King's Menassa Turquoise (Colorado) Focal Bead 21x25mm
Manassa Turquoise was mined at Manassa in south central Colorado. Manassa Turquoise is known for its blue to green color with a golden or dark-brown, non-webbed matrix. It runs primarily in veins hosted by a beautiful golden brown hard rock. It takes a skilled stone cutter to get the Turquoise out of this hard rock.
This stone is a favorite of gold and silversmiths in the southwest, when they can get it! The mining at the Manassa Turquoise mine at this time, is at a stand still. Most of the Colorado Turquoise mines are not operational at this time.
The Manassa Turquoise mine was originally found by I.P. King and passed down to his son, and then to his grandson and current owner, Bill King. Bill has has spent his entire life in the Turquoise business and has mined Manassa turquoise, Pilot Mountain Turquoise mine, and many others. Bill King is a wealth of information about turquoise and one of the last old time miners. He is a wonderful stone cutter and a wonderful miner as well. These days Bill cuts his Manassa Turquoise and has it made into Native American Indian Jewelry.
