Hi just found this site I’m extremely new I’ve been watching a lot of stuff on YouTube about jewellery and that’s where I first learned about Navajo and there beautiful work with turquoise, I am from Scotland so no absolutely nothing about the culture or history of the art so I’ve been trying to learn more, I had to go out and see if I could find some so this was my first find
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Hi Nancy, and welcome!
I’d imagine it would be difficult to get NA jewelry up there! So, at 1st glance, this doesn’t look Native American but, maybe in import. Can you please share a photo of the back, focusing on any stamps it may have?
What were you told about the piece, and how did it come into your possession?
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I bought it in a small antique shop in Dunfermline it was in beside some costume jewellery for £4.00 there are no marks that I can see on it, acid test done on the pendant and chain are silver I did a little acitone test on turquoise it didn’t show any colouring
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Also gave silver a little clean with jeweller’s cloth
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Hello Nancy. Completely agree with @Phoenix7 . This looks like someone influenced by Native American design, perhaps a talented amateur silversmith, but the cut out filigree, and the way the wire is used isn’t something one would expect to see with Native American work. The turquoise stone is very nice, looks completely natural and has natural pyrite inclusions typical of Morenci, or Kingman Turquoise from Arizona, USA. Given the type of stone used, it’s less likey this was made in Asia, and more likely to have been made in the US or somewhere in Western Europe or the UK. Very nice first piece!
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Thank you both for your response, I will keep this little piece to start my turquoise collection
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Welcome to Turquoise People! Read as much as you can on here and you will learn a lot.
That is a very pretty stone in your lovely little necklace. And I agree that it’s likely Morenci or Kingman Turquoise. I’ve also seen Ithaca Peak with similar pyrite inclusions, although I think they’re usually more of a brassy color as versus silver, and I can’t quite tell from your picture what color the pyrite is exactly. Kingman and Ithaca Peak are from the same mining district in northwestern Arizona.
Scotland looks like a such a beautiful place!
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My first thought was Persian.
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