Kingman Turquoise Sterling Silver Cufflinks

Kingman Turquoise

Family run today, the Kingman mine is one of three prehistoric turquoise mining sites in Arizona. The mine produces every colour of turquoise from blue to green, and varying volumes of matrix.

TURQUOISE

The name was coined from Turkey, where the first "Persian Stones" were mined. Now sourced from Asia and the United States, the most prized colours are the "dark greens" of Tibetan/Asian stones and the "sky blues" such as those sourced from Sleeping Beauty Mine, Arizona. Used by the Native American Navajo during vision quests, it is a stone of guidance and protection.

All of our turquoise is stabilised unless otherwise stated in the main listing. Stones that are naturally very soft or porous tend to be stabilised for jewellery. Modern methods of stabilisation involve injecting epoxy resin into the stone in a high pressure oven, which seals all the cracks and pores. It also stops the gem from changing over time - people who wear non-stabilised Turquoise often complain about their stone darkening and going green over time (this is due to natural body oils reacting with the minerals, causing the colour to change.) Some stabilised stones are chemically dyed at the same time, however colour enhancements are never made by Two Skies, which is in line with gem industry standards - you can be assured the colours displayed in our stones are 100% natural. 

Why do silversmiths use 925%? Measured in parts per thousand, pure silver (999%) is too soft so silversmiths mix it with other metals to make it it harder. The purer the metal, the higher the polish, but it is a lot softer (thus less durable). The harder the metal is, the more hard wearing the jewellery is, but it will also tarnish easier as it has less silver content. Therefore, the silver industry set a standard percentage content for fine silver (925); what we know as "sterling silver". At Two Skies our silversmiths use 925 (sterling) silver for ring shafts and moving parts, and a very high 950% on our stones settings, which enables us to get a strong jewellery item with a beautiful and secure stone setting, without any gluing. Each piece of our jewellery is hand stamped with our Two Skies Hallmark alongside the recognised industry 925 Hallmark.

Relax - you can shop with confidence at Two Skies.  If you change your mind, simply get in touch to let us know you want to return one or all of your items within 7 days of receiving your order, and we'll get a replacement/refund arranged - no quibbles!