Thank you @Ziacat! Your enthusiasm is appreciated, as is @chicfarmer’s. With the right amount of handling, you’ll have the stones in your cuff precisely where you want it!
The stampwork on that sandcast buckle is just shallow enough to be present, but not overly deep, which is favorable in my opinion. Thank you for your thoughts!
Interesting take on the stones, personally I enjoy the simplicity of the settings in this buckle in particular, but I understand your point completely and can see it set with more variation in the stones in my mind, thank you!
I understand this as well. In my machine shop we utilize two Hermle 5 axis mills for the manufacture of tools, molds and dies. Hermle machines are 100% manufactured in Gosheim, Germany and are without doubt the world’s finest examples of such machinery.
Aaron,
It is easy to discuss and give my “approval” to someone who has great taste in vintage and historic Native silver. All of these additions looked wonderful in the dealer photos, but your photography takes them to a new level. Absolutely stunning!
Personally, I am over the moon with the Carl Moon belt. I still question if the conchos should be categorized as “revival”. The buckle, while still very old, could have be replaced a decade or two later. Regardless, antique belts with round conchos, especially of large size like these, are quite scarce. Add in the fact it was once owned by Moon and is a published piece makes this belt ultra special and a contender for the pinnacle of your collection.
Thanks for posting. I really enjoyed seeing them again! 
Tom,
Thank you for your kind words and friendly support. It’s a pleasure to be part of a community that shares interests in these passions.
I share your sentiments on the Moon belt. Per the information I studied during my research, he was more or less finished photographing Southwest Natives around ~1917(ish). That’s not to say he couldn’t have collected the belt in his later years in California, but the fact that he pursued his passion of collecting and was gifted many of the artifacts in his collection during his earlier photography career, speaks volumes to their dating, I feel. While we’re shooting from the hip, I’d also like to mention that I second your theory that a wizened, weather worn old Navajo man made good on a trading post debt with a concho from that belt. 
There is an abundant amount of leather remaining after the sixth concho, supporting your wonderful thought, plenty of room for a pre-existing seventh!
Aaron,
This morning, I came back for a second viewing of your new belts and buckles, which made me question my comment above. What are your thoughts on the criss-cross stampings around the buckle’s opening? I can see it is not raised like on the conchos, but does it appear to have been created in the same manner by the same tool?
There is no doubt in my mind that’s what happened. Now, you just need to find the missing seventh concho. It’s not impossible. 
Hope you don’t mind my jumping in here, Tom & @Ravenscry.
That would be a similar tool, but not the same tool. What you have on the buckle rather than a cris cross, is a single stamp with a separation in the center, filed at the ends to give a rope like effect when stamped in series. In this case though, beginning in the center of each rectangular section the craftsman has created a radial effect by starting with the stamp positioned straight up and down in the middle of the section, with each stamp impression to the left and right turning incrementally outward toward the outer corners for a radiating effect within each segment of the rectangle terminating at each corner.
The round concho employs a similarly made stamp but in this case rather than being flat on the surface as with the stamp used on the buckle, the centerline of the stamp has been filed concave to match the convex curve of the raised 1/2 round wire element surrounding the domed unstamped center portion of each concho. This stamp rather than having one separation in the center appears to have four separations. The stamp is used diagonally in series creating the cris cross effect you’re observing.
Hello gentleman,
I had quite a lengthy response typed up, mentioning my anticipation for @mmrogers’s thoughts, when out of the blue Mike chimed in!
@TAH, since having the belt in hand, I’ve been studying it with intent, and have gone back and forth from the buckle to the conchos with a very fine loupe I was recently gifted due to similar thoughts. While I feel noone can possibly know, it’s certainly a possibility that the buckle was a later addition, and the difference we’re contemplating in the stampwork could be due to an attempted duplication, or it very well could be that the same smith that crafted the conchos made the buckle…I prefer to lean towards the fact that the buckle came later
@mmrogers, thank you for stepping in and providing your concise, clear, technical explanation. While reading your thoughts I can imagine the silver being worked as well as understand the detailed construction of the stamps. I find your descriptions easy to follow and a pleasure to take in. 
Thanks again! By the way, speaking for myself, I always look forward to your input, regardless of subject matter but especially concerning silversmithing in it’s entirety, it’s unfailingly informative and highly regarded.
Indeed Tom, nothing is impossible nor out of reach!
These are really wonderful pieces, @Ravenscry. Every piece you and Tom post is a real treat in terms of the tools and techniques used to make them. Each piece and motif represents an artistic and technical exploration by the master craftsmen and women who produced them. I never cease to marvel at the artistry represented.
Thank you, Mike. I know we’ve all got our “triggers”, the aspects, design elements, age, stone(s), patina, what have you, that really get us going. Tom certainly has some of the finest examples of early Navajo silver that I’ve seen. The uniqueness and high quality that embodies his collection makes it museum worthy, in my opinion. When you chime in and comment (on anything really) but particularly on the quality of the stampwork as well as the craftsmanship inherent in the stamps themselves, that’s always gratifying, as I know that you’re speaking from decades of experience and hands on knowledge. It’s priceless, really.
Your remarks aren’t taken lightly and I certainly appreciate your kind words. Chasing these passions of ours solely is one thing, but when others you respect, as I do many of you here in this community, remark on the quality of your efforts, it provides a little extra boost that perhaps you’re not doing half bad in your pursuits.
