Interesting, but really hard to see.
Can you take some photos outside in natural light?
Yes Stracci, I’ll be glad to. It’s almost 5PM now, and very cloudy. Hope to see some sun tomorrow. I will post them then.
Every now and then you see a piece of jewelry that just speaks to you, this was it for me. Lapidary is a new hobby for us (1 piece each) and we appreciate the skill of cutting cabochons this artist displayed. Until tomorrow. Have a great evening. .
Thank goodness we have sun today! The stpne still looks dark, Navy blue, black, sometimes DEEP purple, and I stress DEEP. Thgold just shimmers along, a good vein I am guessing. Tried in shade and
or sun whike raised on a garden rock angled away from camera to cut glare.
The first one I hope you can see how the gold color seems to be shaped as points, like a star.
The second photo is a close up in the shade, no flash, of the (gold quartz?).
@hisweetpotato Thx for the additional photos. I like your unique pendant! My only thought is maybe natural sunstone but, I really don’t have a clue. Hope someone in the forum can identify it.
Glad you enjoyed the photos.This is my first non-turquoise piece. I thought it was a dark brownish agate at first. We didn’t see the gold in it until until I used a clean soft cloth, with nothing on it, to wipe it down.
(I remembered what chicfarmer said about not using any chemicals or polishes).Lapis isn’t that dark and doesn’t have gold in it, does it?
I just don’t know what that could be.
Without examining it in person, I really can’t say.
Lapis? Blue Pietersite?
Could it be a man made composite?
I don’t know. It is more black than blue. I looked up Lapis online Mine is really dark., black, I couldn’t find anything on Alvin Joe making anything with man made stone., so I don’t know about that. I have some ideas, but will need to reach out to a few people. If I found out, I will let you all know. And if anyone out there knows the stone, or Alvin Joe please reach out to him. Thanks.
Meanwhile I will enjoy wearing it.
A little side story, I bought this at a tag sale this weekend, and a few other pieces. This was the only NA out of 7 packed cardboard boxes of loose jewelry. Costume, JTV, QVC, etc.
The seller had no idea what anything was and came up with an astronomical price, not a tag sale price. I eliminated all but what I truly liked. We went back and forth. In putting the final items back in the box I did not realize until 3 hrs after I got home this pendant was not in the box that I paid for. It was the one thing I wanted most. I was so disappointed but 3 hrs had passed and they were closed. My husband offered to go back, tit was in our town, And I told him not to it was gone. But being the wonderful guy he is he went back. They were just starting to pack up, but she remembered selling it to me. Can you believe he searched for 20 minutes and found it. The seller knew I had already paid for it so there was no problem. Great guy huh? He is my real treasure.
It’s very interesting and unique!
I hope you can get a concrete answer soon.
But even if you never really identify it, I know you will enjoy wearing it!
Beautiful. Could it be Rainbow Obsidian with Quartz inclusions?
Interesting. Because of the purple color I never thought of this.
Thanks @Steve . I did some research on this Mohave black copper turquoise. Seems like it’s an “assembled” product. Lovicraft has a great YouTube video on how to make it.
Looks like it’s a polymer clay, copper mica dust, and gold foil mixed and kneaded together, rolled out, cut into “cabs” with a cookie cutter form, baked, and coated with a clear resin.
If there is a natural form of this material, please let me know.
Interesting that an artist of his caliber would have used a man made stone.
I am not totally convinced.
Alvin Joe is a name found on wholesale sellers’ medium to low-tier stone jewelry items, so it’s plausible to me that might have used what @Steve found. In a quick browse I found pendants in composited apple coral (with resin), white buffalo, etc.
I continue to wonder if some of these names are made up people. I know it does happen in the industry. Interestingly, Hougart doesn’t include the name.
Thanks for the clarification. I found some high quality jewelry and a bio for Alvin Jay, Navajo artist.
this AJ stamp does not match what Garlands shows on a $500 Al Joe cuff
https://www.shopgarlands.com/collections/al-joe/products/2a5040
Al Joe, a known Navajo smith, is not “Alvin” Joe, btw.
It is not color changing. The navy blue and deep purple may have been reflections of light or background.
It was polished nicely and the gold highlights sparkled as well. . The first 2 pictures I posted on oct 22, the one showing the hallmark and the one showing all black (10/22/2023 at 15:35 is exactly how it looks as I am wearing it today.
Thanks so much. . I “google imaged” searched and got the exact signature, so I thought it was correct. I will not trust this sight again. (see below sight that had bad info) Dang! I tried to share the bad sight with you to warn others, but it did not show.It claims to be a Native American Marks.
Alvin Joe
Navajo
