Currently All David Rosales Jewelry Requires 6 Weeks To Make
Royston Turquoise is one of our absolute favorites. Even though it can be difficult to find, we are always on the lookout for beautiful pieces of it. Gary Glandon, my father, and our in-house silversmith, makes a lot of his turquoise jewelry with stones from this mine. He specifically searches for high-quality stones that really connect to him. The look of these pieces is so distinctive that they don’t typically last very long in our store. So what’s the big deal with Royston Turquoise?
Like the majority of American turquoise mines, Royston is located in Nevada. It has been mined for over a hundred years and is today owned by the Otteson family. While it is made up of a number of different mines, Royal Blue is the most significant. While still quite popular, it is following the trend of most American mines with only a relatively small amount of material being produced. Fortunately, there are still some high-quality stones that are coming out of this mine. American turquoise is sought after around the world and is, unfortunately, becoming depleted. There is some supply of Royston floating around the market and we are always keeping our eyes peeled for high-quality stones.
Royston Turquoise is known for its immense color variations, which can range from blue to a deep green in a single stone. While this green-blue is what we typically see, some can have a straight sky blue color that could be mistaken for other mines. These different colors are always intense with a lot of depth. Royston Turquoise is almost always found with a very contrasting brown matrix intertwined throughout the stone. This combination makes for a diverse and exotic-look that is not often seen. The intense color and beauty of these stones makes it often easy for even uneducated turquoise collectors to tell they are of high quality.
Besides the regular cabochons, Royston can be found in another form as well. Boulder Turquoise, also known as Royston Ribbon, gives this stone an entirely different style. This is where the stone is cut in the opposite direction so you get a vein of turquoise running through its brown host stone. Sometimes a single vein will have the same blue-green color variations seen in regular Royston. Throughout the many years of carrying this stone, we have found that there are few people in our area (outside of those knowledgeable about turquoise) who have seen it. Boulder is another very contrasting stone that is becoming difficult to find.
These extensive variations give Royston Turquoise its own unique look. There are very few other types that can emulate the diversity found in this stone. We love it because its natural look has so much personality. When you compare it to Sleeping Beauty Turquoise, Royston seems to have more character, at least in our opinion. That’s not to say that Sleeping Beauty isn’t beautiful itself. There is a reason it is the world’s most popular turquoise. Its consistent sky-blue color makes for some lovely pieces of jewelry. But its popularity has led to a massive amount of fakes on the market. Its flat blue color is easily replicated in dyes and plastics and much of the “turquoise” that you see in department stores and other outlets is not genuine. These fakes sometimes carry high prices that prey on the average customer’s lack of knowledge. Royston Turquoise, on the other hand, is not as easily faked and can have a more natural look. It’s distinctiveness and rarity means that you won’t see it very often.
Another thing to keep in mind with Royston Turquoise found at the Stagecoach is that all of our pieces are natural. More than 95% of all genuine turquoise on the market is stabilized or enhanced in some way. While there is nothing inherently wrong with some of these procedures, a purely natural stone means it is of the highest 5% quality and has not been altered by humans in any way. Because Royston Turquoise is so difficult to find, we get most of our pieces in straight cabochons directly from the miners which Gary then makes into jewelry. This means that we can choose stones with the highest quality and most beautiful colors. Though these natural stones can typically cost us quite a bit of money, we know people come to us because we put so much effort into choosing the best stones.
If you are looking for a different look that is very unusual, definitely check out Royston Turquoise. Its beautiful color variations and natural appearance make it one of the most distinguishing types of turquoise in the world. Along with this, you get a very high-quality piece that is certain to draw lots of attention. Be on the lookout for more Royston Turquoise jewelry added to our website. If we currently have any you will be able to find them here. Make sure to check back frequently to see his newest pieces. Because of its rarity and his obsession with quality, Gary is only able to make a handful of these pieces every year. Once completed, they are highly sought after and typically do not last long.
Check out our Royston Turquoise jewelry by clicking here.
