Mesa Verde Musings — Silver Turquoise Jewelry

  Many people are now aware that Native American Jewelry is a welcome option to mass produced designer brands. It’s an affordable, wearable form of artwork not found at Tiffany’s or Zales for example. Currently, in general, Native American jewelry consists of stone work using sterling silver as a medium. Before America was colonized, Native Americans used to make fairly simple jewelry which included pendants, earrings and beads. As technology has advanced, the art of metal jewelry blossomed. By the time the colonials arrived, the Natives were making intricate pieces of jewelry and using a variety of stones to beautify...

  The word Turquoise dates back to the 16th century, from an old French word for Turkish, because it was thought to have been brought to Europe through Turkey. Turquoise in its natural form is a very porous stone, which means it will fracture quite easily. Therefore, most of the turquoise used in jewelry is stabilized with a clear epoxy coating. This aids in strengthening the stone, as well as preventing the color from fading over time. (Color usually will fade when the oils from one's skin come into contact with the natural stone). The majority of turquoise on the...