Turquoise

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Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrated phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical system CuAl6(PO4)4(OH)eight·4H2O. It is uncommon and precious in finer grades and has been prized as a gemstone and ornamental stone for thousands of years attributable to its specific hue. Like maximum different opaque gemstones, turquoise has been devalued by means of the introduction of treatments, imitations and synthetics into the market. The robin’s egg blue or sky blue coloration of the Persian Turquoise mined near the current city of Neyshabur has been used as a guiding reference for evaluating turquoise first-rate.

The gemstone has been known by way of many names. Pliny the Elder referred to the mineral as callais (from Ancient Greek κάλαϊς) and the Aztecs knew it as chalchihuitl. The word turquoise dates to the 17th century and springs from the French turquois which means "Turkish" due to the fact the mineral changed into first added to Europe thru Turkey. However, according to Etymonline, the word dates to the 14th century with the form turkeis, that means "Turkish", which was replaced with turqueise from French in the 1560s. According to the same source, the gemstone become first added to Europe from Turkestan or any other Turkish territory.