Monday, December 3, 2018

December's Birth Stone and a FREEBIE for you!!



December’s birthstones offer three ways to fight the winter blues: tanzanite, zircon and turquoise – all of them, appropriately, best known for beautiful shades of blue. But for simplicity sake, we will stick with turquoise for this post.

Cultures around the world have admired the distinct color of turquoise since ancient times.

The earliest evidence comes from ancient Egyptian tombs, which contain elaborate turquoise jewelry dating back to 3000 BCE. Egyptians set turquoise in gold necklaces and rings, used it as inlay and carved it into scarabs. Most notably, King Tut’s iconic burial mask was extravagantly adorned with turquoise.

The oldest turquoise mines are located in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. One sat near an ancient temple dedicated to Hathor, the Greek goddess of love and joy – worshiped as a protector in the desert and as the patron saint of mining. Egyptians called turquoise mefkat, which meant “joy” and “delight.”

Ancient Persians decorated extensively with turquoise, often engraving it with Arabic script. Turquoise covered palace domes because its sky blue color represented heaven. (This later inspired the use of turquoise in buildings like the Taj Mahal.)

Believing turquoise guaranteed protection, Persians adorned their daggers and horses’ bridles with it. Their name for turquoise, pirouzeh, meant “victory.”

Persians wore turquoise jewelry around their necks and in their turbans. They believed it offered protection by changing color to warn of pending doom. (Turquoise can, in fact, fade if exposed to sunlight or solvents.)

When Turkish traders introduced this “Persian blue” stone to Europe via the Silk Road in the 13th century, they influenced the gem’s name. The word turquoise comes from the French pierre tourques for “Turkish stone.”

Meanwhile, pre-Colombian Native Americans mined turquoise throughout the present-day southwestern United States. Shamans used it in sacred ceremonies to commune with the spirit of the sky.

Apache Indians believed that attaching turquoise to bows (and later, firearms) improved a hunter’s accuracy.

Turquoise became valuable in Native American trade, which carried North American material toward South America. Consequently, Aztecs cherished turquoise for its protective power, and used it on ceremonial masks, knives and shields.

The turquoise-studded silver jewelry that’s commonly associated with Native Americans today originated in the 1880s, when a white trader convinced a Navajo craftsman to transform a silver coin into turquoise jewelry.

While many historic turquoise deposits have depleted over the gem’s long lifetime, some small mine operations (mainly in the U.S.) still produce fine material today.
Source: American Gem Society

Come check out this beautiful Turquoise and Copper Dragon Bracelet at 
Handmade Jewelry Haven.
Dragon Bracelet
Need some great birthday gift ideas for your 'all time fav' born this month? Get your FREE December Gift Guide here!




I love to read comments so please, leave one here! To have your comment published, please leave your name so we know where to find you and read and comment on your blog too!
Jewel Blog Sig photo Jewel Sig_zpsoi88flxw.png

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

13 comments:

  1. (@_-) https://wednesday2018.blogspot.com/2018/12/december-05-2018.html

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh my goodness, that is a gorgeous turquoise bracelet. I must show my hubby your website. ~hehehe~ & ~ho ho ho~

    ReplyDelete
  3. You've got some stunning shades of Turquoise there, Lisa! While I do not personally love to wear jewellery, I love the idea of gifting them to friends and family. Love your beautiful collection. <3

    ReplyDelete
  4. Turquoise is such a beautiful color. Enjoyed reading the history and it's cultural significance.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love turquoise and that bracelet is unbelievable

    ReplyDelete
  6. Isn't that gorgeous!
    Thanks for linking up at http://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2018/12/gangly-and-gorgeous-blue-heron.html

    ReplyDelete
  7. The one color I like to work in with Turquoise is yellow. Then add either black or yellow with.
    Coffee is on

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is beautiful, what a great colour :) Thanks for joining us at The Wednesday Link Up. #WednesdayBlogHop

    ReplyDelete
  9. Love Turquoise and thank you so much for sharing the history.

    Glad to see you link up with #WordlessWednesday.

    https://natashamusing.com/2018/12/cotton-our-grand-old-lady-wordlesswednesday/?fbclid=IwAR2M_p7FPwyY5GZCu2aZbgIExZxrjM3WTnb0nO2RNCOBG-HybMwXKqgzoKw

    ReplyDelete
  10. wow that turqoist blue is amazing and enchanting and I love the bracelet that would be perfect for anyone.Also has a great story behind it with this article and the birth month.good work Lisa keep it up!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. This blog post shares good information on turquoise stone. This post is beneficial for those who are looking for such information or looking to buy blue gemstones. Thanks for sharing this with us!

    ReplyDelete