VINTAGE Beautiful 3-strand Sleeping Beauty nugget necklace with matching earrings. Measuring 22" of cascading nuggets with sterling silver cones and clasp. The earrings are a delicate loop design measuring 1" x 1/2". Rarely seen in this form, these nuggets have a bright blue color with black matrix. Unusual and stunning, they have a elegant look. 100% authentic with a certificate of authenticity. Buy with confidence from a 3rd generation family business. SLEEPING BEAUTY 3-STRAND NECKLACE WITH EARRINGS VINTAGE 1980's SLEEPING BEAUTY TURQUOISE NECKLACE 3-STRAND WITH EARRINGS The Sleeping Beauty Mine, located in Globe, Arizona, is no longer an active mine. For many years it produced a wide range of turquoise that is now even more highly prized for it's solid soft blue color, with little or no matrix. The color of the turquoise ranges from a deep royal blue to a light sky blue. The mine originally was worked for copper and gold but during the last five decades or so it has produced gemstone quality turquoise in quantities to satisfy the commercial market. In general, the miners lease portions of the "dumps" and sort turquoise from there. There is a small town in south central Italy, near Naples, famous for its cameos. Their needs for huge quantities of this material over the years have always kept the supply down and demand high. The clear blue is reminiscent of old Persian turquoise, and is without doubt the most preferred and prized by Europeans, both for cameos as well as in bead or jewelry form. There is a sister mine nearby, called the Bluebird, that produces some of the world’s most beautiful azurite. This material is a copper oxide and also contains malachite, crysacolla as well as a mineralized copper or cuprite. This is a rare and undervalued gem stone that has all but disappeared from the marketplace. There are legends saying that the People danced and rejoiced when the rains came. Their tears of joy mixed with the rain and seeped into Mother Earth to become the Sky Stone. Turquoise, the "fallen sky stone" hidden in Mother Earth, has been valued by cultures for its beauty and reputed spiritual and life-giving qualities for all of history. It is a true gem of the centuries. Other stories say that the stone brought together the spirits of sea and sky to bless warriors and hunters, and that a turquoise arrowhead assured accurate aim. It was also said that fine turquoise was hidden in the damp ground at the end of the rainbow. A Navajo belief is that a piece of turquoise cast into a river, accompanied by a prayer to the god of rain, will cause rainfall.