Native American turquoise jewelry is renowned worldwide and strongly associated with the people of the southwest, especially the Navajo (Dine) and the Zuni.
Let’s take a closer look at where turquoise naturally occurs, where it is mined in North America, and some of the different types of natural turquoise you might come across.
Turquoise Throughout the World
Turquoise (which derives from an Old French word meaning “Turkish”; turquoise was historically introduced to Europe from Persia through the Ottoman Empire) is an opaque mineral that is usually blue to green in color. Considered rare and valuable, natural turquoise has been used as a gemstone for thousands of years, prized for its striking color profile and natural patterning (matrix).
Turquoise is mined in several countries and naturally occurs in dry to semi-dry regions where groundwater that is rich in copper deposits interacts with minerals that contain aluminum and phosphorus.
Major natural turquoise producers outside the USA (historic and current) include:
China (especially the Hubei Province and the Yungaishi/Cloud Mountain mine). Chinese Hubei turquoise is of high quality with deep blue and green colors.
Iran (Ancient Persia) is home to some of the world’s oldest and most historically notable turquoise mines; the mines in Nishapur have been worked for more than 2000 years. Persian turquoise is characteristically matrix-free and an intense sky blue or robin’s egg blue in color.
Kazakhstan is home to the Altyn-Tyube Turquoise Mine, which produces distinctive, prized Golden Hills Turquoise. This category of the stone is a periwinkle blue with a dark, rich brown matrix, giving it a “lavender” color.
Chile and Mexico are large producers of turquoise; Sonora’s Campitos mine delivers stones with matrices of pyrite, which is gold in color and appearance.
The Sinai Peninsula (Egypt) is where the world’s oldest turquoise mines are located. Worked as far back as at least 7000 years, stones mined there were used to make amulets and jewelry for Ancient Egypt’s pharaohs.
Australia is home to the historic Tosca (Tosca’s Hope) Mine in the Northern Territory, which was mined in the 1970s and 1980s. Turquoise occurred here in thin layers and was of variable quality. The mine closed commercially many years ago, and the entire deposit is now within an Aboriginal Sacred Site. There are also a few very small, non-commercial fossicking sites in other states.
Turquoise in the USA
While states such as Colorado, California, and New Mexico (where pre-Columbian Native Americans mined it) have small but high-quality turquoise deposits, the Southwest is one of the world’s most prolific, famous sources of natural, high-quality turquoise.
Arizona is famous for its vibrant blue turquoise mined at, for example, the Kingman Mine and, until 2012, the Sleeping Beauty Mine. Nevada, on the other hand, produces turquoise in incredibly diverse colors and matrix patterns from mines including Royston and Pilot Mountain.
Southwest Turquoise Mines
Just some of the many turquoise mines of the Southwest include:
Arizona:
· Bisbee (“Lavender Pit”)
· Blue Bird
· Castle Dome/Pinto Valley
· Cave Creek
· Gleeson/Courtland
· Ithaca Peak
· Kingman
· Morenci
· Sleeping Beauty
· Turquoise Mountain/”Birdseye”
Nevada:
Home to more than 400 registered turquoise mine claims,
· Royston
· Number Eight
· Pilot Mountain
· Red Mountain
· Lander Blue
· Carico Lake
· Lone Mountain
· Damele
New Mexico:
· Cerillos
· Enchantment
· Hachita
· High Lonesome
· Johnny Bull
· Santa Rita
· Tyrone
There are also numerous turquoise mines located in California and Colorado, and variscite mines in Utah. Variscite is a rare green opaque gemstone often compared with, but distinct from, turquoise.
A Few Types of Southwest Turquoise
Kingman Turquoise comes from one of Arizona’s oldest and biggest producing mines, which is also the USA’s last commercially producing mine. The stone has been mined in the surrounding areas for 1500 years. In the 1970s, the Kingman Mine produced almost 50% of the turquoise supply worldwide.
The “classic” American stone, Kingman turquoise features in a lot of our jewelry at Indian Traders. It is a stunning sky-blue and matrix patterns vary from bold and black to silvery cobwebs. Some stones are pale green with matrices of brown, red, or yellow.
While much of this turquoise is natural, some Kingman turquoise is stabilized, which means softer or lower-quality stones are infused with epoxy to make them stronger and better suited to cutting and polishing. They are still a highly sought-after form of turquoise.
Royston Turquoise has been mined in Nevada for over 100 years in the Royston range over several historic and modern Turquoise claims: Bunker Hill, Royal Blue, Easter Blue, Oscar Wehrend, Aztec, High Grade Ridge, and Montezuma. The turquoises from this area range from dark sky blues to deep greens with webbed or mottled golden-brown matrices. We offer some beautiful Royston turquoise jewelry.
Sleeping Beauty Turquoise is one of the world’s most recognizable, with a rich, bright blue color and minimal heavy matrix. It comes from an Arizona mine that closed in 2012. We have a small selection of jewelry featuring Sleeping Beauty turquoise.
Pilot Mountain Turquoise is mined in Nevada at a mine that originally opened as a copper mine. It is a very small operation that produces mottled stones of blue to greenish with dark brown webbing. We have some beautiful pieces featuring Pilot Mountain turquoise for purchase.
Morenci Turquoise is highly sought after, coming from an Arizona mine that is the byproduct of a large open-pit copper mine that dates back more than 150 years. It is no longer actively produced, but previously mined stones occasionally come onto the market. The most popular variety of Morenci turquoise is a deep blue with a heavy iron pyrite matrix.
Number Eight/Number 8 Turquoise is produced at the mine of the same name in Eureka County, Nevada. It was discovered in 1925 and mined for the first time in 1929. It is currently not open for turquoise mining, being worked on now as a gold mine. Some of the largest nuggets of turquoise ever discovered were found at Number 8. Most of this turquoise is blue (ranging from light to very dark, dark being very rare) with easily-identifiable spider webbing in a golden-brown to black matrix. We have some lovely pieces of Number Eight turquoise jewellery in-store.
Golden Hills Turquoise is a unique, premium natural variety characterized by distinctive “lavender” color and patterning. It is mined in the Altyn-Tyube (“Golden Hill”) Mine in Kazakhstan, not far from the Russian border, or the Lavender Mine to its south. Mined from tunnels and shafts only during the freezing winter months (as the ground is too soft for safety otherwise); it is a difficult stone to produce. We are delighted to have some stunning examples of Golden Hills turquoise at Indian Traders.
Bisbee Turquoise is one of the most valuable types of turquoise, with this mine only actively worked from 1972 to 1974. These stones are byproducts of a copper mine. The best stones came from the Lavender Pt area; dark blue (or occasionally green) turquoise with black, brown, or red matrix patterning. It’s difficult to find now and very expensive.
A Word on Authenticity…
Unless clearly stated, all Native American turquoise jewelry and Western jewelry at Indian Traders uses genuine stones.
As with numerous other opaque gemstones, it’s important to know that the turquoise you are purchasing is natural (unless clearly and obviously stated). There are many imitations and synthetic (man-made) stones on the market. Synthetic and imitation stones are far inferior to the real thing.
Treated or stabilized turquoise, on the other hand, is more durable, retains its color, will not crumble, and resists absorbing skin oils and sweat. It makes up 90% of the natural turquoise on the market. These stones are indeed genuine.
Untreated natural turquoise is extremely rare and very, very expensive.
Browse our full range of Native American turquoise jewelry and Western jewelry now!