Turquoise

A copper aluminum phosphate prized for its sky-blue to green color, often webbed with brown or black host rock ('matrix').

Turquoise specimen — Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

How to identify turquoise

Opaque sky blue to green with a waxy look.
Often veined with brown or black matrix.
Never forms visible crystals — always massive nuggets or veins.
Porous: it can darken when oiled.

Often confused with

Malachite
Malachite is a deeper green and shows bullseye banding.
Compare side by side
Sodalite
Sodalite is royal blue with white veins, not sky blue.
Compare side by side

Where it's found

Arizona
Nevada
Nishapur, Iran
Hubei, China

Uses

Jewelry and ornaments for thousands of years.

Rock tumbling

Can be tumbled with care. Porous; grit can lodge in it.

Did you know?

Much turquoise sold today is stabilized with resin, and some is dyed howlite.

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