Spiderweb Turquoise

Spiderweb Turquoise Presentation

Turquoise is a complex gemstone as there were many variables in its creation that gave it the ultimate qualities it possesses today. Turquoise is a sedimentary gemstone that is formed by moisture seeping though soil that contains copper, aluminum sulfites and iron mineralization - a solution of these minerals flows downward and pools in hard back cracks and/or voids in the earth below to form a conglomerate. Turquoise forms in very few areas of the world, the different percentages of minerals, the climate of the region and variations in its formation determine the coloration and unique characteristics of each Turquoise deposit. There are definite regions of the world that produce higher quality of Turquoise than others and the southwest region of the United States is known for producing some of the finest Turquoise on earth.

Spiderweb Turquoise Nuggets - Turquoise is found in arid areas that are rich in specific metallic minerals. In this type of climate, flash storms occur which cause bursts of seepage through these minerals to form the solution that creates Turquoise conglomerate in voids beneath the earth. When the conglomerate solidifies and the moisture in the soil evaporates quickly, the conglomerate dries quickly as well to cause a cracking effect much like you would see on the earths surface in times of draught. In another period of time these open cracks get filled in with another mineral such as limonite (brown colored matrix), manganese (black colored matrix), iron (red colored matrix) or other. Another effect would be a second dose of the Turquoise solution which may cause what is known as water webbing.

Spider webbing in Turquoise Vein - Our earth is constantly shifting, it is in an endless state of evolution. Rock beneath the earth has voids in the form of cracks and the Turquoise solution as above finds its way to conglomerate in these cracks. The same fracturing effect as above could cause the webbing, also, the earth could shift to cause fracturing of the Turquoise. Some of the hardest Turquoise found in in vein - with this being said we also find very hard spiderweb Turquoise in vein material.

Spider webbing from vegetation - There are many types of plant life that have intense root systems - in arid areas where Turquoise is found plants must have an intricate root system to survive. At the Tortoise Mine we have found premature Turquoise developing amongst intricate root systems of old plant life. We believe the roots dry up and are then replaced with manganese to form what has now become black spiderweb matrix.

It is certain there are many other factors that cause irregularities of matrix configuration in Turquoise, however, there is one thing that is certain - Spiderweb Turquoise is a rarity in nature, it is enchanting in appearance and it is highly sought after by Turquoise connoisseurs as well as investors in rare gemstones. Spider webbed Matrix in Turquoise is found in less than 1/10th of 1% of high grade Turquoise! There are many different colors and matrix variations of Turquoise that will enchant your imagination, however, to us, Spiderweb Turquoise is the pinnacle of rarity and beauty! This is a presentation specifically on Spiderweb Turquoise. This presentation has a lot of educational information as well as many great examples that will help you understand why we believe Spiderweb Turquoise Gemstones are so valuable.

Natural Spiderweb Turquoise can be very valuable. There are many variables such as color of the Turquoise, color of the webbing, hardness, rarity of the Turquoise deposit, historical value and the demand for the particular type of Turquoise. The structure of the webbing is also important, a dense and unobstructed webbing pattern that has good character is highly desirable. Red Iron colored webbing is the most rare type of American Spiderweb Turquoise, black webbing is also high in demand, however, golden brown to brown colorations are very attractive thus very collectible.

American Turquoise Mines are known worldwide for the exceptional Spiderweb Turquoise that they have produced in the past. Nevada Turquoise Mines produce the majority of the highest quality American Spiderweb Turquoise, Arizona has produced a fair amount of Webbed Turquoise in the past and the Kingman Turquoise Mine is presently (2014) the only American Turquoise Mine producing substantial quantities of Spiderweb Turquoise of high enough quality to cut Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons.

Global Turquoise Mines - In approximately 1985, a vast amount of Spiderweb Turquoise was discovered in the Turquoise dumps in China. For the past several hundred years the Chinese had been discarding what they thought was inferior Turquoise as sky blue and clear Turquoise was what sold throughout Asia and the Middle East. American Turquoise Buyers bought tens of thousands of lbs of Chinese Spiderweb Turquoise that was very hard and rich in color from being out of the mines curing in the elements of the earths surface. Today, natural Spiderweb Turquoise from China or any other country has become very hard to find. Buyers beware, most Turquoise coming out of China today is Fake Turquoise. Tibetan Turquoise mines have also produced a lot of beautiful spiderweb Turquoise, as have the Egyptian Turquoise mines and Persian Turquoise mines.

