The Kingman turquoise and its fifty shades of blue

Among the semi-precious stones, there is one that has fascinated the whole world for hundreds of years. It is an intense blue stone with a thousand shades and worked as an ornament by many civilizations, turquoise is certainly the stone that everyone must offer himself one day.

HARPO : your spot to find real American turquoise

If you know HARPO, then you know that the Native American jewelry we present in our store and on our e-shop is made by Native jewelers from the Southwest of the United States. All the beautiful jewels these silversmith make are in real turquoise and sterling silver. This allows us to offer in our Parisian store and on our website, a very large selection of jewelry made of the most beautiful blue stone: the turquoise!

Some people know it, others have yet to discover it (and lucky you, that's what we're here for!) but most of all, many people are unaware of the incredible possibilities of colors offered by real American turquoises.

Kingman turquoise: history and location

Kingman is first of all the name of a town located in the northwest of Arizona, not far from the border with Nevada. On Kingman outskirts, in the Mineral Park District, are located the three mines from which Kingman turquoise is extracted:

The Kingman mine (the main one)
Ithaca Peak Mine
Turquoise Mountain Mine

Kingman turquoise is steeped in history and is considered the oldest American turquoise discovered by man: the Natives of the Southwestern United States are said to have discovered the mine over 1,000 years ago, and this turquoise would have been at the heart of the Native culture's jewelry designs.

It was between the late 1880s and early 1900s that this mining area was exploited and Kingman turquoise was marketed. To this day, this beautiful genuine turquoise with its varied hues is highly prized by Native American jewelers, international collectors and simply lovers of beautiful semi-precious stones!

Among the large amount of turquoise that the Mineral Park District produces, high grade natural Kingman turquoise is very rare and appears to represent less than 1% of the mine's current production. High grade natural Kingman turquoise is therefore very valuable. This type of stone has only been found every 30 years or so while the mine has been in operation, and at HARPO we may have a few pieces of jewelry made from this high grade Kingman from time to time.

The Kingman turquoise : a stone of many hues

In order to introduce you in more detail to the high-end Native American jewelry we have at HARPO, let's start with one of the queens of Arizona: Kingman turquoise!

What we especially love about this American turquoise is the very wide range of hues and dies it offers. You can see for yourself among our wide selection of turquoise rings, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, belt buckles...

Discover it here

At HARPO you will find sterling silver rings set with a uniformly light blue Kingman turquoise, silver and Kingman turquoise pendants with very light dies (going from white to ochre), while some silver and Kingman turquoise bracelets offer darker and more intense dies. You may even be surprised to find real Kingman turquoise jewelry with a hue closer to water green than the famous "turquoise blue" that is wrongly believed to be one and only tone turquoise stone offers… But believe us, they are many many different blues in American turquoise!

The Kingman Spiderweb turquoise

A certain variety of Kingman turquoise offers a very special pattern : its name speaks for itself: Kingman Spiderweb turquoise. "Spiderweb" : it is exactly what the beautiful, dies and patterns of this type of true turquoise offers.

Kingman Spiderweb turquoise can also recall the mesmerizing reflections that are created at the bottom of a pool on a sunny day… you know, those hypnotic shapes that dance at the bottom of the pool. What a beautiful natural creation and how nice to be able to wear this beautiful semi-precious stone on our fingers, our wrists or our neck! So dare to wear these handmade Native American jewelry made of sterling silver and genuine American turquoise.

HARPO : a large choice of turquoise and sterling silver jewels

All sizes and budgets

What we particularly like about Kingman turquoise is that due to the high activity of the mine from which it is extracted, some Native American jewelers find it in very interesting volumes:

You will find at HARPO rings set with spectacular Kingman turquoise, strong bracelets with imposing Kingman turquoise, colossal pendants in Kingman turquoise that will leave no one indifferent!

But don't worry, even if you opt for sterling silver and turquoise jewelry that is more discreet and all-purpose, Kingman turquoise will not disappoint you. It will conquer your heart even if you opt for light volumes. The important thing is to please yourself, and to treat yourself a jewel in semi-precious stone such as the Kingman.