Recently bought this necklace when in Sedona at local market. I’m curious on whether it’s machine made or hand made. The vendor I bought them from is of Navajo descent. I have a feeling they’re machine made. Any feedback is appreciated.
what metal are these beads made of?
Hi Steve. I’m pretty sure he said sterling silver. I paid $300 and they’re 5mm in diameter and 18” long.
I have a really hard time telling if this kind of bead is handmade or not; if I can’t see a seam I can’t tell for sure. The clasp is not typical, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re not legit, but it makes me wonder. $300 isn’t cheap, but Thunderbird Supply sells beads that look a lot like this.
Did you buy them from the artist, and if so did they claim that they were handmade? If they are machine made and $300, that was pretty pricey IMO.
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Thanks for the feedback. I saw the exact same beads on Thunderbird Supply as well. He told me they were made by his wife at home using different tools.
Hmmm… Sometimes people skirt the term “handmade” when they’re actually just hand strung by a native artist.
But it looks like you’re going to get some other input from people who know more about this than me. I struggle with telling if beads are handmade or machine made.
I’ve found these type of beads made in China and Italy. To the best of my knowledge, no one has provided definitive proof of this type of bead being NA hand made. Everyone selling these beads refers to them as “Navajo style”.
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Oxidized silver-color bead necklaces like this are sold in quantity in tourist areas, and as @Ziacat notes the beads are also readily available at jewelry supply shops for anyone to make into jewelry. They’re fabricated from nickel silver or sterling, so you might want to test for silver content given the price paid.
These necklaces are typically light in weight, machine made, and imported beads rather than Native American and handmade (and notably heavier). To be fair, Navajo makers will sometimes string such beads and sell the jewelry, but unless you know the maker it remains a guess.
Handmaking sterling silver beads is time-consuming and takes special tools and skills. I don’t recall seeing any quality, “Navajo pearls”-type handmade necklaces that aren’t bright silver.
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I will say that the saucer beads I bought at the Eiteljorg a couple years ago are oxidized, and the artist said they were handmade, and I believe they’re pretty particular at that market so I suspect that he was telling me the truth. And you can see the tiny file marks on the beads around the softened seam.
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I’ve seen necklaces that clearly have machine-made beads referred to as “handmade”, but the seller really means hand-strung and finished. Also “Native American hand strung”.
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Yes, I have also seen that. It’s possible that this artist never actually said handmade; apparently he said “made at home with different tools.” I don’t want to judge someone without knowing them, but it sounds like it was a way of implying that they were handmade. That’s why I’m scared to buy beads except at really legit places.
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if indeed sterling silver, using the pricing per bead in bulk at .87 cents each x 127 beads in your necklace is $110.49 not counting the other components
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Zia I edited my comment above to say that I’ve never personally seen a Navajo pearls style necklace (meaning round beads) by a Navajo maker in other than bright silver. It’s interesting and logical that a Native jeweler would adapt the look–if the market likes it, why not! But it’s funny when you think about it: the oxidized surface is a thing because it imitates the normal acquiring of patina on bright silver. Well, guitar makers these days are doing the same thing, turning out new guitars that looks aged.
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Got it, I wasn’t thinking about the term pearls versus the saucers. And now that you point that out, I haven’t seen any round ones like that either.
I’m not surprised by artists starting to do this; I’m the one that just a little while ago was asking y’all about trying to make my shiny cuff look old again 
(which I decided against doing thanks to all of your input).
The only thing I don’t want to make look aged is me 
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Sedona markup I guess…
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i found this video interesting in that several styles of beads were covered.
https://www.tiktok.com/@bwwwdesign/video/7482939225319427370
but how are sterling silver seamless beads made?
Seamless sterling silver beads are created by forming tubes of silver, which are then drawn down to the desired diameter, shaped, and cut into beads. The tubing is never soldered, as it’s formed to shape from the beginning. This process results in beads without a visible seam.
Here’s a more detailed breakdown:
- Continuous Casting:
Molten silver is cast into large tubes. - Tubes Drawn Down:
These tubes are then repeatedly passed through rollers to reduce their diameter to the desired size. - Shaping and Cutting:
Once the correct diameter is achieved, the tubes are shaped and cut into individual beads. - Finishing:
The final step involves polishing the beads to achieve a smooth and shiny finish.
Seamless beads are considered a higher quality option due to their strength and lack of a visible seam, which can be prone to tarnishing.
Lightweight sterling silver beads have thinner walls than the typical comparable bead. Because they have thinner walls, they use less sterling silver and are therefore less expensive. They are just as beautiful as the full-weight beads, but they may not feel as substantial. They are quite durable but may not hold up as much to the abuse that some beads may get when strung onto bracelets that are being worn every day in harsher conditions.
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I’m late to this party but those are definitely machine made beads, very typical of the types of beads you can find all over the southwest and in supply shops. It’s quite possible that the person you bought it from just meant that his wife hand strung the beads, but they are not hand made beads.
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Appreciate the confirmation! Well, that’s a downer but that’s how it goes sometimes. I thought the beads looked machine made but I believed his story.
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Oh love those. Mine look somewhat like that only small. Now I want some big ones!
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