Golden Hills Turquoise

Golden Hills turquoise is sourced from Central Asia rather than the American Southwest, yet it has been readily adopted by Southwestern silversmiths for its uncommon light-blue body and fine lavender web. That choice reflects a long tradition of Native artists selecting the finest available stone, wherever it is found — the same impulse that brought Persian turquoise into older pieces.

Its gentle color makes it a striking choice for both contemporary and traditional inlay and cluster work, and because the deposit is limited, fine Golden Hills is treated as a premium material.

Golden Hills' soft blue and lavender matrix are favored in fine inlay and delicate cluster pieces, where its quiet color reads as refined and modern. It is often chosen by artists seeking a lighter palette than classic American turquoise — set in dainty needlepoint and petit-point clusters, or cut into calibrated stones for precise, repeating inlay. Its even color makes it especially suited to matched, multi-stone settings.

Golden Hills is a naturally hard turquoise with a characteristic even, powder-blue body and a subtle reddish-purple matrix — the lavender web rarely seen in other deposits. Like all turquoise it is a hydrated copper-aluminum phosphate formed near the surface in mineral-rich country, but its particular host rock lends the unusual matrix color.

Its natural hardness and consistency make it well suited to precise lapidary work and calibrated stones, and the best material takes a fine polish without stabilization.