How to clean it
Wipe with a dry or barely damp cloth. Never soak, never ultrasonic — turquoise is porous and absorbs whatever it touches.
Sky blue to green, often with dark matrix veining
Turquoise
The birthstone for December.
Is Turquoise a birthstone?
Yes. Turquoise is the modern birthstone for December.
By zodiac sign it belongs to Sagittarius .
Properties
Composition
Hydrated copper aluminium phosphate (CuAl₆(PO₄)₄(OH)₈·4H₂O)
Hardness (Mohs)
5–6
Crystal system
Triclinic
Colour
Sky blue to green, often with dark matrix veining
Mined in
Iran, USA (Arizona, Nevada), China, Egypt
Worth knowing
Porous enough to absorb oils and change colour over years of wear — some cultures read that shift as meaningful.
History
Mined in Sinai from 3000 BCE; central to Persian and Ancestral Puebloan jewellery.
Practical
Caring for Turquoise
How to tell it is real
Most affordable turquoise is resin-stabilised, which is normal. Dyed howlite is the outright fake: scratch an inconspicuous spot and dyed material shows white beneath.
One general rule covers most mistakes: never store stones loose together. Diamond at 10 on the Mohs scale scratches everything else you own, and it does not need much contact to do it.
What that hardness means in practice
Softer than household dust. Better in earrings or a pendant than in a ring, where it takes constant knocks.
Traditional associations
Turquoise is traditionally the classic travel-protection stone, also linked to plain speech. In chakra systems it is placed at the Throat, and in elemental correspondence it is assigned to Air.
These are cultural associations recorded across various traditions, not claims about physical effects. The composition and hardness above are measurable; this paragraph is folklore, and worth reading as such.
Questions
What is Turquoise made of?
Hydrated copper aluminium phosphate (CuAl₆(PO₄)₄(OH)₈·4H₂O), crystallising in the triclinic system.
Which month is Turquoise the birthstone for?
December.
Where does Turquoise come from?
Iran, USA (Arizona, Nevada), China, Egypt.
How do I clean Turquoise?
Wipe with a dry or barely damp cloth. Never soak, never ultrasonic — turquoise is porous and absorbs whatever it touches.
How can I tell if Turquoise is real?
Most affordable turquoise is resin-stabilised, which is normal. Dyed howlite is the outright fake: scratch an inconspicuous spot and dyed material shows white beneath.
Can I wear it every day?
At 5–6 on the Mohs scale, not in a ring. Keep it to pieces that take fewer knocks.