It truly was. My sister-in-law and I were devastated when they said they would be closing. But....it's all good and my husband knows very well that we would probably be broke as heck if we ever moved out West.
REAL Native American Jewelry~
- Thread starter susieserb
- Start date
TPF may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others
I picked up a couple of items today but not sure what to make of them. An unmarked ring of turquoise and silver. Very nice little turquoise pieces in the ring and I do like it. But the inlaid bracelet, I am not sure about. It is marked “Nakai”. It seems to appear to me, from looking online that it may mean that it is just made by an “unknown maker”. Not sure. What do the experts say? Thanks.
pretty pieces! I have no advice, I am not versed in the provenance, etc. of NA jewelry... (I just like to wear it LOL)
Lovely pieces!
Here's an interesting discussion from the ebay community on "Nakia" NA jewelry. Nakia is apparently a shop in Sante Fe that uses piece workers to create jewelry and stamp it with the shop name. Although there is also a family of NA jewelry makers named Nakia.
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Fine-...-Sterling-southwestern-earrings/td-p/19396583
Interesting. Thanks for this.
It’s hard to know what I have here. This cuff does not have “Sterling” nor “925” stamped on it. Just NAKAI in all caps. (it does clean like silver tho when I use a silver cleaning cloth.)
I find that the silver cleaning cloths also clean up metal that's not silver
I have some very old NA jewelry that's not stamped sterling or 925. Lots of the old jewelry was made with melted down metals like nickels, or the Indian craftspeople did not stamp the jewelry, so it's always hard to tell.
In that ebay message string it mentioned contacting the Nakai shop in Santa Fe to ask about the jewelry, and if the shop is still in business that might be something to consider doing.
Nakai is a Navajo name, so you can expect it was indeed Navajo made, either by an individual or a workshop employing Navajos.
The chip inlay style is a commercial project that got popularized in the 1960s. The point of it was to satisfy the newly-growing demand for Indian jewelry at the more affordable souvenir end. There was one high-end jeweler, Tommy Singer, who is credited with starting the style. So it's sometimes called "Singer style." Here, the turquoise and spiny oyster are remnants mixed into a bonding adhesive. The silver stamping on the cuff mostly likely was done by a machine process vs. hand applied.
The little ring is very sweet! I like the shaping of the stones. I'd guess Zuni made.
The chip inlay style is a commercial project that got popularized in the 1960s. The point of it was to satisfy the newly-growing demand for Indian jewelry at the more affordable souvenir end. There was one high-end jeweler, Tommy Singer, who is credited with starting the style. So it's sometimes called "Singer style." Here, the turquoise and spiny oyster are remnants mixed into a bonding adhesive. The silver stamping on the cuff mostly likely was done by a machine process vs. hand applied.
The little ring is very sweet! I like the shaping of the stones. I'd guess Zuni made.
Last edited:
Thanks so much for all the info! The bracelet seems to be two parts put together (hope that makes sense). You can see a seam. Maybe like two sheets pressed together? Making it very thick and heavy. The outer one being silver and the inside one being some other material ? Looks somewhat duller.
You're welcome. What you're describing is the "overlay" technique. I can't think of any other reason there would be two layers, so here's what overlay does:
There are two layers, a base layer and a top layer, with the base having the decoration on it (the chip inlay pattern) that gets exposed by the cutting away of the top layer. You should expect it to be silver, entirely.
Really like this combination. They complement each other so well. It’s very graphic and modern. I would not have thought this was Native American. Tell us more! Thanks for posting.Two favorite cuff bracelet. I love the fact that each one is one of kind .I love finding ones that unique .thank you for letting me share my updated collection
Molly0, I agree with Jellyv about the bracelet. The ring is nice & resembles Zuni work.
This is a really gorgeous sacred heart pendant that I purchased at the Tesuque pueblo years ago. I jazzed it up with some of my own creations that I sometimes mix with Navaho pearls, too. The more...the merrier! It is hallmarked by Dan Robson.