Visions in Blue

The fascination for December's birth stone has woven itself into the world's ancient myths. Now, the sky-blue gem is incorporated in the season's most stunning haute joiallerie creations.

- MINDY TEH

Turquoise. The name evokes bright, sunny, azure skies and the height of summer. Its French etymology stems from a time when this rare blue gemstone was first brought to Europe from Turkestan and its discovery came from places exotic and ancient.

The gemstone, or rather its pale imitations, may seem ubiquitous given its seemingly constant presence. In fact, real turquoise is rare and found only in very few locations around the world. The regions are arid and often barren, with a high mineral, copper-rich content (which gives the turquoise its signature blue hue). Hence, its strong associations with areas in Turkey, the American Southwest, Mexico, Persia, Egypt and the Indus Valley incorporating northeast Afghanistan, Pakistan and northwest India.

When polished, turquoise transforms into a near impossible smooth surface of calm sky blue that is often imitated but never fully replicated. That is because, up close, it possesses a magical quality, an opaque robin's egg blue or a greenish blue that has captivated the imaginations of everyone from antiquity to the modern age.

The ancients saw the gemstone fit to adorn kings and queens. Antediluvian artefacts from the Aztecs to the ancient Chinese depict emperors, shahs and pharaohs wearing it. Indeed, the world's oldest recorded jewellery were made from the gem and discovered in Egypt. Turquoise was one of the earliest gems to find worldwide appreciation, gaining prominence in the West around the 14th century and coinciding with the wane of the Catholic church's influence over what could be worn as secular jewellery.

In all these instances, the gemstone was sought after for its purported ability to ward off evil. The gem's capacity to change its colour helped amplify this legend and the ancients used it as talismans to indicate the state of one's health and spiritual well-being.