Spiderweb Turquoise in the Rough

Natural Number 8 Spiderweb Turquoise Clam

Above and to the left is a photo showing an old collection of Darling Darlene Spiderweb Turquoise. Here you see Spiderweb Turquoise Nuggets and a few Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons from the same mine. This American Turquoise Mine was discovered in the early 1970’s by Joe Barredo, the Darling Darlene mine produced some spiderweb Turquoise. It ranges in color from shades of green and light to dark blues. This Turquoise Mine was worked by Joe and his son-in-law throughout the 70’s. This mine produced a good amount of water webbed Turquoise as well as Turquoise with multiple colors of spider webbing ranging from green to golden brown limonite and on occasion a dark brown to black spider webbed matrix was found, however, this is very rare.

Above and to the right is a beautiful specimen from the Number 8 Turquoise Mine, this is a fossil of an ancient clam that was filled with Turquoise. This is an outstanding example of Number 8 Spiderweb Turquoise with golden brown limonite matrix. Number 8 also produced dark brown and rarely black spiderweb matrix.

The Number 8 Turquoise Mine was located in Eureka County north of Carlin Nevada, it was discovered in 1925 and first mined in 1929. The mine was closed as a result of the discovery of gold in 1976 when the Newton Gold Company claimed the area. In its prime, the Number 8 mine produced some of the largest nuggets of turquoise ever found. In 1954 the largest nugget was excavated, measuring about 31 inches long, 17 inches wide and 7 inches thick - it weighed 150 pounds. Number 8 Spiderweb Turquoise was a giant producer of Spiderweb Turquoise, however, it has been closed for almost 40 years and has become very scarce.

Authentic Red Mountain Spiderweb Rough Turquoise

Above and to the left is a small assortment of Red Mountain Spiderweb Turquoise. The Red Mountain Turquoise Mine is located in Lander County, Nevada. This mine has produced a large quantity of high grade Spiderweb Turquoise and the best Red Mountain Turquoise rivals some of the highest quality Spiderweb Turquoise produced by the best mines in the American Southwest. The spider web Turquoise from the Red Mountain Turquoise mine is some of the finest, only compared with Lander Blue and Bisbee Turquoise. This mine is known for both the quantity of small high-grade nuggets that it produces and the beautiful dark blue Red Mountain Spider Web Turquoise Cabochons that its thin vein material produces. The top grade gem material from the mine is a hard compact spider web and is equal to any of the classic Turquoise mines such as Number Eight, Lone Mountain or Nevada Blue. Besides a dark blue color with a dark matrix the mine produces colors in the blue green range with a stunning gold or rust-colored spider webbing

Above and to the right is a photo of real high grade Chinese Spiderweb Turquoise from the past. This Turquoise is from the Hubei region of China, many call this type of Turquoise Cloud Mountain today. In ancient times the Chinese considered Turquoise with matrix to be inferior as they believed clear blue Turquoise was pure. So, for hundreds, if not thousands, of years the Chinese put all of the Turquoise with matrix in open dumps and it sat out in the elements and cured. The oxygen, heat and so on made it hard, rich in color and an exceptional grade of Turquoise that will portably never be found again. In the 1980's this stockpile of Turquoise was discovered by American Traders of the Southwest, it was purchased for very little and shipped to the United States. It is now in the hands of Turquoise Collectors and the American public set in Indian Jewelry. This type of Turquoise is very desirable and the highest grade will become priceless very soon.

Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons

Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons are cut and polished stones made from the rough Spiderweb Turquoise material. They are a great way to collect high grade Turquoise without having to pay an arm and a leg to get the gemstones you desire. We have made an extensive presentation on Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons that includes many pages on specific types of Spiderweb Cabochons that includes related information and photos - make certain you check it out!

Above is a group of Bisbee Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons that includes several unique types of spiderweb matrix found in Bisbee Turquoise. Bisbee Turquoise is known to be some of the finest Turquoise that has ever come out of the ground, worldwide! It's spectacular spectrum of sky blue colorations are unreal and the chocolate brown to iron red matrix found in this material is not found anywhere else on earth. We have an information page that many has great photos and a some good information you will enjoy - check it out! Also, learn more about Bisbee Turquoise on it's home page.

