Blue Gemstones

Facts and Trivia about the gemstone Turquoise

Everybody loves blue. With its calming and rejuvenating shade, this color has often been associated with the sky and water. Blue has also been the color that symbolizes royalty and tranquility. These are one of the few hundred reasons why it is not hard to love turquoise. To own jewelry made of turquoise is like looking at the open sea.

Turquoise can be mined all over the world. They have it in India, China, and US. One of the finest and most respected kinds of turquoise is the Persian turquoise.

Why the Color Change?

Perhaps it’s because of the influence of the mineral present. The higher the mineral content in the gem, the more it will be enhanced. Naturally, blue will shine within the stone if copper becomes present. But if, as it is formed, aluminum is more dominant, a green shade will appear.

All About Gemstone Formation

Turquoise is formed when percolation of water occurs inside rocks containing aluminum, copper, and other minerals found within the depths of the earth. As chemical reaction occurs, turquoise is produced. This simplified explanation for the entire process happens for millions of years and happens in suitable conditions only. Oftentimes, the climate and temperature both belonging to extremes are factors that affect molding of this gemstone.

Turquoise Dark Markings

You call those markings as the matrix. It is that piece of rock where this stone was formed into. If you tend to cut this stone, you would notice that sediments of these rocks are still suspended within the center of it. About the different color changes in the matrix, it is due to the fact that turquoise is formed among varieties of rocks. If the lining of the matrix is extended throughout the item, it is called as spider webbings for it resembles the strands of a spider web.

Justifying the Hardness of a Turquoise

When used for jewelry making, the hardness that makers require must be within the scale of 5-6. Other than that, they treat it.

Common Treatments used for Turquoise

1. Treatment for color – they usually use chemicals to change the stone’s color or elaborate it.

2. Stabilizing – this is done by infusing substances or resin inside the pores of the material.

Other treatments are used for an unusable turquoise to turn it into something usable. A lot of turquoise gemstones are either enhanced or treated. It is seldom that you find a turquoise that is all natural. But if you do, the price would not be less extravagant.

You could identify a turquoise that was made natural by looking at its features. You have to be sure that no other treatments have been made. No changes of the artificial kind should be involved.

Turquoise Care

Here are some tips on how to handle your turquoise with so much care without having the fear of neither scratching it nor breaking its viability.

• Have it hidden in a separate place away from harder stones to promote scratch reduction.

• Keep it away from extreme heat and pressure.

• Avoid any contact with dangerous chemicals that might destroy its usefulness like perfumes, cleaners and oils.

• To clean your gem, use warm water and dry it immediately. No cleansers needed.

The most important knowledge that you have to keep in mind when buying a turquoise is that you should purchase it from merchandisers who are known to save your money from fake ones.