If you are a fan of genuine turquoise jewelry then you must definitely have hear of Ovril Jack turquoise, and if you've seen these stones then you will never forget them. The trademark color of the Ovril Jack turquoise is a vivid green and it must be known those jewelry collectors who have pieces of Ovril Jack's turquoise jewelry will generally not part with them.
The history
The Ovril Jack legacy goes all the way back to 1956, when the man himself moved to Nevada with his wife Bessie and family. They chose a mining site in Lander County and named it Blue Ridge and today the mine is still functional and is being taken care of by Ovril's daughter Grace. However Grace does have to encounter the difficulties that are associated with small mines as there are a lot of expenses and environmental regulations that need to be adhered to.
The actual mining of turquoise
Mining turquoise according the Ovril's daughter Grace is good old fashioned hard work. The initial part is done with the help of bulldozers to take out the dirt and once traces of turquoise have been discovered and the tools have done all that they can, the miners carefully extract the turquoise by hand.
The discovery of the green stone
The stone that made the mine famous was the discovery of the green stone. This is the color that comes to mind when anyone mentions Ovril Jack. During the latter part of his life one of the last areas that Ovril Jack mined yielded green stones that were very beautiful and although Ovril never paid any heed to green stones before, something about these stones must have caught his attention. He continued to mine in that area and what's more he sold only a small quantity of this stone. The rest he kept for himself. He passed away in 1986 and a few years after that the family was contacted by turquoise jewelry and talented bead makers, Lee Louden ad Bob Hall who were in search of this vivid green stone from the Blue Ridge Mine. The bought the stones, returning a year later to help with the mining. Credit goes to these two men for the success of the mine in the early 1990s
100 natural turquoise
The gemstones from the Blue Ridge Mine are 100 natural and the best quality. Ovril Jack strongly believed that the turquoise that he should sell would only be the natural and untreated kind. Today the mine also produces the blue gemstone which is very common as it is present in most turquoise jewelry and sometimes the rare yellow stones. Today the family still continues that tradition and they work closely with turquoise jewelry artisan that they know personally and trust. They make sure that the needs of these artisans are met before they take on orders from others. Getting your hands on a piece of Ovril Jack's turquoise jewelry today might be a bit of a challenge, but if you do be assured that it is a piece you will treasure for the rest of your life.
Queen Bee Jewelry offers a wide variety of turquoise jewelry and sterling silver jewelry.
Click here for more articles from ZingArticles.com