Turquoise Jewelry

Explore the enchanting world of American turquoise, where each mine bears a unique name and story, reflecting its rarity and distinctive characteristics. From the stunning matrix of Kingman Turquoise to the consistent blues of Sleeping Beauty, these mines have captivated the hearts of jewelry enthusiasts and collectors alike. Join us as we delve into the fascinating realm of American turquoise, a gemstone steeped in history, tradition, and natural beauty.

Beautiful Turquoise Jewelry made with Natural Turquoise Stones from the American Southwest.

Each American turquoise mine is marketed by a name, such as Pilot Mountain Turquoise, #8 Mine Turquoise or Sunnyside Turquoise. Each of these mines has a rarity of the amount of ore it produced and the availability of the different grades of turquoise that could be recovered. Certain mines have become famous for their colors and matrix such as Sunnyside for its stunning matrix and Sleeping Beauty for its consistent blues that can be easily matched and set in styles of jewelry such as Zuni inlay and petit point. The Number 8 mine is famous for its golden and black web but has not produced turquoise since 1961. A well known mine can command a higher price for its turquoise than a lesser known mine.

Turquoise generally forms in arid climates, similar to the conditions that prevail in the southwest of the United states. The States that are most famous for this gem are Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado.

Turquoise is New Mexico's gemstone as well as the recognized birthstone of December. It has been known by this name since the French Europeans purchased the "turkey stone" from Turkish traders, never realizing that the turquoise was mined in Persia and later traded to the Turks. It is said to be a good luck stone that represents wealth, health and happiness. Turquoise is still used in many Native American Peoples traditional ceremonies. Even today a medicine man's powers are said to be limited if he doesn't possess turquoise.

Most southwest turquoise mines were originally worked by Native peoples and were "rediscovered" by explorers. Turquoise generally forms near the surface to a depth of 200 ft. The mineral's proximity to the surface made it easy to extract by using rock and bone tools available to the Native miners.

The turquoise on our site is mined the the USA. You can view turquoise jewelry from the various mines here:

Number 8 Mine Turquoise Jewelry
Boulder Turquoise Jewelry
Sleeping Beauty Turquoise Jewelry
Royston Turquoise Jewelry
Turquoise Mountain Mine Turquoise Jewelry
Pilot Mountain Mine Turquoise Jewelry
White Buffalo Turquoise Jewelry

or simply click on the type of jewelry you are looking for such as necklaces, earrings etc.

Turquoise is known throughout the world for its brilliant colors, history and ornamental use in jewelry. Egypt and Persia have mined and worked turquoise for over 5000 years and it was set in Egyptian Pharaoh's and Persian King's royal jewelry. In the American Southwest, Native American artists have utilized turquoise for over 2000 years in making Native American Jewelry. In this country as well as around the world turquoise has become synonymous with Native American Jewelry.

Turquoise Jewelry

Native American Indians from the Navajo Indian, Zuni Indian and Santo Domingo Tribes make beautiful Jewelry using Turquoise Stones that come from various mines in the American Southwest.

Southwest Turquoise Mines are located in Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado. The mines have names and the turquoise is referred to by the name of the mine. An example would be Sleeping Beauty Turquoise. Some mines are still active. Other mines have been closed due to the supply of turquoise being depleted. Some mines were closed due to the discovery of gold.

The Sleeping Beauty Turquoise mine is located in Gila County, Arizona. Sleeping Beauty Turquoise is relatively abundant. The turquoise mine produces uniform blue turquoise that is easily matched and used in many styles of Native American Jewelry including Zuni needlepoint and inlay pieces.

The Number 8 Turquoise mine is located in Eureka County, Nevada. It was discovered in 1925 and first mined in 1929. The mine was closed due to the discovery of gold in 1976 when the Newton Gold Company claimed the area. It has a personality of its own with golden brown to black distinctive spider web matrix and unique bright powder blue and green background. It is used by Navajo Indians in making a variety of Native American Jewelry.

The Boulder Turquoise mine is located in northeast Nevada. Nevada has been an important source of turquoise since prehistoric time. The majority of known deposits lay in a belt that trends north-northeasterly across the central part of Nevada from Mineral and Esmeralda Counties on the south to Elko County on the north. This belt coincides with a zone of strong tectonic activity that occurred in late Debonian and Mississippian times. Host rocks for the deposits are lime stone, shale, chert, intrusive bodies or metamorphosed volcanic and sedimentary rocks. Turquoise normally forms narrow veinlets or small nodules along altered zones in host rock, but on rare occasions large slabs and nodules have been recovered. You can easily identify these narrow veinlets in the Boulder Turquoise surrounded by the host rock. Production from the property has been small due to the limited amount of time allowed to mine due to the remote location and winter weather conditions.

The Sunnyside Turquoise mine is located near the town of Tuscaroa in the Tuscaroa mountain range in the northeast part of Nevada. The mine is no longer in operation as it has become part of a gold mining operation and a privately owned ranch. A considerable quantity of Sunnyside Turquoise was shipped from the property for several years in the 70’'s to Arizona and New Mexico, where it has become part of the well known turquoise and silver jewelry collection sold by the Native American Indian Tribes in these areas. A spider web matrix of colors ranging from golden brown to black set off the unique color of the stone. Part of the turquoise is fairly dark blue and very hard. A little greenish blue color is also found in a dark jasperiod. Beautiful green and green/blue colors are also found. Turquoise from this mine is rarely seen today.

The Dry Creek Turquoise mine is located near Battle Mountain, Nevada. Dry Creek Turquoise is a natural stone and has not been treated with any process to change the color and/or the hardness of the natural material of the stone. To date, no other vein of the Turquoise has been discovered anywhere else other than at Dry Creek and when this vein runs out, that will be the last of it. Because this turquoise is as rare as the sacred buffalo, the Indians call it "Sacred Buffalo Turquoise"

So many geological chains of events must synchronize to create just one thin vein of turquoise that the mineral can rightly be envisioned as a fluke of nature. Turquoise is the rare and improbable product of an incalculable number of chemical and physical processes that must take place in the right combination and proper environment over a time span of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of years.

We have listed just a few of the types of Turquoise that are used by the Native Americans in making their beautiful jewelry. We find the information on Turquoise mines fascinating and hope you enjoy it too.