Hand Tooled Vintage Sterling Silver Brooch Star Blue Gemstone Turquoise for Sale

Hand Tooled Vintage Sterling Silver Brooch Star Blue Gemstone Turquoise For Sale

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Hand Tooled Vintage Sterling Silver Brooch Star Blue Gemstone Turquoise:
$225.00

This is a beautiful old piece--a turquoise cross brooch that resembles a star--from the days when women wore pins, to hold scarves in place, or to adorn a beautiful jacket or blouse. The turquoise is natural and gorgeous.

Measures 1-5/8\"x1\"⅝

An old-fashioned piece, perfect for an old soul. Weight 5.9grams no marks but tested as sterling silver The Blue Gem Turquoise Story

Blue Gem Turquoise was actually more than one mine. There have been several Blue Gem Turquoise claims throughout history. There was the Tonopah Blue Gem or \"Royal Blue\" Tiffany Claims, The Mina Blue Gem Claims, and the most famous being the Battle Mtn. Blue Gem mine.

Tonopah Blue Gem Turquoise

Royston is a district in Nevada consisting of three turquoise mines: Bunker Hill Turquoise Mine, Oscar Wehrend Turquoise Mine, and the main producer, Royal Blue Turquoise Mine. The Royal Blue Turquoise Mine was owned and operated for number of years by the Tiffany Company at which it was calle Royal Blue or Tonopah Blue Gem Turquoise. The Royal Blue claims produced some of the most beautiful turquoise to ever hit the market. Tiffany was mainly after the blue turquoise that the Royal Blue Turquoise Mine Produced. At one time Tiffany Company produced tons of Blue Gem Turquoise Jewelry with high grade American Turquoise. The plain blue, the blue with golden yellow//brown web, and water web stones were the most desirable at that time. Royston is now known for its beautiful colors ranging from deep green to rich, light blues set off by a heavy brown matrix. The Royston district is still producing turquoise of high quality. Another popular variety of turquoise that Royston Produces these days is Boulder Turquoise or Ribbon Turquoise which is veins or \"rivers\" of turquoise going through the host rock. Royston Turquoise ranges from a 5-6 in hardness for the high grade. This is one the best selling stones for our line of Turquoise jewelry. This Turquoise is being mine by the Ottesons and is no longer called Blue Gem Turquoise. Lee Hand knew the Patania Family in Arizona and C.G.Wallace in Zuni and regularly supplied those traders with turquoise for Navajo and Zuni carvings and jewelry. While the Blue Gem Turquoise mine was very prolific at one time, today it is considered extremely rare, valuable and collectible turquoise. Most of the \"finished\" Blue Gem turquoise today is in private collections and museums, rarely offered for sale.

The Blue Gem Turquoise mine was located deep underground, accessed by tunnels as deep as 800 feet. This is of interest because the Blue Gem Turquoise Mine and the Bisbee Turquoise Mine in Bisbee, Arizona are the only two Turquoise mines (that we know of) where turquoise was found that deep in the earth. One of the rarest forms to see in Blue Gem TurquoiseJewelry is the Pyrite Variety. Pyrite-bearing quartz veins are closely associated with this turquoise although pyrite in Blue Gem Turquoise is still unusual to see. Durango Silver has some examples of this pyrite material in Turquoise Jewelry. Another interesting fact about both Blue Gem Turquoise and Bisbee Turquoise being found so deep underground as that both deposits produced some of the hardest and truest blue Turquoise ever found.

Blue Gem Turquoise

Some of the Turquoise from both mines is \"gel\" quality gem material that is glassy in appearence