Mexican Turquoise Oval Cabochon

This oval Mexican turquoise cabochon offers smooth and even natural sky-blue color with very little matrix, making it an accessible and more affordable alternative to the increasingly hard-to-find (and expensive) Sleeping Beauty turquoise. Make it the centerpiece of a pendant, use a pair for earrings or combine it with complementary-color gemstones in a multi-stone design. Turquoise is one of the birthstones for December. Turquoise is a soft, opaque gemstone that takes a good polish. Its sky blue color comes from the presence of copper; green tones are provided by iron traces. Turquoise sometimes has a rock matrix and varying shades of gray, brown or black veining due to inclusions or oxide stains. Natural turquoise is untreated, chemically or otherwise. Treatments for turquoise include electrochemical enhancement to improve color and stabilization with resin that darken and harden gemstone. Individual types of turquoise are usually named according to their source.