Martinez Number 8 Spiderweb Turquoise Sterling Silver Pendant

This stone came out of the ground before 1976. Then they turned the mine into a gold pit.

The Number 8 mine sat near Carlin, Nevada. Prospectors found it in 1929 while looking for copper, not turquoise. Through the 1950s it produced some of the finest material ever pulled out of American ground, including the largest gem quality turquoise nodule on record at over 150 pounds.

Turquoise production stopped in 1976, and the property was later worked for gold, which ended any possibility of going back for more. That is a different kind of scarce. Plenty of mines close and sit there. This one was dug up and repurposed. Every piece of Number 8 in existence was already above ground fifty years ago, and the ground it came from does not exist in that form anymore.

What makes it worth chasing is the web. Look at the pattern: fine dark lines threading through soft powder blue in a pattern that looks drawn on. That is spiderweb, and it is the pattern collectors rank above everything else, because it only happens when the host rock fractures into a fine enough network for the turquoise to fill. It cannot be manufactured, and this stone is a textbook example of it.

Set as a square, turned on point, in a clean sterling bezel with a wide flat bail. The setting is deliberately plain, because a stone with a pattern this busy does not need help. It wears comfortably as a pendant and has enough presence to act as a necklace centerpiece, whether you put it on a simple chain for everyday use or on a heavier chain or beads when you want more of a statement.

Signed Martinez, sterling, on the back, so you know exactly what you are getting: hallmarked sterling silver and a documented artisan behind the work. This is intended as a one-and-done kind of piece – something you can reach for daily, but also the sort of pendant collectors keep for decades.

The details

• Stone: Number 8 spiderweb turquoise, Nevada, powder blue with fine dark webbing
• Metal: sterling silver
• Hallmark: Martinez, sterling
• Setting: square set on point, clean bezel, wide flat bail
• Chain: not included, hangs on your own
• One of a kind: yes, a single piece

If you only ever buy one piece of collector turquoise, most people who know the mines would tell you to make it Number 8 spiderweb. This pendant gives you that textbook webbing, a hallmarked sterling silver setting, and a unique centerpiece you can put into steady rotation or save for special occasions.