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Turquoise of stunning beauty
has been mined in Iran (formerly known as
Persia) for over 5000 years. Although
Iranian production accounts for just a small
proportion of the world's total output, its
turquoise still sets the standard for
quality. In Iran, turquoise is
called “Ferozah," which translated means
"victory." It is Iran's national
gemstone. It is believed that
the first specimens of turquoise to which
the Europeans were exposed probably came
from Iran via trading posts in Turkey.
One must wonder, if the Europeans who gave
this gemstone its name new of its true
origin, would you be reading the Persquoise
Guide? The best of Iranian
turquoise is rich blue, with less matrix
than most turquoise mined elsewhere.
It is also distinguished by white patches.
Turquoise is never a hard mineral, but
Iranian turquoise is usually harder than
turquoise mined in other locations.
Today, only the turquoise coming from the
Southwest U.S. comes close to Iranian
turquoise in color richness and beauty.
The Persians classified
turquoise into three quality groups:
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Angushtari.
This is first quality, suitable for
the finest jewelry. These
stones had the rich blue "Persian
turquoise" color with little marking
or matrix.
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Barkhaneh.
This is second-quality turquoise,
much like Angushtari but with more
markings and matrix.
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Arabi. These
stones were considered third-rate
due to a pale blue or green shade or
unwanted speckles. (Spots in
Persian turquoise tend to be white,
not black.)
Turquoise is commercially mined in Iran in
just one location: a section of the
Ali-mersai mountain range, outside of the
city of Mashhad. Mashhad is the
capital of the Khorasan province. |
