I bought this big squash blossom necklace and it has a marking. I haven’t been able to find this maker. I’d also love to know what is the turquoise. Thanks in advance for your help.
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HMIJ Stands for Handmade Indian Jewelry.
Gilbert Ortega Enterprises (shop).
(I think)
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Looks like classic Kingman turquoise to me. Beautiful piece.
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So Dr. Lori lists CA’s San Bernardino mine as famous but no mention of Bisbee, Kingman, etc 
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I’m not surprised @Ziacat . You need to keep in mind that the main qualification to go on and be accepted into a phd program in our (to quote Robert Pirsig) “church of reason” university system is the ability to pass a written test. A phd has its uses but overall i’ve been more impressed and will take boots on the ground experience and common sense over a piece of paper all day.
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This is not really similar in my opinion. Thanks anyway.
Does this help to ID the original post?
Sometimes on here comments do stray from the original topic. Sorry.
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My apology as well. Didn’t mean to stray off topic.
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I have never seen a San Bernardino stone and I think it was a hat mine. (Low output).
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Here is a pair of earrings on an auction site that caught my eye due to the high level of bids and cost. It has a two bird hallmark that I could not find. I did not bid on this item but am curious if anyone knows who made them. thanks. $260.00
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I saw these as well and wondered why they sold for so much.
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Not saying this is the case but an example. I have bid on auctions where the seller has had straw bidders running the items up. Some count on the auction fever. I remember bidding on an item for about $50. It “sold” for over $150. The seller gave me a second chance offer stating the buyer backed out. I told him I would take it at my highest bid of $50. Never heard back. Imagine that. IMHO, these resemble Asian earrings worth about $35. I’ve had similar in thrift shop jewelry bags. No idea why these sold for $260 but I’d like to sell them some of my items.
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Mike Bird Romero, very collectible Ohkay Owingeh (San Juan Pueblo) artist. Beautiful pair. He’s known for working in unusual high-quality stones. Solid deal for his work. Retail probably would be 2x that or more.
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I thought I had seen that hallmark before, but couldn’t remember where. I like them too, but they would be way too heavy for my ears!
Years ago I had a somewhat similar style pair that were Navajo (I think), but I eventually gave them away, because they hurt my ears.
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Guess I’ve been out of it way too long. So much has changed and gone away from what I know as traditional to the more modern and contemporary. From my experience it has been the Asian market that copies. Now I can begin to see what they are copying.
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I looked at these also. They are listing Chrysocolla but I was thinking they looked more like birdseye turquoise. That would also fit better with the quality of stones that he was known for using. What do you think?
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Probably so! I wonder if that’s lapis in the ovals below–? The photo isn’t clear enough to really see what’s up with the stones. I really like the pillow cut of the main stones, very old-timey. He does a unique mix of old and new design, rarely sticking strictly to modern or strictly to old, though I did see a fabulous pair of cottonwood Hopi-style mosaic turquoise earrings for sale at Hoel’s and kicked myself for not following through. And then poof they were gone.
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