December Focus: Turquoise

The month of December has different birthstones to choose from and their vibrant shades of blue make it impossible to let the winter blues get you down. 

Turquoise is one of the few gemstones that lends its name to its color, a shade in between green and blue. The stone is opaque with veins like a spiderweb threading throughout the stone, making each piece of turquoise unique to any other. Turquoise is also the gemstone representing the eleventh wedding anniversary.

Historians believe that the word turquoise can be traced back to the 13th century, from the French pierre turquois, meaning ‘Turkish stones’, from when they were first brought to Europe from Turkey. Today, the United States is one of the leading suppliers of turquoise where it is found in California, New Mexico, and Arizona. 

Turquoise is one of the oldest precious stones and can be found adorned on historical artifacts from around the world worn by both kings and warriors. The funerary mask of King Tut, the pharaoh who ruled over Egypt over 3,000 years ago, is decorated with stones of turquoise. With the hardest registering only 6 on the Mohs scale, turquoise is a soft gemstone, making it a widespread material in carved talismans throughout history. Native Americans believed that attaching the stone to bows or firearms would improve accuracy and that the wearer would be protected from falling off their horse. Turquoise is also believed to grant its wearer health, good fortune, and peace, as well as protection from evil.