For the last month I’ve been creating polymer clay turquoise. After eight attempts to perfect my former technique, I think I have it now! I made a tutorial for making the beautiful turquoise with as many or as few inclusions as one likes, and it can be adapted to any shade of turquoise one prefers, of course.
You need patience for this, I’m afraid. This technique is in two steps and includes drying time which can be anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, depending on your environment.
Quality turquoise is an opaque, clear blue mineral. Early stones were found mostly in the arid regions of Iran and Afghanistan, hence the name ‘Persian Blue’.
Rainfall infiltrates the soil and rock, dissolving small amounts of copper. When the water evaporates, the copper combines with aluminum and phosphorus to deposit tiny amounts of turquoise on the walls of the host rock. The more time goes by, the more turquoise fills in cracks. If eons go by, the turquoise will have less inclusions than ‘newer’ turquoise that has more matrix of the host rock. The turquoise will have a green tint when small amounts of iron is substituted for aluminum in the structure.
Creating faux turquoise from polymer clay gives us so many options- host rock with iron pyrite (Fool’s Gold), just a little matrix of more quality turquoise, and any shade of blue, teal, blue-green, greenish-yellow that we like. See my Faux Turquoise Tutorial here.