Title: Turquoise Brooch Pin Pendant Silver Handcrafted Indian Art
Shipping: $19.00
Artist: N/A
Period: Contemporary
History: N/A
Origin: N/A
Condition: Museum Quality
Item Date: 1920s to 1950s
Item ID: 4468
Little turquoise cluster pendant and pin combination may be worn either way. Sterling silver. Handcrafted Indian art. It looks to be Navajo. This looks to be from the 1930s to 1950s, Handmade Sterling Silver & Turquoise Indian Brooch. Mid-century modernism influenced this period with the use of abstract sprays of diamonds in mixed cuts, starbursts and “atomic” shapes. Textured gold dominated the decades with florentine finishes, foxtail chain, twisted rope, braided wire, mesh, reeding, fluting and piercing. Gold jewelry without gemstones was worn primarily in the daytime, with diamond jewelry for the evenings. Amethyst, turquoise, and coral were the favorite colored gemstones while cultured pearls were gaining acceptance into day wear.
Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turquoise
Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrous phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula CuAl6(PO4)4(OH)8·4H2O. It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gem 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 market. The substance has been known by many names, but the word turquoise, which dates to the 17th century was derived from the French language turques, because it was first brought to Europe from Turkey from the mines in Persia. Pliny referred to the mineral as callais and the Aztecs knew it as chalchihuitl. Even the finest of turquoise is fracturable, reaching a maximum hardness of just under 6, or slightly more than window glass. Characteristically a cryptocrystalline mineral, turquoise almost never forms single crystals and all of its properties are highly variable. Its crystal system is proven to be triclinic via X-ray diffraction testing. With lower hardness comes lower specific gravity (2.60 “2.90) and greater porosity: These properties are dependent on grain size. The lustre of turquoise is typically waxy to subvitreous, and transparency is usually opaque, but may be semitranslucent in thin sections. Colour is as variable as the mineral's other properties, ranging from white to a powder blue to a sky blue, and from a blue-green to a yellowish green. The blue is attributed to idiochromatic copper while the green may be the result of either iron impurities (replacing aluminium) or dehydration.
