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Turquoises: Paris—London—
Romance
AMONGST
the opaque stones in the long list of gems there is scarcely one, to
many tastes, lovelier than the turquoise. You might from its name think
that turquoise comes from Turkey, but actually none is found there; but
in the days when Persia supplied most of the turquoises to European
traders they came west through Turkey and hence became the
Turkey-stones.
The
mineral is not a hard one, ranking only sixth in the scale, and it is
highly porous. In colour it may be anything from a delicate sky-blue to
an indifferent green. Those most esteemed by the connoisseur are of the
first colour, but the trouble with turquoises is that their colour
cannot be relied on. Strong sunlight tends to make them fade as though
a process of "drying-out" had set in. The humour or moisture seems to
go out of the stones. As will appear, however, there are ways by which
a not particularly scrupulous dealer can get over this defect in the
turquoise. It was old Poldar, in Paris, who told me much of what I
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