REAL Native American Jewelry~

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#316
cdtracing said:
I'm not really sure but I would think some of the really well known artisans & silversmiths buy rough directly from the mines. With some mines that have closed in the last few year, the prices for their rough has gone up. (ex: Sleeping Beauty Mine) I'm not sure which mines are still in production...I haven't really kept up with it. I do know that NA artists only want to use American Turquoise & try to stay away from the Chinese Turquoise. They will use other stones such as coral, spiney oyster, jet, Gilson opal, MOP for inlay work, mostly Zuni, I believe. There are wholesale brokers who deal with gemstone rough that buys can be made from. Many of these brokers will attend the Tucson Gem Show where a lot of jewelers buy rough & cut gemstones.
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I've heard that these days most of the turquoise from American mines is coming in a very crumbly or almost-powdered form, so it would have to be stabilized somehow. I suppose that would happen somewhere along the road to wholesale.

Years ago I spotted my elderly mom wearing this lovely vintage NA cuff with a killer piece of turquoise. She had no idea where she got it and didn't know what a find it was. When I examined it I found the turquoise was broken into several pieces and about to fall out of the bracelet. I don't know if I should admit this in this forum or not, but I Super Glued it back together for her. :angel: It's still holding strong.
 
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#317
Wow. If the glue is still holding & she's happy, that's all that really matters, I guess. I'm sure you could find a silversmith who can replace the stone but you would have to find the right size & shape. Also you would probably want the documentation pertaining to the stone, where it came from, & if it's had any treatment.
 
#318
cdtracing said:
Wow. If the glue is still holding & she's happy, that's all that really matters, I guess. I'm sure you could find a silversmith who can replace the stone but you would have to find the right size & shape. Also you would probably want the documentation pertaining to the stone, where it came from, & if it's had any treatment.
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My mom, queen of the Depression babies, has never found anything good to say about costly jewelry repairs, even when her daughter offers to pay for them, so I think we'll let the glued stone remain. It's an old Harvey era bracelet. Similar to this one on ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vtg-Old-Paw...659670?hash=item464fed41d6:g:dmkAAOSw3YNXZHoH. Were it repaired it probably wouldn't be worth more than $150-$200. The stone is a deep green with lots of matrix and it cracked along the matrix. It's hard to tell that it's been glued unless one looks closely. The old stone does have a lot of character and I don't know if it would be possible to replace it these days. One of the things that surprised me when I patched it was that the stone was wafer thin.

A lady I knew used to ship her vintage NA jewelry off to NA artists to be repaired. She was always telling me how they used unorthodox tools like dental tools for filing stones to fit settings and unorthodox techniques. Gluing stones to small wads of paper before tucking them into settings for instance. If I ever decide to repair mom's bracelet I'll go that route.
 
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#319
BigPurseSue said:
My mom, queen of the Depression babies, has never found anything good to say about costly jewelry repairs, even when her daughter offers to pay for them, so I think we'll let the glued stone remain. It's an old Harvey era bracelet. Similar to this one on ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vtg-Old-Paw...659670?hash=item464fed41d6:g:dmkAAOSw3YNXZHoH. Were it repaired it probably wouldn't be worth more than $150-$200. The stone is a deep green with lots of matrix and it cracked along the matrix. It's hard to tell that it's been glued unless one looks closely. The old stone does have a lot of character and I don't know if it would be possible to replace it these days. One of the things that surprised me when I patched it was that the stone was wafer thin.

A lady I knew used to ship her vintage NA jewelry off to NA artists to be repaired. She was always telling me how they used unorthodox tools like dental tools for filing stones to fit settings and unorthodox techniques. Gluing stones to small wads of paper before tucking them into settings for instance. If I ever decide to repair mom's bracelet I'll go that route.
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Supposedly, a cracked stone means good luck!

If you decide to get it repaired there is a highly rated shop in Scottsdale that employs NA jewelers, and they take things by mail if you're not local. https://www.oldtownjewels.com They've been there for almost 35 years. The owner/manager Diane is a wealth of knowledge and is so passionate about her work.
 
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#320
schadenfreude said:
Supposedly, a cracked stone means good luck!

