Turquoise is a wonderful jewelry grade, semi-precious stone, whose blue color is often mesmerizing and hypnotic to gaze upon. No two cuts of this material are ever identical, and the various blue shades are stunning additions for any night on the town. Turquoise jewelry can be worn with most casual outfits, or as a finishing touch for an expensive night out. As we know, it is great is the form of accessories and bracelets.

But the problem is, turquoise is fragile and hence, easily scratched.

The softness of turquoise means that it should always be worn carefully, and you should consider removing it before participating in any activity that could scratch it. Unlike harder gemstones, turquoise only has a hardness of 5-6 on the Mohs scale. That’s only a shade harder than amber, for example.

Do not use a commercial cleaning solution because it might be too harsh on the surface. Avoid contact between your turquoise jewelry and oil, grease, perfume, nail polish removers, hair sprays, and any other chemicals that could ruin their appearance.

After wearing turquoise, you should clean it with a soft, dry cloth, and then store it separately from other gems that may scratch it if they came into contact, since turquoise is so soft.

Finding a good quality turquoise jewelry piece

A common misconception is that turquoise is mostly “Native American.” Sure, turquoise is highly regarded among many native American tribes, and therefore features in many of their crafts and artworks, but it has been around much longer.

During the days of Ancient Egypt, turquoise was revered by the Egyptians, and worn by both males and females. Even the pharaohs wanted to be buried with it.

You should look for what appeals to you visually, and so long as it is within your budget range, there is no reason why you should exclude turquoise from your jewelry collection. And turquoise is among the lesser priced gems on the market.

Turquoise can be found in many places, such as flea markets, and merchant websites on the Internet. You can find older turquoise pieces at these places, but it is advisable to view them in person if you are looking for a specific design or type. Boutiques and jewelry stores usually have reasonably priced turquoise jewelry in their stock. Otherwise, rough turquoise beads and cabochons can be found aplenty at many sites online. There is also an imitation form of turquoise, a mineral called howlite. Howlite is often dyed to look like turquoise because of its porous nature and very similar patterning to turquoise.