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Turquoise: The World Story of a Fascinating Gemstone
Turquoise has been mined on six continents and traded by cultures throughout the world's history, including the European, Chinese, Mayan, Aztec, Inca, and Southwest Native American. It has been set in silver and gold jewelry, cut and shaped into fetish animals, and even formed to represent gods in many religions. This gemstone is displayed in museums around the world, representing the arts and traditions of prehistoric, historic, and modern societies. Turquoise focuses on the latest information in science and art from the greatest turquoise collections around the globe. Joe P. Lowry has been the president of Zach-Low since 1972 and is the founder and president of The Turquoise Museum since 1993. He has been involved in bringing education to the turquoise and Indian jewelry industry at museums and national parks around the country. He co-authored Turquoise Unearthed with his son, Joe Dan Lowry.
- GenresNonfiction
256 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2010
17 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 2, 2022
If you're a 'rock hound' or just a fan of the gemstone turquoise - maybe it's your birthstone or a fan of the Southwestern style of jewelry, this book might be worth taking a look over.
It goes into turquoise's mystic qualities - wealth, health/healing, serenity, blessings, beauty and pleasantness. Even victory of enemies or adversity. But first it addresses the history in the six main locales of mines - Sinai/Egypt; Persia/Iran; Mexico, Chile, Southwest United States and China before going into geology, mining, lapidary or cutting. Caring for your turquoise pieces. How to identify imitations which could be dyed howlite or magnesite, plastic, dyed and treated low grade turquoise (soft, pale pieces identified as 'chalk') and the classic mines.
Turquoise comes in a variety of colors from light blue with milky varieties, greens, blue0green, deep sea blue/green almost a teal and an intense blue. Then there are the veins (matrix) of other colored inclusions - black, white, red, yellow and brown - that give individuality to not only each specimen but to each classical mine. And that is what is referred to when a jewelry piece is labeled as ((specific name)) turquoise. It is not the style. It's the mine supplying it usually or the country as with Persian turquoise.
As one of the first gemstones actually mined - First Dynasty Egypt about 3000 BC - it has maintained it's appeal through the centuries. And certainly has found new appreciation as more varieties are found and extracted. And all the pictures are just gorgeous.
2022-264
It goes into turquoise's mystic qualities - wealth, health/healing, serenity, blessings, beauty and pleasantness. Even victory of enemies or adversity. But first it addresses the history in the six main locales of mines - Sinai/Egypt; Persia/Iran; Mexico, Chile, Southwest United States and China before going into geology, mining, lapidary or cutting. Caring for your turquoise pieces. How to identify imitations which could be dyed howlite or magnesite, plastic, dyed and treated low grade turquoise (soft, pale pieces identified as 'chalk') and the classic mines.
Turquoise comes in a variety of colors from light blue with milky varieties, greens, blue0green, deep sea blue/green almost a teal and an intense blue. Then there are the veins (matrix) of other colored inclusions - black, white, red, yellow and brown - that give individuality to not only each specimen but to each classical mine. And that is what is referred to when a jewelry piece is labeled as ((specific name)) turquoise. It is not the style. It's the mine supplying it usually or the country as with Persian turquoise.
As one of the first gemstones actually mined - First Dynasty Egypt about 3000 BC - it has maintained it's appeal through the centuries. And certainly has found new appreciation as more varieties are found and extracted. And all the pictures are just gorgeous.
2022-264
August 19, 2023
Very useful and understandable.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews