Chinese turquoise

Hi all, I enjoy reading many of your posts, but since I am not a
metalsmith or beader, I just read. I am a buyer and seller of
jewelry. I recently acquired a piece of carved Chinese turquoise. The
gold wirework looks like it was fired or pickled & intentionally not
repolished. I would like opinions from as many of you as possible
about whether I should leave it as is, or have it polished out. Here
is the link: http://home1.gte.net/res05e35/ChineseTurq&Dia.jpg

It is marked & tested 14K & may be a Tiffany custom piece. My
jeweller wants to polish it…I am not so sure that won’t alter the
intent of the artist & greatly change the appearance. The bvright
gold will leap out I think. Private reponses please since I don’t
want to clutter the list about this. Thanks…

Sande

Sande,

As a lapidariest and carver, I have to say that you have a piece of
some of the finest turquoise I have ever seen. There are striking
similarities to Persian turquoise in the piece you have, in that it
does not have the blackish inclusions found even in the best
turquoise here in Arizona (Bisbee Blue). The metal work should be
left alone, it is beautiful just as it is. To take off the patina
would be to loose the contrast I think the artist was striving for.
It is beautiful, thanks for sharing it. Rick Carew