This is the same review I gave to "Turquoise Unearthed"...and for all intents and purposes, they could be classified as companion volumes...both doing an exceptional job in words and images!
"I have been a gem and mineral dealer for over ten years...and a rockhound for a lot longer than that...but this book taught me more in a single sitting than all my years in the buisiness and in the hobby.
I have dug, traded, bought and sold a whole bunch of "Turq"...natural, treated and "color-shot"...and this book instantly became one of my favorite references for the rest of my life.
If you are planning on investing in real American or Persian turquoise jewelry or stones...and it is an investment...then this book is a "Must Have!"
No sooner did I put this book down than I called up one of my suppliers and bought all of the Blue Gem and Turquoise Mountain stones they had left in stock...I am sure they are wondering what precipitated that call!"
My many thanks to Mr. Vigil for his labor of love, a compilation of articles from New Mexico Magazine...on everything from the Lowry "Turq" Museum...to the history and significance of the Cerrillos Mines...to the myth of "Old Pawn" jewelry...and much, much more!