2 Bracelets of unknown origin, where could they be from?

These are 2 bracelets that i recently found when bargain hunting (online) in my country. Both had small defects, but i bought them anyway (because of small budget). Especially the blue one (which had a dent in the silver) was easily fixed, so i’m happy with that.

With the blue one the seller didn’t even mention that the bracelet was silver. He did call it Navajo & ‘made by indians’. But i’ don’t think i agree with that. I’ve seen identical bracelets called many things online, e.g. Etruscan, Greek, Art Deco, Italian, Mexican, Navajo. For a second i thought it was Zuni needlepoint, but i quickly abandoned that and nowadays if i had to guess i’d say it might be Mexican (mainly because of the 935 silver mark).

The red bracelet had no other info then ‘vintage bracelet 925 silver’. I have no idea about it’s style & origin. Perhaps the Tibetan region?

With both bracelets i tested the metal and in both cases the results indeed came up as silver.

What i’m wondering, besides what region they might have originated from, is what the stones could be, if they are stones at all. I understand this is very hard to determine from photo’s, but i’d be happy to hear any guesses regardless.

With the blue one, sellers of similar items often call it (tested) Turquoise and at other times glass, or unknown.
With the red stones i have no clue; red coral? Red jade? Red glasspaste? Red dyed something?






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In my opinion these look Asian or Southeast Asian in origin. The blue “stones” look like they might be glass. The “coral” has too much rust color in it for me and is too uniform in appearance, lacking the “look” of genuine coral. Nepal? Thailand?

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Agree, both SE Asian. The uniformity of color in the “turquoise” points to composite or non-turquoise.

Curious if you’re intending to be buying Native American jewelry, or just whatever you enjoy? It takes a lot of study of NA jewelry to develop the skills to have good success if that’s the goal.

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Thank you for this information. It suppords my ‘hunch’ about them being some kind of glass

Thanks again for your help chicfarmer. I’m more or less buying whatever i enjoy, but do have a strong preference for Native American items. It also often correlates with if i have a little budget or not much at all.

To include an example, here’s a recent (€20) find of which i’m quite sure that it is indeed NA (also thanks to the wealth of info that is available on this board):


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Thanks! that looks very similar indeed

p.s. i forgot to add that with a sharp knife i can’t make a scratch on the blue stones/glass but can make one on the red stone/glass

The G hallmark on the buckle matches the G in other Garrett & Serena Banteah (Zuni) pieces I see offered. Maybe this was just made by Garrett.

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Hi StevesTrail, thanks, that is also what i assumed, based on this topic:

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I wouldn’t guess Banteah. George Begay seems more likely, because Navajo people do Hopi-style silver overlay pieces devoid of stones whereas Zunis do not. It’s outside their aesthetic and traditional skills, recognizing that an individual can pick and choose what to create. But the Banteahs are known for characteristic Zuni work, with inlay stones. The GB hallmark matches that shown in Hougart.

There are batches of jewelry examples online that are misattributed (not speaking only of this hallmark), so there’s that. The design vocabulary has to relate to any attribution.

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