The second I saw this belt buckle, I knew I had to have it. I’ve never seen anything quite like it before in regards to the sheer size of the turquoise. I’ve nicknamed it “The Championship Belt” due to its size and heft!
The reverse is hand-signed and hand-engraved with the carat weight of the center stone. I believe it reads: “T.E. Avery - (Picto Hallmark Signature) - S.S. - Center Stone 1060c”.
Through my research, I’ve come up short on T.E. Avery. The only information I find on that name is an author who, to the best of my knowledge, doesn’t have a track record of producing jewelry or silver accessories of any kind. I believe a book was published in 1977 by T.R. Lyons and T.E. Avery on the detection and mapping of archaeological sites. Perhaps he was involved with the mining of the turquoise, and the picto hallmark could be the signature of the silversmith?
