Graduated strand of freeform turquoise nuggets, 25x13mm to 14x7mm
16-inch strand of beautiful blue turquoise from the Kingman Mine.
This famous mine is Arizona has a history stretching into pre-history. Stone tools found in the mine have been dated as early as 600 AD. It has also been very prolific, producing over 80,000 pounds of turquoise in 1973, the year I happened to be working as a silversmith's apprentice in Utah setting Kingman stones in silver rings! I thought the mine had closed, but apparently some turquoise is still coming out.
Kingman is best known for it's bright blue stones with a white matrix that is usually dyed black for contrast, but it produces turquoise stones of all colors
These are more blue than green, with a warm brown matrix.
In speaking to various processors in Tucson this year I learned that all recently.
mined turquoise is stabilized. This is necessary because the explosives used in today's mining processes leave innumerable micro-cracks in the stone. These are filled with a clear liquid resin in which the "rough" is soaked for long periods of time until penetrates, and seals, all the cracks. At that point the stones can be safely cut, drilled for beads, and/or made into jewelry.
These beads are guaranteed to have NO color added to the resin, which means they will never fade as some treated beads do, nor will they become greener over time as untreated turquoise does when exposed to body oils and other substances.
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