All you need to know about the star stone that Queen Elizabeth II wore to deliver a historic speech.
Turquoise is a valuable gem and getting more so, but it still feels like an outlier among crown jewels. The blue stone is typically not something passed down from generation to generation (though the British royals have done so—see facing page). Rather, it’s very much bound by time—and by trends. Turquoise makes us think of the 1970s; chunky Navajo pieces; Talitha Getty lounging in a caftan on a Moroccan rooftop; or Ali MacGraw killing it in a head scarf, peasant dress and ankle bracelet. Because it is so soft—scoring between 5 and 6 on the Mohs scale—turquoise can easily be cut, shaped, engraved or inlaid in different materials. Its malleability opens up creative possibilities beyond the traditional cuts of cushion, pear, marquise and the like. This is what makes it a good candidate for bold statement jewellery.
IT’S RARER THAN IT SEEMS
Turquoise has loads of fashion cachet, but it’s turning into a good investment, too. The stone has always been fairly rare. It comes from a little over a handful of hot, dry regions around the world and forms when coppery groundwater trickles into the earth and interacts with phosphorus and aluminum. It’s easy to spot, appearing like a slash of glossy blue or blue-green paint against dull brown sandstone or limonite host rocks.
Turquoise, diamond and 9 karat rose gold ring, $910, Pascale Monvoisin at Net-a-Porter
Turquoise and silver earrings, $225, Maison Birks
IT’S NOT FROM TURKEY
Merchants chose the name “turquoise” because they thought the stone came from Turkey. But turquoise only transited through Turkey from modern-day Iran—turquoise from Nishapur, Iran, is legendary. There are deposits in China and in Mexico, too (the Aztec emperor Montezuma reportedly gave some to the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés), but the Southwestern United States is home to the most famous turquoise mines. However, with the closing of Arizona’s key turquoise mine, Sleeping Beauty, in 2012, supplies of the stone took a big hit, which is why its value has shot up.
SEPARATING GOOD FROM AVERAGE
The most coveted turquoise is lustrous and sky blue and has a refined, rather than coarse, texture. This is what Sleeping Beauty turquoise is like. Turquoise with a greenish hue has traditionally not been quite as desirable as the true-blue kind, but it’s still up there. Many turquoise pieces have veins, which gemologists call a matrix. These spiderweb lines running through a stone are from the iron-rich host-rock minerals. They can decrease the value of a stone if the pattern is dense, but preference depends on individual taste.
IT’S A ROYAL HEIRLOOM
Turquoise, blue topaz, peridot and 18 karat yellow gold earrings, $8,900, JdJ Couture
Turquoise, diamond and 18 karat gold bracelet, $9,365, Gucci
Perhaps the biggest boost turquoise has received lately was from Queen Elizabeth II. When she spoke on television to the nation in April, at the start of the U.K.’s COVID-19 lockdown, she wore a brooch that she had hardly ever worn before—one with diamonds set around a turquoise centrepiece and that once belonged to Queen Mary. Down-to-earth turquoise seemed to signal common ground between the masses and the monarch. If the virus turns out to be the great social leveller, the Queen wearing that brooch may be a clue that she had already intuited this.
BEWARE OF FAKES
With her bold Navajo jewellery pieces and haute couture wardrobe, Millicent Rogers, a 1950s socialite best known for her fling with Clark Gable before she cast him aside, was the ultimate poster girl for the blue stone. If that’s the style you’re channelling, you should look more closely into Native American jewellery. The Navajo are not the only ace turquoise jewellers among Native Americans; so are the Hopi, Pueblo and Zuni nations. If you’re in the market for Native American turquoise pieces, just make sure they’re not from the Philippines.
Over the past decade (and probably even further back), smugglers have been bringing copycat turquoise and silver jewellery into New Mexico from overseas. A couple of years ago, a counterfeit ring was arrested and fined for violating the 85-year-old Indian Arts and Crafts Act, and this prompted the nickname “Santa Fakes.” Not only are these phonies not handmade but they’re made from turquoise-cutting chalk mixed with dyes, plastics and resins. Compared to real turquoise, this reconstituted stuff is plasticky.
Because turquoise is naturally soft and porous, it is a gem that often gets pimped to make it harder and brighter. It can be steeped in blue dye or coated with metallic bronze to enhance its matrix. Some turquoise goes through what is called the Zachary process, where it is chemically treated and carefully heated to boost the stone’s robustness and colourfastness. While techniques like these are chicanery—especially if the dealer doesn’t voluntarily disclose the treatments— what is accepted in the industry are stabilizing methods: Because the colour of many turquoise nuggets can be fickle, they are coated in oil and wax to help the colour settle and last.
Sterling silver and turquoise earrings, $200, Mejuri