topic Re: Native American Silver in Jewelry

Native American Silver

patbz — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 18:48:07 GMT

Here are several of my Alex. Sanchez pieces:ieces:

Re: Native American Silver

patbz — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 19:55:21 GMT

Bennie Ration:

Re: Native American Silver

patbz — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 20:17:34 GMT

Nelson Morgan:

Re: Native American Silver

patbz — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 20:20:09 GMT

Sorry for double pic, here's another Nelson Morgan:

Re: Native American Silver

patbz — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 20:22:07 GMT

Turquoise bolo:

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patbz — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 20:25:30 GMT

2 charm bracelets that I use as necklaces:

Re: Native American Silver

depglass — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 21:00:28 GMT

I love the bracelets as necklaces idea. Nice pieces.

Re: Native American Silver

Kachina624 — Mon, 07 Sep 2015 00:37:30 GMT

I love your jewelry Patbz...you know how I feel about Alex's work. Especially like the little girl face. I'm a nut for charm bracelets too. I got used to wearing bracelets and now I feel undressed without them.

This is the crown jewel of my collection. It's very fine Bisbee Turquoise, of which there is little left. (The mine is closed. Sorry couldn't resist). Then I found a Bisbee ring to match.

This Bisbee ring has spots of pyrite in the stone.

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terric — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 23:28:39 GMT

Your pieces are stunning! Thank you for sharing!

Re: Native American Silver

patbz — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 23:40:30 GMT

Kachina love your Bisbee bracelet! Actually, I covet it.

Re: Native American Silver

Katcat1 — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 01:38:44 GMT

Thank you for sharing. I love the first photo of the ring and your charm bracelets are stunning. I own two american West rings. I am not a big fan like you but I can appreciate the work that goes into these pieces. I lean toward clean lines, contemporary jewelry with an edge. However, your pieces are really show pieces and I know you must be proud. I hope you have them insured.

Re: Native American Silver

AliJoi5 — Fri, 04 Sep 2015 22:28:13 GMT

Oh my goodness, I'm in turq Heaven!!! @patbz I love that first ring and the kachina underneath it (again, the turq is sumptuous!). @Kachina624 Now that's a charm bracelet people!! These pieces are a feast for the eyes!

Re: Native American Silver

patbz — Fri, 04 Sep 2015 22:38:32 GMT

Glad you like the bracelets, I got them on the Bay (under native american charm bracelet). Both were inexpensive, less than $150 each.

Re: Native American Silver

Kachina624 — Sat, 05 Sep 2015 01:12:29 GMT

@AliJoi5. Okay, Ali, it's your turn. I wish you post that beautiful Lander Blue ring again so people can really see the world's most valuable turquoise, instead of the stuff our shopping hosts call "the finest ever". Blah!

Re: Native American Silver

AliJoi5 — Sun, 06 Sep 2015 16:14:07 GMT

@Kachina624 Every time I hear someone say that, I think of you and how you must be rolling those eyes!

Here is my custom lander blue ring. I asked for a size 8 because the band is so wide (around 5/8") and I wanted it for my size 7 middle finger. I assumed it was a no brainer to size up. Sadly, I over estimated and it's a good half size too large. That's usually not a problem for me as I like a looser fitting ring, but this one is so heavy (31.4g) that it rolls around like crazy. The worst part is that there is not a ring snuggie big enough to fit over the wide band. So I've been using that liquid silicone ring sizer (thanks again for the suggestion, Weeg!). I'm too terrified to have it resized locally. I am still kicking myself for that mistake. I buy inexpensive rings every day and they fit perfectly... I have a valuable one made and I foul it up. Typical! Anyway, despite that issue, this is one of my faves...

Re: Native American Silver

Justice4all — Sun, 06 Sep 2015 16:01:10 GMT

@AliJoi5

very pretty turquoise. Does anyone know of what the black matrix comprises? Is it iron pyrite?

Re: Native American Silver

AliJoi5 — Sun, 06 Sep 2015 16:05:37 GMT

Thanks @Justice4all! I'm not 100%, but I believe the matrix is black chert... @Kachina624??

Re: Native American Silver

AliJoi5 — Sun, 06 Sep 2015 16:40:14 GMT

Kachina - Here is a recent buy I thought you'd also be interested in. It is a tufa cast cuff by Gilbert "Dino" Garcia (Santo Domingo Pueblo). He calls it his sunray and kiva step motif, but I see a sun rising over mountain peaks. I just fell in love with it. My favorite part is the inside... there are story teller petroglyphs of a sun with clouds raining on a corn stalk. I thought that was so beautiful. The unique thing about this artist is that he uses tufa, a soft limestone, in his "sand" castings. He carves the two-sided mold and then colorizes it with an acetylene torch (which allows the oxidation to bake right into the sterling, rather than antiquing it later). The tufa mold is then lost in the casting process, making each piece a one-of-a-kind. Can you imagine the work that goes into crafting these Native American pieces? And that is why we so cherish them!

Re: Native American Silver

patbz — Sun, 06 Sep 2015 18:19:19 GMT

I really like your bracelet.

Re: Native American Silver

Kachina624 — Mon, 07 Sep 2015 00:41:14 GMT

@Justice4all wrote:
@AliJoi5
very pretty turquoise. Does anyone know of what the black matrix comprises? Is it iron pyrite?

@Justice4all It's just chert or host rock. Iron pyrite is metallic gold colored also called fool's gold. It's typically found in turquoise from certain mines but the Lander mines are not among them. The Morenci Mine (closed) produced the most rough with pyrite. It's my favorite turquoise. You'll occasionally see a bit in some Kingman. Go back in this thread and look at the Bisbee ring I posted. You can really see the pyrite in it very well.

The Lander Blue shown in Ali's ring is considered the world's most valuable turquoise becaus only about 150 lbs were ever found. It was discovered by a small group of ladies from a Reno casino who were out on their day off for a picnic. The rough was lying on the ground. They filed a claim and later sold the claim to a man who didn't get much out of it. It's beautiful though. I covet that ring.

Here is a Morenci ring with pyrite. It doesn't photograph well but the tan spots are metallic.