Where Forever Southwest Turquoise comes from:

The Carico Lake mine is in Lander county, Nevada. We know the owners of the Carico Lake mine so our turquoise is goes through a careful selection process. The turquoise coming from the mine ranges from light green to a deep blue with a matrix of mostly limonite. The bright greens of the cabochons that are offered here are rare in today’s turquoise market and highly valued because of their beauty set in silver.

Kingman turquoise has been produced from the copper mining in the Mineral Park Mining District in Arizona. The color runs from light blue to very dark blue usually with a white matrix and frequently flecked with pyrite. High-grade Kingman has always been considered among the top quality turquoise.

The Sleeping Beauty mine is located in Arizona and produces a light to medium blue turquoise. The beautiful blue colors mirror the blues of the sky and because the color is consistent it has long been used by the Zuni for their inlay jewelry and by the Navaho for their cluster work. Although the Sleeping Beauty mine has been one of our countries largest producers of turquoise over the years today very little good material is being mined.  
 
The name turquoise is apparently related to the fact that is was brought to Europe from the Eastern Mediterranean by Levantine traders, more commonly known as Turks. Its been used as a valuable ornament for ages and was used by the Egyptians thousands of years ago. The color is, of course, turquoise, but its range of color varies from green and greenish blue to sky blue shades. For centuries, the most valuable turquoise came from Iran (Persia) but today some specimens mined in the southwestern United States compete with it. The name "Persian Turquoise" is now generally used to refer to any turquoise stone that does not have the black or brown veining commonly found in turquoise mined in the United States and used in a style of jewelry created by the American Indians.

The Aztecs mined turquoise in an area now known as New Mexico and a significant amount of turquoise comes from Arizona, California and Nevada in the United States. Other minerals like chrysocolla have been used to imitate turquoise. 
 
Folklore, Legend, Healing Properties: Turquoise attracts money, success and love. Its powers include protection, healing, courage, friendship, and luck. Relaxes the mind, and eases mental tension. Turquoise is sacred to many Native American's and was carved in the shape of animals and birds. These carvings were placed in the Indians tombs to attract beneficial spirits and to guard the dead. Turquoise was also used by medicine men for healing and by warriors who fixed turquoise to the end of their bows to insure accurate shots.