Turquoise

Here is a little history on Turquoise. You will hear alot about Chalk turquoise, imitation and stabilized. To keep my jewelry affordable I use a lot of beautiful chalk turquoise which is real turquoise, but dyed to get the color, and any turquoise I use will be stabilized so it does not fall apart while you are wearing it! I DO NOT use imitation.

This is some information from a jewelry website I visit:

"What is Chalk Turquoise? Chalk turquoise is a form of natural turquoise that has a white chalk-like consistency. It has the same chemical composition as turquoise, only without the copper (it's the copper that causes the turquoise color). The chalk is then dyed and stabilized to produce a material that's hard enough to use in jewelry with a pleasing turquoise color.

History/Background
Turquoise has long been associated with gods and goddesses in cultures spanning the globe--in ancient Egypt, Persia, China and the Americas. To the Egyptians, the stone was seen as a symbol of rebirth. The Sun God Ra's hair was said to be made from the stone. The Aztecs offered a death skull inlaid with turquoise to their serpent god of the sun, Quetztalcoatl. Many North American Indian tribes viewed the stone as a male stone of power and the Apaches believed that it could be found in the damp ground at the end of the rainbow.

Metaphysical/Healing Properties
Turquoise is said to attract prosperity and success, to have the power to influence creative powers, and to enhance the ability to communicate. The stone has long been prized as a powerful talisman with healing properties. It is said that turquoise can help balance the throat chakra (the blue chakra), increasing resistance to viruses and helping to relieve sore throats, lung infections and the affects of allergies.

Scientific Description
Turquoise has a waxy luster and is a phosphate of aluminum with copper and traces of iron. Depending on its origin, the stone can be sky blue to green depending on the amount of copper (which makes it blue) and iron (which makes it green).
Mineral Information
Copper containing basic aluminum phosphate
Chemical Composition
CuAl6(I(OH)2/PO4)4.4H2O
Color
Sky blue, blue-green, green
Hardness
5-6
Specific Gravity
2.60-2.80
Refractive Index
1.61-1.65

Occurrence
It is said that the finest sky blue turquoise comes from Iran, where it has been used for decoration for 6,000 years and mined for over 3,000 years. It is also found in Turkestan, the former USSR, Tibet, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Mexico and in the southwestern United States.