Quality

The quality of a real Turquoise stone is assessed with the help of several factors such as its place of origin, color, clarity, and shape to determine the best quality Turquoise gemstone.

•         Origin – Turquoise mines are present in Iran (Persia), Tibet, Mexico, Arizona, Egypt, Turkey and America etc. In the gemstone market, Persian Turquoise stone is regarded as a highly sought-after origin variety due to its brilliant blue hue, high clarity and waxy to matt luster. According to the experts, American turquoise coming from the popular Arizona turquoise mines and Kingman turquoise mine are also of fine quality. Tibetan turquoise and Chinese Turquoise usually have spider web pattern on the surface (visible matrix) and are therefore used primarily for making fashion jewelry.
•         Color – In terms of quality, color saturation and tone are the critical factors of Turquoise. Firoza colour generally ranges from light sky blue to deep blue and bluish green etc. According to the traders, the vivid blue (generally found in Sleeping beauty mine, Arizona) or the evenly saturated medium blue turquoise (traded as Persian blue) are considered most desirable shades. Some off-shade turquoise gemstones are also available in the market such as Green Turquoise , Purple Turquoise and White turquoise stone etc.
•         Clarity & Surface Texture – Most of the natural Turquoise stones are nearly opaque with little or significantly visible matrix and spots. Clean, spotless Turquoise is rare to find and quite valuable. Such pieces are considered quite desirable from the astrological perspective. Turquoise from Tibetan region often contains black, grey or brown veins of the matrix that create intriguing patterns on its surface. Spiderweb Turquoise is more common and relatively less valuable.
•         Shape – Turquoise is considerably durable gemstone (Turquoise hardness – 5 to 6 on the Mohs scale) and is therefore found numerous shapes. The most common are oval cabochons (polished gems with one-sided dome) whereas drop shape, marquise and round Turquoise are relatively rare. Ideally, a well-polished Turquoise in symmetrical shape is considered most desirable.