Hello! I inherited this SB from my grandmother. Unfortunately, when I got it, it was long after she had passed and I have no history on it. She lived in Arizona and was an avid collector of NA Jewelry. She did most of her collecting/travel in the 70s and early 80s. I have no reason to believe it wouldn’t be authentic based on her financial status and other items she owned.
I have posted this on some Facebook pages and gotten all sorts of opinions, but seems to be leaning towards Royston turquoise and valued around $2000. I did take it to a shop and they offered me $800 which I would not sell for that anyway as it is a family heirloom.
I don’t see any sort of signature on the back but the silver backings of the squashes appear to have small ridges that look like they were made from coins.
Weight is quite heavy overall at 155g. Spots on the back of the Naja are from a bleach test. I assume that created the patina. Before I got it, my mom polished the whole thing which I’ve learned is a no no.
@Vistabart Hi & Welcome! Very nice squash blossom necklace. Thank you for mentioning that it’s been cross-posted to other sites. This is just my opinion ~ I’d consider the turquoise to be a nice grade of Kingman. Is that “925” stamped on the reverse? Can’t quite make it out. Generally speaking, we see Native American jewelry stamped “Sterling” instead of “925”.
Welcome! I really like it, especially the stones. I feel like there could be some Royston in the necklace indeed but i’d be surprised if it would turn out that all the stones came from that mine. Wondering if the turquoise might be natural btw (i can’t see any residue in the crevices, nor any ‘glassy’ sheen).
If I had to guess I would say Kingman, but they also make me think of Turquoise Mountain or even Pilot Mountain. And I agree that we don’t generally see 925 on Native jewelry, and if we do it’s usually paired with a hallmark. I’m thinking these are not handmade beads (but not sure on that) which I think was often the case with squashes from the 70’s.
One thing to understand about turquoise is that without good provenance figuring out the mine is merely educated guessing.
Going out on a limb here cause I’m not a silversmith, but I’m guessing that is just some kind of file work, not edges of coins.
