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Turquoise
The stone has been known by many names, but the word turquoise evolved either from the French word for Turkish (Turquois) or the French word for dark-blue stone (pierre turquin). At any rate, the French were mistaken: turquoise (the stone) does not occur in Turkey. However, it was traded at Turkish bazaars to merchants who then sold it to Europe. Turquoise (the color) is widely found in the decorative tiles adorning churches and mosques, as well as homes, in Turkey for hundreds of years.
Recently turquoise, like most other opaque gems, has been degraded by the introduction of treatments, imitations, and synthetics onto the market. A common jewelry material these days is structured turquoise, where in powdered stone is stabilized in a resin matrix. Genuine untreated turquoise is still available, though. American Indian jewelry is avidly collected by turquoise fans, especially when it contains stones from a certain source, such as the Sleeping Beauty mine.
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