Turquoise

Last but not least, we have Turquoise for December! Turquoise is an interesting in the same way that the color "orange" is interesting - which came first? The color or the item being named? Turquoise IS turquoise, which is to say a blue-green mineral. It can be bluer or greener rather that turquoise, and the turquoise found in Iran (typically closer to the robins egg blue or sky blue color) is used as a guiding reference for evaluating quality.  The word turquoise is from 17th century Old French turquois mean "Turkish", OR the 14th century turkeis, replaced in the 1560s with turqueise. The mineral was purportedly first brought to Europe through the Ottoman Empire, or Turkestan, or another Turkish territory. Aztecs knew it as chalchihuitl.  Turquoise is rated a six on the Mohs hardness scale, making it slightly harder than window glass. It was among the first gems to be mined, and many historic sites have been depleted, though some are still worked to this day. Most are mined by hand or