Blue Diamond Turquoise: Field Guide to Nevada's Stormy-Pattern Mine
Part of the Turquoise Mines field guides and The Southwest Jewelry Guide.
Oscar Branson’s 1975 book described Blue Diamond turquoise by its “stormy” matrix pattern. Every statement below is quoted or paraphrased from that book, with page numbers, so you can check each one. Branson wrote in 1975; anything he describes as current describes 1975, not today.
What Branson recorded
Branson (1975) described the pattern:
“It has brown to black matrix resembling a stormy pattern not unlike light and dark clouds being blown about in a blue sky.”
— Branson (1975), p. 42 [1]
According to Branson (1975, p. 42), the mine sat at high altitude and could not be worked in winter because of extreme cold and snow. [1]
According to Branson (1975, p. 36), the small Zuni Mine near Blue Diamond produced deep blue-green turquoise with a green overcast and was not being mined as of 1975. [1]
See all the turquoise mines we profile, including the other Nevada mines.
How this page is sourced. We strive for accuracy: every factual statement above is quoted from or credited to the printed work listed below, with page numbers, and this page is continuously updated with new information as we read more of our library. See something we should correct? Contact us.
From the Library: Lowry, Turquoise: The World Story of a Fascinating Gemstone (2010)
2010 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 2010, not today.
According to Lowry (2010, p. 225), Blue Diamond lies northeast of Iowa Canyon in Lander County, Nevada; its largest production came in the early 1970s, when Joe Morris and his partners used a bulldozer to uncover small and large plates of turquoise, some twelve inches long and two inches thick. [2]
According to Lowry (2010, p. 225), the host rocks varied, most commonly a black chert that made a swirl of matrix similar to Stormy Mountain turquoise, and the colours ran from a washed-out mixture of blue and green to a nice dark blue. [2] Lowry (2002, p. 67) also pairs Blue Diamond with Stormy Mountain for hard, dark blue turquoise with a blotchy black chert matrix. [5]
Lowry (2010) on cutting it:
“The inconsistency of the heavy-laden host rocks sometimes make Blue Diamond difficult to cut, but it is great for large cabochons and especially specimen samples.”
— Lowry (2010), p. 226 [2]
From the Library: Bassman, The Beauty of Navajo Jewelry (1997)
1997 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 1997, not today.
Bassman (1997, p. 21) pictured a stampwork bracelet with a Blue Diamond turquoise stone made by Jefferson Abeita. [3]
From the Library: Ryan & Chambless, Turquoise in America Part Two: 1910–1990 (2020)
2020 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 2020, not today.
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 190), Clyde Wright is credited with discovering the Blue Diamond with Jimmy Allen in the 1960s, although the first recorded location was by Ron Hammon on August 1, 1974. [4]
Bruce Woods recalled, in an interview published by Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 193), that Ron Hammon, an underground miner from Butte, Montana, went in as partners with Joe Morse to buy the Blue Diamond, which was when Hammon first started mining turquoise. [4]
According to the mine glossary in Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 341), the Antler Prospect in Lander County, Nevada is the same deposit as Blue Diamond; the glossary places Blue Diamond northeast of Iowa Canyon. [4]
Field Notes by Mateo James
Lowry names Joe Morris as the partner behind the early-1970s work. In Bruce Woods's recollection, published by Ryan & Chambless (2020), Ron Hammon's partner is Joe Morse. The books do not settle it, so both spellings stay on the page.
Sources
- Branson, Oscar T. Turquoise: The Gem of the Centuries. Santa Fe: Treasure Chest Publications, 1975. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions in 1975.
- Lowry, Joe Dan, and Joe P. Lowry. Turquoise: The World Story of a Fascinating Gemstone. Layton, UT: Gibbs Smith, 2010. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2010.
- Bassman, Theda. The Beauty of Navajo Jewelry. Photography by Gene Balzer. Walnut, California: Kiva Publishing, 1997. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1997.
- Ryan, Mike, II, and Philip Chambless. Turquoise in America, Part Two: 1910–1990. Callais Press, 2020. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2020.
- Lowry, Joe Dan, and Joe P. Lowry. Turquoise Unearthed: An Illustrated Guide. Photography by Mark Nohl. Tucson, AZ: Rio Nuevo Publishers, 2002. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2002.