Dive In: 6 Irresistible Turquoise Jewelry Designs

---

Like boundless blue skies or inviting pools of tropical waters, the blues and greens of turquoise offer calming comfort and energizing warmth that make all things seem possible. Customers love to wear it, and artisans love to work with it. Here are some great examples of turquoise jewelry and what the artists have to say about their designs.

ABOVE: Jeff Fulkerson created this ring to show off a new tool he’d discovered; the project appeared in Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist January/February 2021. Photo: Jim Lawson

It’s About the Tool

Huge turquoise fan that jewelry artist Jeff Fulkerson is, he’s a huge fan of tools, too. “I love new tools,” he writes, introducing his ring shown at top, “especially ones that are innovative and solve a problem. When I came across Jim Brandvik’s precision castellated bezel jigs, I knew I had to try them out! They hold your thick bezel wire securely while you use his indexing tools to give you uniform cuts.”

The divided setting is called a castellated bezel for its resemblance to architectural battlements: picture a castle’s segmented turret tops. The bezel segments are also known as pickets. The hefty bezel holds a cab securely as it is completely surrounded by pickets, each one essentially becoming an attractively wide prong. Jeff could have set any number of different gemstones in this ring and it would have looked stunning. But the way the matrix divides this turquoise into pools of color similar in size and shape to the silver pickets makes the combination look meant to be.

Classic, Simple, and a Touch More

“Turquoise is one of those gemstones that never goes out of fashion,” Roger Halas introduces his linked bracelet project. “It has been used as a costuming element for centuries, and when it’s combined with silver, the design possibilities are as infinite as they are striking.” Roger should know. He’s been making jewelry and designing for the movies for many years.

“I’ve had this piece of Morenci turquoise for over a decade, just wait­ing for the right project. I figured I’d use it to create something simple that could be shared with aspiring metalsmiths — or with experienced metalsmiths who want to go back to the basics. The most complex work starts with fundamentals . . . and there are times when simplicity is preferable.

“When setting turquoise,” he adds, “I like to scallop the bezel, because it adds a nice touch.” He also twists some heavy gauge wire to fit around the bezel, an effect that’s often used in Native American jewelry that it isn’t very complicated, he says.

Starring Turquoise

No fewer than three times does Sam Patania make it clear: his turquoise and silver cuff is about the turquoise. “The star of this overlay bracelet is its striking cabochon, which I cut using beautiful turquoise from the Royston mining district in Nevada,” he tells us. “The rough was purchased directly from the mine by my father-in-law, Spike Flanders.” You can always buy a finished cab, too, but he includes a demo of cutting the cabochon in case you want to see how he does it.

The stone fits in with the overall design by “melding two jewelry traditions I love,” he explains. “The matrix turquoise gives it a Southwestern Native American feel, while the silver’s Modernist patterns spring from my family’s jewelry history. You could call it a Modernist Southwestern design that appeals to a woman who loves turquoise but finds Southwestern style limiting.”

And the piece’s #1 design feature? “Turquoise — it pokes you in the eye!”

From Uncut Turquoise to Cabochon

In his demo about cutting, Sam offers a lot of information about buying turquoise rough that can also help anyone appreciate the challenges a cutter faces. Here are a few of his insights:

“Typically, one pound of turquoise contains approximately 2,200 carats. If you get more than a 50% yield (1,100 carats of salable turquoise) in your cutting, you are doing very well. A yield of 25% of salable, hard, natural turquoise is usual.

“The base price for turquoise rough is usually set in terms of pounds or kilos. Prices increase if the purchaser is buying lesser quantities. Sellers charge much higher prices if the purchaser is permitted to pick pieces rather than purchases the entire lot.

“Buying turquoise (or most) rough is a dicey business. You cannot know what is inside a piece. This makes cutting both very exciting and addictive. The cutter is always full of hope that the next rock will make the entire lot worth the money spent on it!” He spreads out his risk by buying pounds at a time. He avoids rough with visibly porous or fractious turquoise. Ditto for thin veins on the surface that run out unless he can “mentally connect them inside the rock.”

The Boho Bolo

“Skinny cord styles for ladies cropping up on red carpets” are part of what’s recently shown Francesca Watson that “bolo ties have been making a fashion comeback.” Another is discovering that some of her jewelry-making heroes, like Richard Salley and Kit Carson, “have been producing gorgeous, sculptural versions that made my palms sweat.” So she challenged herself.

“This is my take on more traditional turquoise and silver versions, a sort of bohemian approach,” she writes. “A simple dimensional element and classic ball wire embellishment allow the piece to straddle the line between masculine and feminine. Depending on the stone and scale of the wire, the focal can be a bit delicate or a whole lot in your face — kind of like my home state of Texas.”

More Turquoise Jewelry Possibilities

While Kit Carson’s lively and distinctive jewelry is full of wonderful gems, what drives his work is metal, found steel in particular — and a little something extra. “I call it romancing the rust,” he tells author Terri Haag about his signature style. “The rust is what makes this stuff so interesting. People love the antiqued surfaces of my jewelry pieces and artwork, and everyone wants to know the secret of how I created the beautiful, multi-hued patina. The secret is . . . I didn’t.”

Painted and rusted steel though the cuff is, Kit sets a turquoise cabochon in the piece he demos for Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist readers. And what message does he put on this cuff? “Everything’s O.K.,” he engraves on it. Coincidence? I think not!

Merle White is Editor-in-Chief of Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist.