Hi everyone! I got this bracelet and a bag of other jewelry, and though it looks Native American, it also looks like somebody sat on it. I was thinking, perhaps it was cobbled together from other bracelets? Or perhaps it was a practice piece for someone. In any case, can anybody venture a guess onto the authenticity of it? I’m trying to decide if I should spend the time rehabbing it, or just remove the Central piece, which seems to be genuine. There are no markings on it anywhere. Any information would be very appreciated!
Thank you for your time and knowledge🤗
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I’ve seen similar @AP57 but can’t place it. I would first have it tested to see if it is sterling. Perhaps @mmrogers could shed some insight. If it leans towards being NA, I would contact @Jason at Perry Null Trading for a repair quote.
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Thank you for your info!
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Hey Steve. Was looking at this one yesterday. To me it doesn’t appear to be Native, and the material looks like nickel rather than silver. @AP57, it does look like someone was trying out ideas and techniques on this one.
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It has tested for silver. I will do the test over again, but it also is non responsive to a neodymium magnet.
Typically, nitric acid is used to test. Nitric acid is extremely caustic, so I don’t recommend going out and getting some for personal use. However, most on site jewelry repair businesses have a test kit, and can usually tell you with a high degree of certainty whether or not the material is silver. It does look like some type of silver bearing solder was used for most of the the solder joints.
Both silver and nickel, and for that matter any metal that doesn’t contain some percentage of iron is non magnetic, so regardless of the magnet being used, all non-ferrous metals will test as non-reactive.
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Yes, I am aware of this and I have my own metal testing kit. I usually can Identify my metals, but in this case, I think there’s a mixture. That’s why I thought either the main front piece was taken off of something else and replaced with the wires because it doesn’t look like the same craftsmanship. I have made and sold jewelry in the past, and presently have a page on Etsy for vintage jewelry.
I never ever want to put something up as native American if it is not Native American. What’s also important to me is the date or some way to gauge what decade it might’ve been produced out of. I am primarily familiar with jewelry from the 20s to the 90s which is more of my milieu.
I have Billy Hougart’s books, various books on southwestern jewelry, as well as an interest in Mexican silver jewelry. There are times the two can overlap.
I thank you for your help. This is one of those things I think I won’t get answered because there is no stamp or identifier on the back or anywhere else. I do believe that is a real piece of turquoise so that’s a start.
Still think this might be a student piece.
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