The Wonder of Turquoise

…and so the journey from raw nuggets to finished jewelry begins. This is the famous No 8 turquoise from the now closed mine in the Lynn Mining District near Eureka Nevada. It was discovered in 1925 and the first mining operation began in 1929. The owner of this mine ceased digging turquoise in 1976. Once the reserves still remaining on the market are sold and gone, new No 8 will not be available. Collect it now if you find it!

A mine run box of this turquoise was mailed to me – I sorted and graded out the keepers. This, of course, is a rock head’s dream….finding “gold” among the slagger rocks that will be discarded. Happily, only 1/4 of the box went back to mama earth. The rest of this turquoise is more than usable – from solid nuggets to spider webs to small bits for inlay work. This box of turq’ was stabilized before being sent to me, which removes one step of my finishing process.

Now I begin the cutting, backing, shaping and polishing while I imagineer/mentally form the collection of silver settings for this wonderful old No 8 turquoise.

Believe me – sweet happiness is receiving a box of rocks! Almost as good as getting feet on the ground to prospect and dig your own rocks.