Hi all! This topic has been beat to death on this forum, but one more example. I spent a good amount of time taking in fabulous vintage turquoise jewelry (gorgeous Bisbee!) at the gallery at Cameron Trading post several days ago. I was suprised to see Merlin Olson (previously owner of Old Adobe Traders in Santa Ynez, CA). He has since retired and now runs the Gallery. I knew him from years ago when I spoke him multiple times at the American Indian Art Show in Marin CA. After talking a bit he stated he had acquired a suite of Lander Blue turquoise pieces consigned by a collector who purchased it in the 70âs. He brought it, and a couple other exquisite pieces, into the gallery the following day for me to see. From my conversation with Merlin he appears to have had a history with the Bob Brucia and had seen a lot of the early mined Lander Blue. Itâs pretty nice turquoise, thick, domed cabs; especially the cuff.
For your viewing pleasure and evaluation:
I believe the seller wants $50K for the suite. In my opinion the cuff has the best turquoise, and it fit me!#! He will sell pieces separatelyâŚbut, no I didnât buy it!
@Bmpdvm A wonderful suite of jewelry with superior turquoise! I canât quite tell - am I seeing pyrite in this turquoise? Thanks for sharing these beauties.
Donât you love photographyđ⌠nope, no pyrite. The pieces had varying amounts of a grayish-brown matrix, like that seen I other examples Iâve seen. The flash makes it appear shiny in the pictures!
What an opportunity! Did it look darker to the eye? The flash is throwing me. Iâd love to know how the seller arrived at pricingâwhether a carat rationale, or comparables, or a guess of what market would bear or what.
Not settings that do it for me personally, but the stones
Hi @chicfarmerâŚThe seller evidently wants that price per Merlin. He said âshe knows what she hasâŚâ. I donât know if she had a paper trail regarding the purchase, but Iâd suggested she have a couple independent expert appraisals then arrive at an asking price.
Iâm with you regarding the settings; guess thatâs 70ish style? The setting is one of the many boxes I want to check off before putting out $$$.
Sorry about the photos, I just took some real quick shots in the gallery. Yes, it did appear a deeper blue!
Since there have been so many discussions regarding Lander Blue, I thought Iâd throw these in the mixđ.
I think one of the first things you do when the assumption is made that a beautiful cut of blue and black spider webbed turquoise is Landers, is look at the cut. All of the turquoise you would see, unless it was from rough cut here in the states, from China would be a symmetrical cut. Not saying you donât see these types of cuts with Landers, but the majority of the time it is a free form cut. Plus, I think about the size of the stone, most Lander is not very big cuts. When I worked for Richardson Trading Company in the early 90s I can remember a turquoise dealer having a tray of Lander Blue and selling it for $2 a carat and nothing in that tray was big. Also, those early cuts of Chinese Turquoise usually didnât have any backing. I guess what I am getting at, like most of us, when I hear Lander Blue I automatically dismiss until I have exhausted proving it is not.
Am I crazy that I donât really, really love this? Yes the turquoise is beautiful, but⌠I donât know. Maybe Iâve just seen so much Chinese turquoise thatâs highly webbed that everything now looks suspicious. But I bet in person it was quite spectacular.
As early as the mid to late 70âs Lander was usually reserved for extremely nice, valuable settings, often in 14k. Just not seeing anything close to that here.
YepâŚyou must be crazy @Ziacat.
It was prettier in person, deeper blue and the matrix was not so apparent. Actually I have other black web turquoise I think is actually prettier, but not as deep blue (high grade Candalaria, for example).
I would think that too @mmrogers. Merlin stated that this turquoise was mined and set into these pieces very early before the mine was found to be a limited âhat mineâ. It was thought the mine would produce large amounts of turquoise, so larger thicker pieces were initially used. I have no idea if that was true, but it would explain these larger pieces. Interesting the stories out thereâŚhow does one know what is the actual truth? Another example of buyer-be-waređŹ
Agreed. Stylistically, I personally donât see this work being older than mid-70s at the earliest, and middling at best in quality and composition.
It just doesnât seem plausible to me that someone with access to genuine Lander would have it set like this. Itâs always been considered the best of the best, sought after and coveted by higher end buyers and collectors.
Here is my 2cents worth. The turquoise looks closer to my Blue Winds turquoise in the buckle as previously discussed. Still a rarity if it is, but not Lander Blue. I would consult both Bob and John Hartman before spending piles of money. IMHO 1. It just does not have the look, especially the matrix; 2. Cabs are too big; 3. Should be in more expensive settings.
^This image was shown and discussed in the attached thread, about a purported Lander Blue ring (per first post in that thread). To date, no one has reported back here with Bob Bruciaâs authentication report on that one, but itâs the right idea to pursue for any claim of LB.
Interesting. My photo is also from the website https://bluelanderturquoise.com .
But itâs not the same ring. And I agree, even a website with such a name wonât confirm authenticity.
Edit: removed the Blue Winds turquoise photo as the photo quality was not good enough.
I have been reading through one of my turquoise books that I had forgotten about, and they had this photo with Lander Blue (the 2 rings in the center).
In the first photo, Iâm hard pressed to see any differences between the stones in the 2 rings (Lander Blue) and the stones in the cuff, lower right hand corner.
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