Turquoise gems are inlaid on the surface of utensils and jewelry so that the underlying metal and gemstones form a single body called firuze-kubi (turquoise inlaying), a registered trades of Isfahan crafts
. Brass, silver, copper, steel, and bronze are among the metals that are host of green and blue gems of turquoise. The inlaid object should undergo the three phases of zargrabi, firuze-kubi and polishing. In other words, in the first stage, the craftsman chooses the object, identifying the part that needs to be inlaid and soldering its surrounding it with a thin metal string (of the object itself).
On the other hand, dirt and dust from the mines of Mashhad, Neyshabur and Damghan are removed and separated by color and size. In the next step, the object is heated and sprayed a powder of varnish on the parts to be inlaid, so that the varnish powder is almost melted and covers the surface. Now the object looks like a fresh cake and is ready to decorate! One has to inlay turquoise gems on it, so that there are no fissures between the gems.
After this step was done well and the spiked parts were cooled, it is time to polish it. The third stage is the polishing, and after it is done, the gems are transparent and the metal parts are shining with sesame oil or olive oil. Soleiman Sedighpur, a craftsman from Isfahan, when asked, states that in 1962, Mohammad Reza Hakimian, a craftsman from Mashhad, has come to his workshop in Isfahan and showed him turquoise inlaying. Then Sedighpur has managed to create turquoise inlaid dishes. Since then, the craft has so flourished in Isfahan and Mashhad that no one guess the history of this craft traces back only half a century.
