Sleeping Beauty turquoise is a unique, beautiful light to medium blue color. It usually has few spider webbing matrix lines. For these reasons it is highly prized and has a special place in the world of turquoise.
This turquoise gets its name from a mountain near where it is mined. The mountain looks like a sleeping woman.
This turquoise is collected from the Sleeping Beauty mine ,which is near the town of Globe in Arizona.A small group of workers there prepare the stones and ship them.
This famous turquoise was discovered by accident while mining for copper and gold. It is common to find turquoise with copper, but even in rough form these stones are beautiful blue. Right away the mine owners started changing operations to include the mining of turquoise. The prices for this turquoise have steadily gone up since then.
It is one of the most valued forms of turquoise for jewelry makers. It can often be polished without any treatment or stabilizing. From the 1950's to the present Sleeping Beauty has been popular with Native American jewelry makers, especially the people of Zuni Pueblo. However it was even sought after among Italian cameo makers.
The stunning blue color is the birthstone for December. It is also often paired with coral.
To get this famous stone, the Globe area is often visited by people dealing in turquoise and the public. Like other mines it will run out in time, and the value of this turquoise will continue to go up. As with other types of turquoise, being unique often brings added fame. Even among the most highly cherished types of turquoise however,
Sleeping Beauty turquoise holds a special place.
