TURQUOISE PROVENANCE-ABOUT LARRY COOLEY TURQUOISE:

The turquoise that these are made with, come from the late "Larry Cooley's" private collection. Mr. Cooley was one of the most reputably known turquoise vendors in the industry, who artists would go to when they wanted the highest quality turquoise for their own designs.. Since he was very knowledgeable, he knew what separated the junk from the premium grades & was committed to offering only the finest that each mine produced. He was one who wouldn't dare offer turquoise to someone, that he himself, wouldn't want.He was all about the best there was..

One would be right to say that, the turquoise he collected & sold, were qualities that only the finest of the finest "Turquoise Connoisseur's" would buy..He had a vast collection of nothing BUT premium turquoise that were all natural,since his rocks were mined long before they started treating turquoise & had the best that each mine produced.

So these cuts are an excellent grade of natural turquoise, which is getting more & more difficult to find anymore, unless you're willing to pay top dollar per carat. That is if you can find any, since much has gone into private collectors hands & has become very valuable... After Larry's passing, everyone wanted dibs on his whole collection, but because of Federico's long time connection with Larry & Larry's family, he was fortunate to purchase this 'once in a lifetime' limited & very pricy collection(This is reflected in price) So once these stones are used up, they're gone!

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THE EARRINGS:

These earrings are made with turquoise coming from both the Nevada Royston mine & the now closed, Arizona Sleeping Beauty mine. They have a ingenious layout where you can clearly see how the artistic mind works & how by playing with cuts of different shapes, prompted for such an innovative designed earring!

The rectangular shaped tops & the chunky square center cuts are from the Royston mine & all those vibrant blue round clusters & oval dangles, are from the Sleeping Beauty mine. By marrying these 2 mines together makes for a more striking contrast & each help the other to explode & stand out. I need to mention that, I'm impressed by how they look on the ears & they're an earring that you just go wrong with!!

All these stones are 'Gem-Quality" & all have a glossy-spit shine" luster which validates that they are high grade rocks,as well as how "Hard" the turquoise is.. What you want to keep in mind is, the harder the turquoise, the higher the quality. "Chalky" soft low grades don't give the lapidarist this type of luster when they go to cut & polish, plus the stone will immediately break from being too soft.(This is where stabilization comes in,but that's a whole other story!) .. So quality turquoise is determined by the hardness, luster and color of the stone. These speak of the quality that Larry collected..

Set in a contemporary finished sterling,these would be "rock the house" no matter where you live! They'll go with a traditional OR contemporary collection..

Because of the generous amounts of materials,these do have some weight,so please be sure to pay attention to the weight before you purchase!

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A PERSONAL WORD:

Personally, there is nothing I love more than to see jewelry made with "quality" turquoise. With so much low grade/stabilized junk turquoise being sold on the market & online anymore, it's definitely refreshing to see artists such as Federico using it, since it's the pristine quality of turquoise that matters more than anything. And just like any good quality gemstone( diamonds, Rubies,etc.) you can also tell how good the turquoise is by the price you pay.

To see the turquoise's quality, is something that can take years & doesn't happen over night. But once your eye gets trained to see it, you're able to this immediately. Sometimes people can't put their finger on what it is that's different, they just know that something is different that makes them stand out..

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A NOTE:

**Anything with Larry's turquoise comes with a higher price tag,due to the quality & rarity*** To see what I have listed from Larry's collection,just put Larry's name in the search when you're on my front page!!