I am so thankful that there is a forum like this dedicated to turquoise, native american, and southwestern jewelry. I’ve been lurking for a while, reading your forum and any books that I can get my hands on from my local library. I’ve collected several pieces by known artists, but there’s a piece I’ve purchased recently, that haven’t done my homework on. I love it anyway, regardless if it’s a production piece or not; but, I’m hoping you can help me shed some light. I’ve seen similar pieces and stampwork (pictures below), but the sellers guess different artists. One mentioned Russ Rockbridge, one mentioned Richard Reeves, and others do not bother to guess based on the hallmark. The “RR” does not look like Russ Rockbridge or Richard Reeves based on the art-amerindien hallmark website or Medicine Man Gallery (Mark Sublette). I thought the stampwork does look like in the hallmark labeled as Rob Tsosie; however, I can’t find any examples of Rob Tsosies’ work online.
I live in the midwest, so majority of the jewelry I buy is through eBay or Etsy. I understand that this can be perilous and I usually do my due diligence to buy authentic artist pieces. I also understand that some sellers do not know what they have, mislabel, purposefully or not, a great deal. I do heed the warnings you all mentioned about buying from reputable sellers or buying directly from the artists themselves. But anyway, I’m trying to learn more. Please see pictures below. I’m leaning more towards this is mass produced, in “southwestern style”, instead of from a singular artist? Let me know what you think! Thanks for your time!
Second bracelet shown (with the turquoise stone) is stated to be by “Ricky Roy.” Likely the source of all of these. Not stated to be Native American made, and there are similar things by this person for sale online, explaining why not searchable in Native American jewelry references. I think you can count on these as being non-Native pieces.
Yes, I agree.The piece I bought was no where near the price listed on dakotaskystone, and I enjoyed the design, so I was okay with the degree of uncertainty.
Welcome to Turquoise People! So good to hear from someone that is interested in learning and reading. We get so many new people that come on here, read a couple posts, ask a question, and we never hear from them again. And that’s fine, that’s their choice, but it’s nice to have members that want to learn since there is so much false information online about Native American jewelry.
I’m glad you found out some information about your cuff, but something about it is still giving me a non-native-made vibe. I can’t put my finger on it. I’m also leery when I see a site cutting a price in half for no reason. But like you said as long as you know what you got and you like it, that’s what matters.
Even if non-native, These look like the work of someone who was taught by an excellent Navajo professional silversmith. They are certainly awesome cuffs IMO.
