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Turquoise/Native American jewelry

rlk

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,100
Location
Evanston, IL
Large Bolo by MK
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Messages
15,083
Location
Buffalo, NY
The buckle I am wearing today is quite substantial in weight... measures 2 7/8 x 3 1/2" and is on a 1 3/4" belt.

The belt I wore yesterday is 1 1/4" I believe, which gives some sense of the scale of the buckle. I can measure it when I get home later.
 
Messages
15,083
Location
Buffalo, NY
Thanks again... I've been looking to find something more interesting, but this modern belt is stiff and supports it well. It's a heavy set, but not difficult to wear.
 
Messages
11,164
Location
SoCal
I really like this thread!!!!
Beautiful stuff. My Grandpa used to dabble with turquoise. I'll post a couple of things soon, although it's not quite up to the level of some of the items I've seen here.
 

jskeen

One of the Regulars
Messages
120
Location
Houston
I thought so. The beads could have been sand or lost wax cast, but they would be pretty heavy for earrings. Do you know the provenance for the turquoise?, or were the pieces just out of "the mystery material" box?

If you don't mind me asking, did you just decide to make some earrings, or did somebody ask for a pair? Did you pick up the stone and say "that looks like some small pendants hiding in there", or were you looking for a stone that would yield a pair of small trapezoidal pendants and say "There they are, let me cut them out of that rock"? How was the weather at the time?

Sorry, just kidding about that last bit, but please give us a glimpse inside the process if you can.

Thanks
James
 

Michaelshane

One Too Many
Messages
1,928
Location
Land of Enchantment
I have clients that buy whatever I make,I mix it up and make a variety of things.The Turqouise is Kingman.That shape has been worn as earrings and necklace tabs for hundreds of years.I cut the two tabs from two stones,and the round stones were cut from one stone.Im making another pair from Fox Turqouise,from Nevada,and another pair will be made from Chinese stones.Yesterday I sent the picture to a customer in Virginia.I told her I was making several pairs like these and asked her what she thought of them she replied. "Oh MY GOD I WANT THEM!!!!!!!!* ALL OF THEM!!!!* :)
I copied that from her email.
 
Messages
12,017
Location
East of Los Angeles
One of the most beautiful pieces of turquoise jewelry that I've ever seen belonged to my ex-brother-in-law. The stone was a near-perfect oval shape that was a rich blue color with a primarily gold (in color) matrix/veining, polished to a nice even glossy finish. This was surrounded by a gold rope-like bezel on a diamond-shaped silver backing plate that featured the "traditional" etchings with mild artificial antiquing/patina; the backing plate was rounded to follow the curvature of the wearer's finger, with the ring attached beneath. I really wish I had a photo to post, because my inadequate description does not do it justice. If I ever find another one like it, I'll pay whatever the asking price is.
 
Messages
15,083
Location
Buffalo, NY
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Acquired a couple of vintage hand tooled belts... doing some buckle swapping. This one was a gift from my mother-in-law some years back. A close friend from the old neighborhood in the Bronx became a (non-native) surgeon on the Navajo reservation in the 1950s and 60s and they had some great visits to places not normally included on the tourist trek. Acquired at a trading post in Arizona, Navajo overlay artistry, I believe.
 
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