Common - Rare High Grade

Unlike traditional turquoise that forms in hard rock veins, it typically occurs as individual nuggets inside clay deposits. Sonoran is also unlike whats commonly thought of as Turquoise due to its bright lime green & deep olive green matrix; as well as the beautiful turquoise matrix mixed in. *Verde Valley Turquoise is very often confused for Sonoran because of the very similar stunning green matrix they both display.

Very Rare

The Blackjack Mine produces stones famous for their dramatic, dark black chert matrix contrasted against intense ribbons of blue, green, and occasionally vibrant orange. Depending on the mineral concentrations where it forms, the stone can range from deep, rich blues (driven by copper) to intense greens (driven by iron) -the vibrant orange ribbons or hues come from iron oxide minerals (such as limonite or hematite. Blackjack is one of the hardest of the turquoise varieties making it so it does not need to be stabalized like most turquoise. *With the exception of Varascite & Opal; Turquoise is one of the softest stones on the MOH scale, meaning most of it NEEDS to be stabelized in order to use it in heirloom quality pieces.

Common - Rare High Grade

Another Otteson Family owned mine - Royston Turquoise known for its striking range of deep sky-blue to dark green colors. Individual stones often blend both blue and green shades alongside a distinct, rich golden-brown or dark brown matrix. Royston has multiple claims / ‘varieties the most commonly used are -Royston Ribbon Aka Boulder Turq., Easter Blue, Royal Blue, Montezuma, Bunker Hill & then the smallest ‘hat mine’ of the claims but also the highest grade -Oscar Wehrend royston *Pic is a Gem High Grade ‘Polychrome’ Royston Turquoise Cab weighing 11.2 Carats priced $300 (no larger than a 1”)

Extremely Rare

Much of Bisbee‘s high-quality turquoise came from a sizable deposit encountered in the Lavender Pit in the late 1950s. At the time of its ‘discovery’ its gem grade quality was not known yet & alot of it was tossed out as just a ‘by product’ of the copper mine in which it came from. The Bisbee Mine is no longer in operatiom and has not been since 1975 - making the small amount of the high grade ‘brilliant blue’ turquoise the 3rd rarest American mined Turquoise. #1 Rare American Turquoise is Lander Blue (Nevada) #2 Rare American Turquoise is Lone Mountian (Nevada)