If you decide to get it repaired there is a highly rated shop in Scottsdale that employs NA jewelers, and they take things by mail if you're not local. https://www.oldtownjewels.com They've been there for almost 35 years. The owner/manager Diane is a wealth of knowledge and is so passionate about her work.
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Thank you so much for the recommendation! Glad to know that a cracked stone means good luck!
 
#321
BigPurseSue said:
Dumb question: do NA jewelry artists have special arrangements with mines to get first dubs on great stones? Or do they go through stone brokers or something similar? Seems like an important business aspect of being an artist would be cultivating good stone-buying relationships.
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Not a dumb question at all! The best smiths have private stashes they've acquired in various ways over the years. Since a number of the great American mines are depleted, the best stones used today often were mined decades ago and held in reserve by collectors and jewelers. For new work at the high end, Native craftspeople may be given good stones by a retailer/dealer, who then gets to sell the finished work (so it's the dealer, not the artisan, who has made the stone buy).

Another major resource is the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show.
http://www.visittucson.org/events/gem-show/
 
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#323
susieserb said:
View attachment 3510212 View attachment 3510211 So I was going to purchase a huge Zuni cuff but decided to layer three bracelets instead for variability.
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Omigosh! Those are gorgeous! :heart: I especially like that coral needlepoint cuff. Love, love, love.

I was going to ask if, now that fall has arrived, with all its deep rich colors, the NA lovers in this thread are starting to wear their jewelry more often. I've been pulling out some favorite pieces to wear in the upcoming weeks.
 
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#324
susieserb said:
View attachment 3510212 View attachment 3510211 So I was going to purchase a huge Zuni cuff but decided to layer three bracelets instead for variability.
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Love your stack!!! I especially love the coral needlepoint cuff. I don't have very much coral & have been thinking about adding some to my collection!

BigPurseSue said:
Omigosh! Those are gorgeous! :heart: I especially like that coral needlepoint cuff. Love, love, love.

I was going to ask if, now that fall has arrived, with all its deep rich colors, the NA lovers in this thread are starting to wear their jewelry more often. I've been pulling out some favorite pieces to wear in the upcoming weeks.
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Yes, BPS, Fall is a good time of the year for NA jewelry with all the colors. It's still in the 80's here so it still feels summery. I was looking at some NA jewelry this week when I went to pick up DH's boots. The western store that resole & reheel his boots got a few interesting items in this week.:yes:
 
#325
I just discovered this thread...what stunning pieces you have! I need to pull out my NA jewelry and wear it more often...I tend to cycle through stones. I know reliability is a big factor in finding true pieces. I've had great experiences with the Heard Museum shop (Phoenix); the Indian Craft Shop (DC inside the US Dept. of Interior), the Smithsonian Native American Museum (DC), and of course Garland's in Sedona (AZ). Oh, and almost forgot to mention Santa Fe, Native American Vendors Program of the Palace of the Governors
 
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#326
Pirard said:
I just discovered this thread...what stunning pieces you have! I need to pull out my NA jewelry and wear it more often...I tend to cycle through stones. I know reliability is a big factor in finding true pieces. I've had great experiences with the Heard Museum shop (Phoenix); the Indian Craft Shop (DC inside the US Dept. of Interior), the Smithsonian Native American Museum (DC), and of course Garland's in Sedona (AZ). Oh, and almost forgot to mention Santa Fe, Native American Vendors Program of the Palace of the Governors
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Dang gurl!!!!! What a rich source you have to compare and utilize, JUST WOW!! I use Nativo-Arts on Ebay and a dude in Missouri who shops the S West area and brings his wares to his store; his eye is fabulous. The Missouri dealer has been in business for 30 years and stands behind his merchandise.
 
#327
BigPurseSue said:
Omigosh! Those are gorgeous! :heart: I especially like that coral needlepoint cuff. Love, love, love.

I was going to ask if, now that fall has arrived, with all its deep rich colors, the NA lovers in this thread are starting to wear their jewelry more often. I've been pulling out some favorite pieces to wear in the upcoming weeks.
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YES I make myself wear the pieces. At one time I reserved NAJ for Summer but NO MORE. Fall is a wonderful time to expose them.. Winter can be hard with coat sleeves KWIM...
 
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