Turquoise and Pearl EarringsThese opaque blue green gems have been highly valued for thousands of years by many cultures that each had their own names for them. Turquoise comes from an Old French word for Turkish because it was introduced to the French via Venetian traders who had purchased the stones in modern day Iran (then a part of Turkey). Turquoise was widely traded because deposits are so rare. The only major turquoise deposits currently known are found in Iran, Egypt,