapidum
Historia' published in 1609, Anselmus de Boodt
cranks it up a notch, claiming that Turquoise
grew paler as its wearer sickened, lost its
colour entirely on their death, but recovered
when worn by a new, healthy owner. He also
claimed if the wearer fell, the Turquoise would
crack in place of their bones! Kids, this is
'mythology', please don't try this at home.
In general, the Europeans were a little slow to
jump on the Turquoise bandwagon. Despite
Theophrastus (the successor of Aristotle's
school of philosophy) noticing the gem in the
spoils brought home from Persia by Macedonian
soldiers, Turquoise did not make a big impact on
European fashion until the middle ages.
Moving from history to science, Turquoise is a
hydrated phosphate of copper and aluminium.
Coming in various intensities of blue and
greenish-blue, Turquoise's sky blue colours of a
medium tone and saturation are historically
considered the 'best', with greenish hues being
less valued. But as always, colour preferences
in gemstones remains highly subjective. If you
find greenish-blue Turquoise more desirable,
then this colour preference should dictate your
selection. Turquoise is often mottled with veins
of matrix (host rock), typically brown limonite
or black manganese oxide. Whether you choose
mottling (called 'spider web' due to the
pattern's appearance) in Turquoise or not is
largely up to individual taste. Attractive and
well-balanced patterns don't affect Turquoise's
value. As an opaque gemstone, Turquoise is
polished as cabochons, with ovals being the most
common. Regardless of the shape, simply judge
the overall appearance of the gem along with its
colour and mottling. While Nishapar in Iran, by
historical reputation and experience, is still
regarded as one of Turquoise's finest sources,
today Turquoise is also commercially mined in
the U.S.A. (Arizona and Nevada) and China. One
potentially misleading phrase to be aware of is
'Persian Turquoise', as it is sometimes
incorrectly used to indicate a sky blue colour
grade rather than its origin.
Turquoise is one of those gemstones that has
transcended both time and culture. It is as
captivatingly beautiful today as it would have
been to the ancient Egyptians circa 5500 BC. To
finish my take on Turquoise, I'm going to
paraphrase the 17th century advice of
Anselmus de Boodt: "no gentleman thought his
hands properly ornamented, or his elegance
complete, without the acquisition of a fine
Turquoise". |
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