About Turquoise Moose

The journey of Moose started unexpectedly...

I’ve always been attracted to things that are mysterious, real, and deep in the culture and eyes of people. Natural gemstones is one that are previously untouched by anyone else but earth. When introduced to an artist’s hand, its beauty comes out and strikes the emotion of the seer. We love creating things that carry the charm of color and million years of culture, from unseen to seen it’s felt as a process of self discovery.

In 2016, I went on a rock hunting trip in Nevada. Our group had more than ten people from the same hobby club. We drove through the beautiful Yosemite National park to see the desert and mountains in Nevada. We were guided by a mine owner to a variscite mine, however, most of the group decided not to go there because they did not think variscite is as interesting as turquoise. The funny part is that turquoise Moose began not with turquoise, but variscite...

So it was just the three of us, and when myself, my husband, and our friend saw the mine introduced by the owner, we could not believe how many exposed rough stones were in the mine. The owner agreed to let us pick as many as we wanted, as long as they fit into a bucket provided per person. The three of us ended up going home with a crazy load of variscite, after a few hours of hard work under the hot and dry weather.

When we returned, we were so excited and thought that we just hit a jackpot of gems! The reality was the reverse! Cutting them was 1000 times more difficult than what it seemed.

Our family members were recruited to cut in the garage, and after three days of hard work, we were barely able to cut ten cabochons! No wonder natural cabochons are difficult to come by - they are not only difficult to mine, but even harder to be cut! We then studied how it works with the cabochons and how to speed up and achieve unparalleled best quality and shine.

Regardless, we ended up cutting only three trays of the variscite we mined from the trip, because we probably wasted 90% of the rough practicing! Not the result we wanted but it was all worth the effort.

At the time, I still had a full time job. I posted the cabochons on IG and people loved the cut and quality, they were sold out within a few days!

The IG journey started there, and the community grew from that point on, till today, we are one of the most known cabochon sellers online, and further we developed a mission that extends beyond just selling stones: we love to see creators find more happiness through their creative journey!

Recent updates 💚

To fully commit to Moose, Li left her full time job in 2017 to pursue the passion of serving the independent artist community. The first years, Li was heads down trying to get started with something different that is innovative, powered through having no income by putting everything into Moose and people constantly thought we were going to fail. Li invented the bar shaped cabochon, the bars with faceted angled shapes, and later the half moon shaped cabochons. That innovative cut and uplifting color selection grew to popularity, and since 2020, Moose began working with independent miners and cutters to cut into Moose requirement and quality, providing more than 10 jobs for lapidary artists and their families.

(L-R: Sand Hill and Royston rough)

(Yungai rough)

Some quotes from Li the creator of Moose:

“We love helping others realize everyone can leverage their creativity within."

"Our customers tell us that it doesn't matter if they are a full time artist, or work at a restaurant, FedEx, or a full time mom, when they find time they get to be themselves and create beautiful things."

"My customers discover the secret of their identity through creating and they become bigger as a result."

About Moose

Moose is a friend of earth and a child of the universe, constantly dreaming from the heritage of Asia to a terrain reminiscent of New Mexico and Nevada.

Moose encourages open-ness, a new mindset, and stays positive and collaborative vs. negative and undermining others.

Moose prides in getting to work with thousands of creators, and yes it feels like opening a box of chocolates daily.

Moose is a metaphor created by brave artists, for brave artists.

Everyone can stand out and be brave enough to stay different, create different ideas that make your values stand bolder and clearer. Ultimately we wish strongly that in your journey of self search, your creativity channels the real joy and contentment within you 💚

Turquoise Moose: A journey to a 10-year collecting experience