I hope I’m doing this right. I’ve recently acquired this piece and am fairly confident it is authentic and of the Fred Harvey era of jewelry. I am having a difficult time with value. It seems pieces are all over the place on the web. The turquoise has two small recessed ares that look like chips which I’m assuming effects the value. Hoping someone can help!
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Are you sure the stone is Turquoise? It kind of looks like Variscite.
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I know nothing for certain. I posted it in a couple facebook groups and that seemed to be the general consensus but I have no idea how to determine the difference.
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It looks like old Cerrillos turquoise to me. The pits you are referring to I think is just natural matrix in the host rock. As for age, it’s tough to tell as I’ve seen some really good retro work. However, I think this one is authentic, most likely native made in the tourist trade style. The repoussé work is well done although I can’t get a full view of it on the sides. It is not a stamped blank, that’s for sure. If I had to put a value on it, 350-450.
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thank you so much for taking the time to inform me! i’m still learning the details to look out for in determining age of pieces.
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It is a nice bracelet. Lots of artist work in this style and you will hear it referred to as revival. It is difficult to get a good feel for the age of this cuff.
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I wondered if it was truly vintage - it’s got kind of a kitchen-sink vibe. too much of a good thing? IDK.
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@Jemez2 I know exactly what you mean. Btw I don’t recognize this stamp at all (for whatever that’s worth), have never seen it:
Any hallmarks or stamping on the reverse, @annieob?
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hi, there are no marks on the back side at all. here are some additional photos. in the facebook group someone suggested that, “The smith worked for Maisels.” that’s about as specific as anyone has been.
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the more i look at it, the more i head-scratch. that stone has got a great, old-looking greasy-green color, but if it were as old as it wants to be, i don’t think the edges would be as crisp and clean as they are? I’d expect that stone to be more worn smooth on the edges and corners. IDK IDK.
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Looks pretty darned old to me. One of the giveaways is the way the stamps are made. Normally, and in more modern jewelry, the striated patterning on the face of the stamp is made by annealing the steel, and hammering the stamp face into a piece of mill bastard file before tempering to tooling hardness, which creates a nice even pattern. These stamps were patterned using a single liner stamp repeatedly, which in this case creates a coarser, less consistently spaced pattern. The two part repousse stamps were made in a similar fashion, as were the non eyebrow pattern stamps. Smaller eyebrow stamps were created with half round, and triangle files, with the smallest employing punches as well.
The turquoise cab doesn’t have the sort of nice rounded edges found on more modern cutting, and if you took it out of the setting, you’d probably find it isn’t backed at all. The bezel was made from a thin strip of sheet, carefully fitted, and filed at the corners to create perfect 90 degree angles. A more modern bracelet would likely use factory milled fine silver bezel strip, wrapped around the stone and joined at one point on one of the sides. The angles of the bezel themselves appear to have been fixed with hard solder before the bezel was joined to the bracelet. This is an extraordinary level of work.
The bracelet is either genuinely very old, or the silversmith who made it went to extraordinary lengths to make their own tools, and to use processes, techniques, and materials identical to early Harvey era Navajo silversmiths.
Honestly looks like the real McCoy to me. Nice find!
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I always appreciate your thoughtful examinations of things, especially when it comes to tools and techniques. the fakers get better and better at making new things look old, and i get more and more wary of being fooled. the knowledge you so generously share is invaluable to learners like me.
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That particular stamp sort of looks like a representation of a bear or badger paw to me.
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Thank you so very much for sharing. This is quite honestly the most comprehensive explanation I’ve ever heard in all my years of collecting and learning. I really appreciate you going into such extensive detail!
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