MAKE MINE TURQUOISE

I love turquoise.  I want more turquoise.  I love cutting and polishing it and making jewelry out of it. I’ve been fortunate to have had a couple of friends give me some turquoise over the course of the years, and that makes it very special.

One of the things I love about turquoise is that it comes in so many colors and patterns.  Kind of like my friends, now that I think about it…  I love the blues and greens along with the rusty brown from the Royston Mine in Nevada. But I also love the sky blue from the Sleeping Beauty Mine in Arizona.  I also love the spider web matrix, oh and I love the pyrite you sometime find in Kingman turquoise.  The combinations are endless.

Turquoise is found all over the world and it holds different meanings for different cultures.  Some people believe it holds healing powers. Others just think it’s a pretty stone. But like anything, the meaning you invest in it is what makes it special to you.

There are turquoise mines all over the American Southwest, almost too numerous to count.  Some are still active, most are closed.  Some of the mines produced incredible amounts of turquoise; some were one man operations and produced very little. But just like people, it’s the quality of the stone that counts.  So much of the turquoise on the market now is treated in some way.  That bothers some people, and others have no clue and don’t care. With turquoise, as with friends, I want the genuine article.

The biggest reason I think I love turquoise is what it represents to me.  The first ring I bought was a small thunderbird ring with a little piece of turquoise in it.  That will always be special to me.  Whenever we went on trips when I was a kid, I’d always look for a new ring for myself.  And the younger me always thought Indians were cool. They had all the turquoise and made jewelry with it!

What’s your favorite stone? Chances are it’s your favorite because of the meaning it holds for you, some memory, and some event that is special to you.  We all enjoy the feelings that those good memories bring us, and when you can wear something that reminds you of those memories, that piece becomes all the more special.

Turquoise is my favorite stone.  Nothing else is even close.  Oh, there are a lot of stones I love, but turquoise is my favorite and it’s been my favorite since I was a little kid when we went to the World’s Fair in Seattle.  (You know, when they built the Space Needle.) That’s when I bought my little thunderbird ring.

I’ll keep making jewelry with turquoise.  I can’t help it!  I’m making more great turquoise memories all the time.  How about you?