The belt itself is leather but…
2 Likes
Looks real to me! Navajo Tufa cast most likely. Not sure about the stones however…but then it could be Kingman. That type comes in all colors. If you dont like the turquoise a jeweler could easily replace the stones.
3 Likes
Nice Buckle.
Is that a P or a D center back, just below the square?
Thank you! I will research more and your feedback is a great place for me to start!
Thank you so much! I had not seen this until you said. I will look under much better light and try to take a pic.
1 Like
Good looking belt. I would call it something like Blue Diamond NATURAL BLUE DIAMOND TURQUOISE CABOCHON 14 cts
2 Likes
@Rick8 Hi & Welcome. Nice belt buckle. It looks to be sand cast, imo. At least 1 turquoise cab appears to have quartz inclusions in it. To me, inclusions can add an element of interest to a stone.
1 Like
Nice looking buckle @Rick8 and she had a good eye. Taking nothing away from it, it looks like someone dipped the entire buckle in Griffith Silver Black. I’ve seen a lot of that lately at auction. My personal preference would be to polish the buckle lightly for silver highlights leaving the center square area black. I think that would really enhance the overall appearance and turquoise. Just my opinion.
3 Likes
Jason, Thank you so much for taking the time to respond! clicking on link as we speak.
Patina, thank you so much for taking the time to respond! I don’t go to groups like this much but this could be the coolest yet.
1 Like
Steve, thank you so much for taking the time to respond! We will most definitely follow your instructions
Cool Ketoh style buckle! I was wondering about Blue Diamond on the turquoise, but it would have been totally a guess for me 
1 Like
Welcome to Turquoise People, @Rick8.
Neat buckle, your wife made a fine choice! I really like the handmade swivel bar. It does indeed appear to be Blue Diamond. This concho belt from the 40’s serves as another example of the beautiful stone.
2 Likes
I have looked at the buckle again in better light and magnifying glass and, strange enough, I can not even find what looks like the “P” or “D” but do see it on the pic I attached. weird
1 Like
seeing the stone, I have a gut feeling mine most likely is not turquoise - they seem too ‘perfect’?
THANKS!
I think they look like turquoise! And I don’t see a hallmark. Sometimes marks left from the casting process can look like a hallmark. I have a sandcast buckle that looks like it has an “s” hallmark, but when I had knowledgeable people look at it, they said it’s just left over from the way it was made.
1 Like
Hard turquoise around 6 on the Mohs scale can have a glassy appearance when polished. Your stones look real.
4 Likes
Agree that the buckle would look much nicer by moderating that applied blacking. Doing so would also show off the stones better.
5 Likes
This cast pattern is fairly common. Hard to tell from photos what casting method was used, but this pattern is listed in the book, Indian Silver: Volume Two, by Dale Stuart King (1976), as one of the “favorite forms used by spin-casters”. Wondering if those are flow lines on top and bottom.
Regardless, it’s a good looking buckle and I agree with others it would benefit from gently polishing the high points to bring out some of the silver.
6 Likes