Insouciant Studios Lakeside Necklace Natural Turquoise and Garnet

Insouciant Studios "Lakeside" Necklace is a substantial rustic piece with a polished vibe. Lustrous natural garnets and large vibrant nuggets of natural turquoise in matrix are accented with natural tourmalines. Sterling silver construction and a sterling spring lobster closure finish this quality piece. The turquoise in this piece ranges from bright blue green through to a deeper olive shade.

Measurements

The necklace is 21 1/2 inches (54.7 cm) long from end to end.

About the Materials:

Turquoise (CuAl6(PO4)4(OH)8 *4H2O) has a distinctive blue color, a resinous or waxy luster, and a hardness of 6 on the Mohs scale. Deeper blue-green and green shades of the stone contain more Zinc than Copper, and have the name faustite. Turquoise can be opaque (commonly seen) or transparent. [Mineralogy, Perkins and Mindat.org]

Tourmaline [(Na, Ca)(Fe, Mg, Al, Li)3Al6(BO3)3 Si6)18(OH)4] is a highly variable mineral with a hardness of 7 to 7.5 on the Mohs scale. It occurs in many colors, including black, blue, green, pink, and colorless. The color is often zoned (more than one color in a crystal or gem). It is commonly associated with quartz and potassium feldspar, and is structurally related to beryl, cordierite, and dioptase. It is one of the few common Boron minerals.

Garnets are an entire group of minerals with the general formula [(A3)(B2)Si3O12]. Colors in garnets range from black, red, pink, violet, to yellow, brown, and green. Pyrope and Almandine are notable for their rich red colors, while Spessartine is pink/ violet, and Grossular and Andradite display yellow, brown, and green shades. Uvarovite is a distinctive emerald green color. Garnets have a hardness of around 7 on the Mohs scale and a resinous luster.