Turquoise Blade Focal and Tiger Eye Necklace

Necklace #30

Length: 21”
This necklace features a beautiful genuine Turquoise “blade” focal surrounded by faceted Tiger Eye and Turquoise spacers and squares along with two perfect Pearls. Shiny stainless steel spacers and a ½” lobster clasp hold this piece together in just the right way.
Turquoise and Tiger Eye worn together makes a strong statement. The stones combined offset each other as a pop of color that shows off the rich brown of Tiger Eye and the deep hue of Turquoise blue.

Turquoise has a vast and important history.
Turquoise is a blue-green copper-aluminum phosphate mineral much associated with ancient Egypt. Its English name, which has cognates in most European languages, probably derives from its association with Turkestan, a source of this semiprecious gemstone, or with the Turkish Empire, an agent in its (Turquoise) historic importation to the West. It is a relatively rare stone, mined today primarily in the American Southwest, Iran, and China; the sources of turquoise most easily available to the ancient Egyptians were in the southwest Sinai, from deposits that apparently were long ago substantially depleted. The most important ancient turquoise mines in the Sinai are found in two locations: Wadi Maghara and Serabit el-Khadim.

Above is an excerpt by: Deborah Schorsch
Department of Objects Conservation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, April 2018

Tiger’s eye has an optical property called chatoyancy, which gives it a smooth, wavy shimmer and vertical luminescent bands. When polished, the stone shows alternating bands of lustrous and duller color. The appearance of tiger’s eye can vary depending on the incident light, with the dark bands sometimes becoming lustrous and golden and vice versa.