Turquoise Untreated, natural. Origin Arizona, purchased in the rough rock at one of the productive Turquoise mines of that state, by gemstone merchants from Jaipur Rajasthan in west India, taken in the rough to Jaipur and cut there into the flattish cylindrical bead shape seen here in the above Turquoise Untreated necklace.
This native-cut flattened cylinder bead shape is very useful in this context, for uniformity in either shape or colour, outside a general consistency, is not required, resulting in not only an interesting look, but also in minimal wastage.
A couple of points to note: 1. the above Turquoise Untreated bead cut is seriously ancient; such cuts of beads of Turquoise and Lapis excavated in Bactria in northern Afghanistan have been dated back well over two thousand years; 2. the Turquoise is natural, untreated, and that is unusual, most Turquoise on the marketplace having had its colour “fixed”.
(Turquoise is a rock and is porous, and its natural colour can be blotched by exposure to chemicals such as exist in detergents, perfumes. Better when it is untreated to keep it away from chemical-infused products, and to give it a wipe with a damp cloth after wear.)
The gemstone Coral is of excellent deep orange-red, Mediterranean origin, old beads from South India, handcut. South India has a tradition of gifting bead strands of small gemstone Corals; the gemstone has always been appreciated in that part of the world. There was trade in Mediterranean Coral between Ancient Rome and the princely states of South India.






