Thank you again to all that have commented, contributed and enjoyed this fine thread of @TAH’s. I can honestly say that this thread in particular is the reason I joined this wonderful gathering of Turquoise People.
Well said, Aaron! Thank you for the compliments and thank you, Mike, for sharing your expertise! Your technical knowledge is always interesting and educational.
Btw, Aaron, if this belt were mine, all of the stamp work would be worn off in a few years. 
Interested in reading the response you had written up, Aaron. Apologies to you and Tom for jumping in before you had a chance to post it.
I suppose I should remove it while sleeping, the patina is disappearing as is the stampwork! 
Seriously though, that belt is one of the easiest of mine to wear, because as we’ve discussed, the conchos fit in standard belt loops.
@mmrogers, no need for apologies! My response was simply pure conjecture and mentioned my desire for your expertise at least two or three times. I was going to share my thought that the tool(s) used around the opening of the buckle, while bearing similarity to the concho border, appeared just slightly different, to me. As you so kindly pointed out, the technique of application is interesting, in that the stampwork on the buckle was started vertically in the center of each side of the rectangle, slowly angling out as the smith stamped his way to the corners, as opposed to a consistent angle being stamped around the entire opening. My initial impression was that the tool(s) used on the buckle did not contain the same amount of work as the stamps used on the concho border. However, I’ll forever be a student, and really should keep my mouth shut until more experienced and educated persons such as yourself chime in with factual points. As @TAH pointed out, it’s always great to have you step in!!! I am grateful for your knowledge Mike.
Appreciate the vote of confidence, Aaron. However, I’ll try not to jump the gun next time
Thanks once again for sharing these beauties with us!
Thought I would share a buckle I acquired a couple of months ago. I’m always keeping an eye out for unique cast buckles. I think this one fits that category.
This buckle was previously owned by the late Lynn D. Trusdell, owner of Crown & Eagle Antiques, and is featured in the book, Indian Jewelry on the Market, by Peter Schiffer, 1996 (last photo below). First, here is a little information on Ms. Trusdell you might enjoy.
"I’ve been attending American Indian art auctions for 34 years, and I’ve looked at thousands of historic silver and turquoise bracelets, rings, and necklaces on the auction block. In all my time at Native American jewelry auctions, though, I’ve never seen anything to compare with the array of superb Native art pieces that were auctioned at Bonhams and Butterfields in San Francisco on June 1, 2009.
Many of these items came from the collection of Lynn D. Trusdell, an American Indian art dealer from famed Bucks County in Eastern Pennsylvania. Ms. Trusdell passed away last year after operating Crown and Eagle Antiques of New Hope, Pennsylvania. Over decades, she acquired a world-class collection of Southwestern Indian jewelry with emphasis on pieces made from the 1920’s through the 1940’s - the heyday of classic craftsmanship in silver and turquoise jewelry by artists from the Navajo, Zuni and Rio Grande Pueblo tribes. After Ms. Trusdell’s passing, her estate chose Bonhams and Butterfields to sell her collection. The auction house received more than 500 items of American Indian art owned by Ms. Trusdell." - Martha Hopkins Struever
Navajo, 3 3/4” x 2 7/8”, 100 grams, coin silver (tested), ca.1940s-early 50s, possibly a one-off tufa casting
Studio photograph from the gallery.
This is a superb example of a unique cast buckle, Tom. At 100 grams, it’s hefty for it’s agreeable size, has a lovely, worn, warm patina, and is dark in all the right places. The belt you’ve coupled it with does a wonderful job of accentuating the stamping and casting patterns of the buckle, and the contrast stitching is a major plus in this combo.
The fact that is was acquired by Lynn and was a part of her collection is just marvelous. Add to that it’s published provenance, and you’ve got yourself a truly one of a kind treasure! Any collector or admirer of fine, early Navajo silver would be proud to call this their own. I think it’s just fabulous and am happy you were able to add it to your stable!
I’m not really a belt buckle person but that is one fine buckle and it’s so nice you have the history of it. I’m definitely warming up to these buckles the more I read this thread.
Thanks Aaron and Nancy! Appreciate your thoughts.
Aaron, I know we discussed this buckle before I purchased it. It is rapidly picking up steam and climbing to the top of one of my favorites. It’s getting a lot of wear time and so far, I’ve managed not to gore anyone with one of the horns.
I think it’s wonderful that this buckle is reliving it’s glory days on your waist, Tom! Strictly due to it’s size and shape, (let alone appearance) this one would be receiving much wear time with me as well. It possesses such a beautiful, well loved look, one that will be furthered under your tender care!
It’s certainly understandable that it’s leaping to the forefront of your selection of fine buckles, you’ve collected some of the most incredible examples of the form, but this one, in my opinion, is so unique and very special. I recall a bit of uncertainty, but I’m elated you acquired it and are thoroughly enjoying it!!
Anyone that gets close enough to find themselves impaled by your buckle should consider themselves lucky!
Beautiful buckle, I would wear it in a heartbeat. I have that book; I’ll have to look up your buckle!
Yesterday, out of sheer boredom waiting for holiday festivities to begin, I snapped this photo of the buckles I’ve posted in this thread for size comparison.
ETA: Descriptions top to bottom:
