Bisbee turquoises. Where they come from and why they are rare.

Are you like me and love turquoises? I am very partial to local turquoises from Arizona that I buy directly from the mines (like in Bisbee, Kingman or Globe) and do not care at all for the cheap turquoises that come from China.

In fact, as I am writing this post, I read the news that China closed their turquoise mines. It appears that the government found out that the low benefit-cost was not worth the impact on the environment and subsequently closed down most of the mines (I guess that if the benefit-cost has been high, heck with the environment!).
It also appears that many mines were located on public land and were not paying their taxes. Unfortunately, all always come down to money… and rumor has it that they are already working at producing fake turquoises made of died concrete. Yuck. Only in China!

Back to Bisbee turquoises… earlier in June, I drove to the Southeast corner of Arizona to visit the Panterra Gallery in Bisbee. The lovely Panterra Gallery on Main Street is the newest gallery to represent Invincible Art Jewelry. Of course, I did a little pre-trip research to see if I could get an opportunity to buy some of these little blue beauties.

The Bisbee turquoises came out the famous Lavender pit and were a by-product of copper mining. This is why turquoise and copper look good together… because they are created together by Mother Nature.
The pit was opened in the 50’s and when you go to Bisbee you cannot miss it near the Copper Queen mine. It is huge! Copper mining operations ended in the mid 70‘s. Then the turquoise pit was declared depleted and was buried under 50 feet of dirt.

Bisbee Turquoises are amongst the finest turquoises in the world. There is a store called “Bisbee Blue” just at the edge of the Lavender pit where it was possible to buy Bisbee stones and finished jewelry. News flash… this store closed in May this year. Therefore, the only way to acquire Bisbee turquoise today is via private collectors or ex-miners selling their stash. Bisbee turquoises are not only beautiful, they are rare!

By asking around, I was lucky to find Don, an ex-miner who extracted the stones from the Lavender pit in the fifties. Here are a few samples of what I bought from his private collection.

Beautiful isn’t it? All the stones came with an authenticity certificate. These are natural turquoises which means they have not been stabilized, treated or colored in any way.

A note about stabilized turquoise: turquoise is a soft stone and stabilization means that the stone has been infused with a clear resin to strengthen it. Although some dye can be added in the resin, this is not always the case. Stabilized turquoise is not bad as many seam to believe.

You may wonder what am I going to do with my turquoises… I have not decided yet. Definitely make some jewelry… that I may sell in my online store or keep for myself. But either ways, I’ll share the finished products here!

A bientôt!
Patricia