As with several of the current gemstones used in jewelry, Turquoise use goes back to the early Egyptain times and maybe earlier than that. The Native American's use of Turquoise in their jewelry, especially from the southwestern United States, where it is plentiful, and is still a favorite among men and women alike..
In this design an unusual spiderweb Turquoise cabochon is fused with white Jade to form an intarsa pendant. Graduated Arizona Turquoise rounds and barrels complete the necklace with a silver extender and hook clasp. Silver French Hook hoop earrings complete the set.
.
Intarsia (also known as Florentine mosaic, or pietre dure) are designs made by using cut gemstnes and precisely fitting them together as flat as possible to form polished pieces of gemstone so that the color, natural pattern and shape of each piece forms all or a substantial part of each item or figure in the intarsia. Intarsia has enjoyed something of a renaissance in recent years with the fine work of jewelry and wood artists. Working in this way, no two pieces are exactly alike. Modern Intarsia is most often seen today as concentric geometric shapes. Sometimes it can have scenic pictures made up of several precious and semi precious gemstones. Such as Rhodochrosite, Malachite, Lapis Lazuli, Turquoise, Azurite/Malachite, Picture Jasper, Fire Opal, White Onyx, Black Onyx, Mother-of-Pearl and, occasionally, Goldstone in a variety of patterns. Each stone is individually created so it is unique. Thus we have the art of "INTARSIA."
.
Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrous phosphate of copper and aluminium. It is rare and valuable in its finer grades and has been prized as a gemstone and ornamental stone for thousands of years owing to its unique hue. In recent times Turquoise, like most other opaque gems, has been devalued by the introduction of treatments, imitations, and synthetics onto the gemstone marketplace. The substance has been known by many names, but the word Turquoise was derived around the 16th century from the French language 'turquie', for a Central Asian material which was a very early imported through Turkey from Persia. Today, Persian and certain southwestern United States Turquoise, especially Sleeping Beauty, commend some of the highest prices paid for this gemstone. Many times on the edges of the Turquoise fields, other minerals and stones become interwined into the Turquoise or Turquoise pieces are encapsulated into the surrounding rock, thus creating unique and interesting patterns. Spiderweb Turquoise is one of these such found materials..
Jade is an ornamental stone. The term jade is applied to two different metamorphic rocks that are made up of different silicate materials. Nephrite consists of a microcrystaline interlocking fibrous matrix of the calcium, magnesium-iron rich amphibole mineral series tremolite (calcium-magnesium)-ferroactinolite (calcium-magnesium-iron). The middle member of this series with an intermediate composition is called Actinolite (the silky fibrous mineral form is one form of asbestos). The higher the iron content the greener the colour. Jadeite is a sodium and aluminium-rich pyroxene. The gem form of the mineral is a microcrystaline interlocking crystal matrix.
.
.
