TURQUOISE JEWELRY
Not all turquoise is robin's egg blue.
Some of it runs deep green. Some of it is webbed and spotted and streaked. I love the classic blue, but I am always drawn to the stones with character, the ones with unexpected colours and patterns that make one unlike the next. Every piece here is cut, set and finished by hand in my studio on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia.
What kinds of turquoise will you find here?
I hand pick every stone, and what I am looking for is character. A pattern that stops me. A colour that is not quite what you expect turquoise to be.
- Hubei From China, and often in the deep greens I reach for first.
- Golden Hills From Kazakhstan. Pale, softly webbed, and the one I am most taken with.
- Kingman and Sleeping Beauty From the American southwest, closer to the blue most people picture.
- Tibetan Green, heavily veined with matrix.
The Golden Hills and the green Hubei in particular evoke the calmness of winter, and their patterns remind me of winter skies.
How is the turquoise set, and in what metal?
I set all of my own stones. Turquoise becomes rings, earrings and pendants here, bezel set in sterling silver or in Argentium silver. A bezel is the most secure setting I know, and turquoise is a softer stone than most, so it is the setting I trust with it.
All of my silver ear wires are Argentium, a nickel-free silver alloy that also resists tarnish far better than ordinary sterling.
Is each piece one of a kind?
Most of them are. I work intuitively, one stone at a time, and when a piece is gone, it is gone. New turquoise arrives through the year, so it is worth looking again.
If something here is close but not quite right, I do take commissions, though only in my own style. Tell me what you have in mind.
My bench looks like absolute chaos with gems and metal strewn across it, but that is genuinely part of how I work. The accidental juxtaposition of gems and metals often sparks a combination I would not have thought of on purpose.
Mikel Grant
Turquoise questions
How can I tell if turquoise is genuine?
Most of the turquoise sold today is dyed howlite, reconstituted stone or plastic, so it is a fair question to ask. Genuine turquoise has variation you can see: matrix that runs through the stone rather than sitting on the surface, and colour that is uneven under close light. I walk through the full set of checks in my turquoise guide. Every stone in this collection is natural turquoise.
How do I care for turquoise jewellery?
Turquoise is porous and softer than most gemstones, so it does not like lotions, perfume, hairspray or long soaks in water. Put your jewellery on last and take it off first. Wipe it with a soft dry cloth rather than a dip or a cleaner. There is more detail in the turquoise guide.
Why does some of your turquoise look green rather than blue?
Because that is the turquoise I go looking for. Hubei turquoise often comes in deep green, and Tibetan turquoise runs green with heavy matrix. Both are genuine turquoise. I love the robin's egg blue too, but the character stones are the ones I cannot walk past.
