Turquoise 10mm round cabochon, Australian gemstone, from the Andamooka region of South Australia, fine natural pale blue with natural inclusions of the gemstone’s mother rock. Cut in Adelaide, the ring setting created and handmade for it in Sydney, the Turquoise professionally bezel set by a master Sydney gemstone setter, this is a very Australian item of fine jewellery, fairly unusual in these days.
The above Turquoise 10mm cabochon is a natural gemstone, untreated and not dyed, simply cut, polished and given a superficial surface waxing. Turquoise in its natural state is an unstable gemstone. It is one of the gemstones classified as a rock, rather than a crystal or an organic, and is porous: it will absorb, and some of the materials it can absorb will damage its colour, darkening it considerably or splotching it. The chemicals in many modern commercial products, such as in perfumes, sun-cream lotions, detergents, the chlorine of pool cleaning products, can all have a negative effect on the blue of natural untreated Turquoise.
Indeed, with the best will in the world, and with the best care possible, the natural blue of Turquoise will inevitably, slowly, darken to a greeny-blue with wear, and that should be regarded, as the Tibetans do concerning this, their most sacred gemstone, as a natural lovely process.
The best way to care for natural Turquoise is to keep it away from chemicals, and to give it a regular wipe with a damp cloth.