GEMSTONE

Turquoise – the opaque blue-green gemstone that gave it’s name, to the colour. The origins of the word are believed to come from the old French ‘pierre tourques’ meaning Turkish stone, or ‘stone from the orient’ as it first arrived in Europe with merchants travelling from the east.

Prized for thousands of years for its beautiful colour, turquoise has been worn as jewellery, used as amulets and employed as a decorative material by multiple cultures and generations. It was declared ‘the’ colour of 2010 and it’s current popularity shows no sign of wavering.

Turquoise beads have been found dating back as far as 5000BC, and it was highly valued by the ancient civilisations of both Egypt and Mexico. It was imbued with strong talismanic virtues by both cultures, used to protect those who wore it from injury, aid hunters in their quests and guarantee health and good fortune. More recently it was a favourite stone of the Victorians who used it frequently both on its own and in combination with other stones, particularly diamonds and pearls.

The finest and most sort after turquoise comes from a mountainous region of North Eastern Iran near the city of Nishapur. The Sleeping Beauty mine in Arizona has gained much attention for its beautiful, pure and uniform sky blue gems. Somewhat more accessible, are the south western states of America where turquoise is found in abundance, particularly in Nevada, where a range of blue-green colours are found, much of it interlaced with the ‘spider-web’ pattern of dark veins.

This stunning tiara(above) given by Napoleon to his bride the Empress Marie-Louise as a wedding gift, contains 540 carats of beautifully matched Persian (Iran) turquoise. Originally set with emeralds, these were replaced in the 1950′s by Van Cleef & Arpels, who then exhibited it, along with other jewellery originally owned by the Empress, at the Louvre in Paris. It was subsequently bought by the famous jewellery collector Marjorie Merriweather Post who donated it to the Smithsonian in 1971.

Iconic global houses such as Cartier and Tiffany are both using the stone in current collections but also have fabulous vintage designs, and whether you like your jewels delicate and discreet (try the Jennifer Meyer pendant on Net a Porter) or prefer sizeable show-stoppers (see Blake Lively’s earrings by Lorraine Schwartz below) – there are turquoise jewels to suit everyone.

A visit to the Victoria & Albert Museum will reveal some beautiful turquoise jewels – look out for a fabulous Victorian snake necklace. For everything else you could want to know about this gem read Turquoise: The World Story of a Fascinating Gemstone.