Need some help, friends!

The artist hallmark on the back of a piece of jewelry tells us who made that piece.
I recently purchased a belt buckle, and the store said it has a Hallmark on the back from 1940s-1950s. But I searched for the 5th edition of ‘Book Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks’ but couldn’t find it. I hope friends can help me identify it. Thank you very much.

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Hi @Dannykinx. This is a very nice handmade buckle. However, it‘s very unlikely that the artist you‘re looking for made it in the 40s or 50s. The bezels are set with stabilized or treated and backed Kingman turquoise, which puts the likely origin of the buckle or at least the settings, 20 or 30 years more recently than represented. If this is an older piece, and that is a big “if” the sophisticated and ornate nature of the hallmark suggests that the person who later added the stones is behind the hallmark rather than the original maker.

Otherwise, I think we’re probably talking about a buckle, fashioned more recently (70s or 80s), in a traditional or ‘revival’ style. Either way, its a well made and interesting piece.

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@mmrogers Thank you very much! I really appreciate your detailed and patient explanation. It has given me a rough idea of the approximate age of this piece. Seldom do I encounter such a professional explanation; I am truly grateful.

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My pleasure, @Dannykinx.

As age is a factor that tends to increase value, vendors will often embellish, exaggerate, or deliberately misrepresent the age, and other aspects of items to get a higher price. This isn’t always the case, but it is true in the overwhelming majority of items offered by anonymous online vendors,

The vast majority of these resellers actually know little or nothing about the real history of many of the items coming into their possession, so aside from what you can see and verify from materials testing, through known and verifiable hallmarks, and first hand physical examination can safely be assumed to be inaccurate, and often inaccurate in the extreme.

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Thank you very much for mmrogers’ explanation. I’ve also been studying this field in recent years. It’s wonderful to meet everyone here.

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