MOCHISHOP

Turquoise is derived from the word Turkish – Turquoise was frequently traded in the bazaars in Turkey in the 16th Century, although it is a misconception that there was wealth of turquoise in Turkey itself.

This opaque gemstone is composed of copper and iron, and ranges in color from moss-green to duck-egg blue depending on the relative quantities of copper and iron. The bluer the turquoise the greater the ratio of copper to iron; the greener the turquoise the greater the ratio of iron to copper.

Turquoise has played a big part in the culture and costumes of many great civilizations, both New and Old World, some extant some extinct: The Aztecs, Ancient Egyptians, Tibetans, and Native Americans, to name a few.

Clearly there is something universally enchanting about turquoise that has made it consistently desirable across time and space.  There is an unearthly quality about turquoise that leads Tibetans to believe turquoise is not a stone but rather a piece of the heavens.

In AD 900, in the Maya city of Chichen Itza, the Mayans used turquoise for mosaics.  A fellow New World civilization, the Aztecs, used turquoise for religious objects such as the Mask of Tezcatlipoca, an important deity of the Aztec pantheon.

In Ad-Saharan Africa, the Ancient Egyptian goddess Hathor was alternatively know as The Lady of Turquoise and The Mistress of Turquoise.

The otherworldly appeal of turquoise is undeniable; perhaps for its strange, enchanting paradox of being both blue and green.  And neither.  You could stare at a piece of turquoise and wait eternally for either of its composite colors to dominate or come into focus.  They never will.