Above and to the left is a photo showing six beautiful Blue Wind Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons. The Blue Wind Turquoise Mine was short lived as there was only about 150 lbs of high grade Spiderweb Turquoise found. John Hartman and Tim King purchased the majority of the Spiderweb Cabochons from Dick Edgar in 1978 and these six cabs are from that very collection. We have an informational page on Blue Wind Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons - Check it out!

Above and to the right are three Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons from the Turquoise Mountain Mine located near Kingman, Arizona. This group of Turquoise Cabs came from rock that was taken out of the mine in 2012. The Colbaugh's are still producing a small amount of this beautiful Turquoise and now is the time to be collecting it if you are interested, it is available and we do have it available at our online store - Check out our Kingman Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons.

Pilot Mountain Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochon

Above and to the left is a photo of four Morenci Spider webbed Turquoise Cabochons. Morenci Turquoise is another fine quality Turquoise from our past, the mine stopped producing Turquoise approximately 1978, however, when it was producing some outrageous Turquoise came out of the mine. Above are a few examples of some of the spiderweb Turquoise cabochons that were cut from this fine Turquoise.

Above and to the right is a beautiful Turquoise gemstone from the Pilot Mountain Turquoise Mine located Northeast of Tonopah, Nevada. The Pilot Mountains have produced some of the finest Turquoise that has come out of Nevada and a lot of Spider webbed Vein Turquoise. The color range of the Turquoise coming from this area ranges from greens to deep, deep blues with exceptional gold to reddish brown matrix.

Above and to the left is a Spiderweb Bisbee Turquoise Gold Ring. We invite you to visit our Spiderweb Turquoise Rings page, there are many other great photos of Spiderweb Turquoise Rings along with a great deal of informative information. Collecting Spiderweb Turquoise in the rough or in cabochons is great if you can find it, however, there are many like ourselves who have been hunting for it for years so it is very hard to find. You can find high grade Turquoise made up in quality Jewelry much easier.

Above and to the right is an outstanding Spiderweb Turquoise Bracelet produced from Durango Silver Company. We invite you to view our Spiderweb Turquoise Bracelets page where you will find a good amount of information as well as photos of Spiderweb Turquoise Bracelets. Another page you will appreciate if you like these two pages is our Spiderweb Turquoise Jewelry page, check it out!

In the photo above you see a good variation of Spiderweb Turquoise types from the Tortoise Mine of Nevada.

Above and to the left is a Damele Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochon from material that came out of the mine in the 1970's. This is natural yellow Turquoise which is very scarce. We uncovered this collection in the 1990's. The material that we have is natural and runs from yellow to lime green in color with black spiderweb matrix. It can be found in our online store in the Turquoise Cabochons section.

Above and to the right is a cabochon from the Tortoise Turquoise Mine. This is Tortoise Lime Green Spiderweb Turquoise, the color is amazing and the jet black manganese spiderweb matrix is mesmerizing! We mined this Turquoise in 2008 and got some spectacular Spiderweb Turquoise as well as Spiderweb Variscite, it runs from white, brown, caramel, lime, emerald, light blue to dark blue Turquoise with rich black spiderweb matrix. We often have Tortoise Spiderweb Turquoise available on the Durango Silver Online Store.

Damale Spiderweb Turquoise

Above is a collage of Damele Spiderweb Turquoise in cut cabochons. Checkout our page on Damele Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons. When you find any Spiderweb Turquoise in the rough, one is Agway hopeful that it will come out as good as you desire once it is cut into a gemstone ready to set into a piece of Jewelry. We have been cutting Turquoise for over forty years and have found that most of the time 1 out of 100 cut stones is a "10", we feel that the best way to buy high grade Turquoise is in the form of cabochons as you only have to pay for the exact stone that you like. These stones range from white to Chartreuse in color and all from the same Mine within feet from each other - amazing!

Spiderweb Turquoise Wanted!
We buy High-grade Rough Spiderweb Turquoise - We sell high-grade Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons

If you have high grade Spiderweb Turquoise in the rough, we are interested in what you have! We pay top dollar for authentic, natural, high-grade Spiderweb Turquoise rough!
Contact John Hartman at 970 375-2401 and/or send photos of your material to John@DurangoSilver.com

Also see our Spiderweb Turquoise Cabochons presentation

This document was created by Durango Silver Company on 9-15-2014.

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We hope you have enjoyed our presentation on Spiderweb Turquoise and we also hope you will think of Durango Silver Company
when considering your next Turquoise Jewelry purchase.