I plan to purchase one more Navajo vintage bracelet, and would love to hear your feedback. It is reserved, so I can decide to go for it, or not, depending on your feedback.
Sterling silver bracelet with dark green & blue/black webbed turq.
Green turq. could be Kingman, Cerrillos, Blue Gem or Broken Arrow (Variscite)
Blue/turquoise color turq. could be Kingman, Hubei, Number 8, Blue Diamond or Morenci
Did I miss it, or is there no hallmark? I’m definitely not an expert, but I wouldn’t necessarily guess this is mid-century. It’s beautiful, but I’m not sure on the stones. It’s always a guess anyway without provenance.
Have seen Kings Manasa that looks like this. Could be from a number of different mines There’s one stone on the end that looks like Chinese and probably came along later as a replacement.
Don’t think it’s mid century, more likely 70’s or 80’s and would call it Navajo style unless it can be traced with a hallmark to a particular native silversmith or tribe. I knew a couple of Anglo silversmiths (brothers) up in Cortez Colorado that were making jewelry that looks like this back in the late 70’s. Last name is Hicks, and I want to say one of them was named Kevin.
Design stamps were likely created by the maker, and are very unusual, and pretty wild compared to more traditional stamps seen on Navajo jewelry. Whoever made the stamps and the bracelet absolutely knew what they were doing, and created some really expert work — especially with regard to the stamps.
Beautiful bracelet. As @StevesTrail said, would need to know what they’re asking for it to make an assessment of relative value.
Thanks guys. There are blue stones on both ends, they are there by design, not as a replacement. Chinese or, what I thought, Kingman, like the green ones, maybe.
It says “Navaho Indian silversmiths bracelet”.
I will be able to get it for $300. Weight is 5oz, without stones maybe 4.5oz of sterling, which alone is worth $120.
Nice cuff. From the prices I’ve seen lately, $300 is a fair price. And I really like the weight. I’ve seen several NA items with the stamping on the inside. Someone here might recognize it or you can have fun researching it.
Firstly, if we think it’s authentic (real turquoise) and fair deal, I would buy it. Need to take a decision.
Second, we can find out more about the artist, mines, and time frame, I’d propose. Maybe once I have it we’ll detect a hallmark.
The blue stone on each end was going to be my question. I couldn’t see enough to be sure but thought there was one on each end.
I think it’s a great looking cuff and I would buy it for $300 without a second thought.
@gt75 That’s a great looking cuff! I’d consider purchasing it for $300 - that seems like a fair price to me. I don’t really have any solid info to offer in the way of answering your specific questions. My thoughts: in my opinion, both the green & blue turquoise cabs could be Kingman. I’m a huge fan of stampwork & the stamping on this cuff is fabulous. The stampwork on the inside of the cuff is especially fancy. But, that’s throwing me off a bit. I haven’t personally seen this type of stampwork on NA jewelry - but, that’s just my personal experience. This cuff could very well be NA made. Please follow up & let us know if you purchase the cuff or not.
ETA ~ To be a little more clear, I’ve seen stampwork in the inside of cuffs before. Just not very fancy stamps like these. I think they’re beautiful.
The first time I saw stamping like this on the inside of a bracelet, it was the boys up in Cortez Colorado in the four corners region, @StevesTrail. We used this technique ourselves in 80s and 90s and still do, and many other silversmiths adopted the practice from the late 70s, early 80s on. There were four trading companies up in Cortez the time specializing in Native American crafts from the Navajo, and Ute tribes. Don Woodard’s, Notah Dineh, Louise Hicks, and another big outfit (I forget the name). Very possible the technique spread from there out. I was certainly impressed with it.
Ooh, I’d buy it for $300! Love the vintage look of the stones, the great stamping (including that sterling stamp) and silver drops. All components that to my eye are so appealing. And the more blue stone is killer!!
If you put “how to tell stabilized turquoise from natural” in the forum search bar up above, you will get a lot of information. But in the end it’s most likely going to boil down to what Jason said on one of the threads (this screenshot is from that)…
Your best bet is buying from trusted sources (I’m just mentioning a few), such as Perry Null, Garland’s, and directly from the artists. You’re probably not going to find “bargains,” but in the end it’s worth it. Less trustworthy sources are probably going to tell you everything’s natural. Sometimes they’re being deliberately dishonest, and sometimes they don’t understand that stabilized turquoise is still real turquoise, and they think you’re asking if it’s fake.
