Any knowledge would be greatly appreciated… I’ve been told that this is a piece of the rarest Turquoise.
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It’s beautiful. I would guess Kingman. Not sure what they meant by the “rarest” form of turquoise. That’s a pretty vague description.
I hope others weigh in!
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It is a beautiful piece of turquoise. I would agree about the Kingman. Usually we say rarest we think Lander Blue Turquoise, but I suppose they could have meant something different.
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That’s what I wondered, if whoever said rarest was trying to imply that without actually going on the record of saying it. Maybe they just meant rare as in it being American turquoise vs. some other kind. 
Of course we would love our pieces to turn out to be something rare, but I think beautiful Kingman sometimes gets looked down on unfairly. To me it’s still a lovely American mined turquoise.
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Thank you… he did imply that he thought it was Lander Blue and made a offer for it. I didn’t want to let go of it until I knew what I had and the history behind it!
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For what it’s worth it doesn’t look like Lander Blue at all, and that very rare turquoise is one of the most deliberately misrepresented types. To the extent that it always requires a high degree of skepticism and must be proven to be so, usually with provenance.
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Drop dead gorgeous, whatever it is. Long, long ago, pl I worked with some huge Kingman cabs that bore a strong resemblance. The pyrite(?) matrix really throws me though. Kingman has some, but I’ve never seen a Kingman cab with this much so evenly distributed. Almost like a cross between Kingman and Morenci to my eye. Some of it could be filler, but it just doesn’t look like it in this photo. Definitely a keeper!
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Thank you, chicfarmer… I kept looking it up and thought it was off. Just wasn’t certain if there was something I wasn’t seeing due to comparing photo to photos!
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Definitely mmrogers. I couldn’t walk away from owning it. I plan on displaying, along with as much background I can learn about it:)
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Could it be Ithaca Peak? I’ve got a ring with a natural Ithica Peak stone that has some pyrite.and reminds me of this. I also have a big natural Kingman stone (with no pyrite) that REALLY looks like it.
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The saw work on the bezel came around in the very late 70s to early 80s and is present in work from that period on. Likewise the fully wrapped, and stamped 1/2 round border has a distinct 80s look to it. The silversmith who made this was pretty darned handy with a saw, and took the time and trouble to cut in to the stamp work separations when cutting the excess backplate away. The work is Navajo, and the Y in the stamp is most likely “Yazzie”. Yazzie (along with Begay) among Navajos is sort of like Smith or Jones among Anglos, pretty common. For what its worth, this work has a “Four Corners” feel to it. Shiprock maybe?
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Just looked Ithica Peak stone up and it is a strong candidate!
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Thank you… I certainly appreciate the leads and information provided.
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Mmmm… Beautiful! But the Ithaca Peak spiderweb has a very angular defined clearly structured matrix. Very crystalline, whereas the spiderweb in your bola is softer, more stochastic, with softer more complexly faceted matrix. The matching cabs in the bola tips are more classically Kingman looking, so best guess is Kingman. I’d definitely go with Rare. I’ve never seen another Kingman cab that looks exactly like this one.
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And I believe Ithaca Peak is part of the Kingman mine operation.
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I didn’t think the ring I have looked as much like what you are describing, but I bought at the Eiteljorg Art Market from the artist who was sure it was Ithaca Peak. Here’s a pic…
It does have a tiny bit of gold pyrite that glitters in the sun.
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Love it… it’s a beautiful ring!
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I don’t know anything about turquoise, however that was a time consuming piece to make - the file work, looks like hand made castellated bezel, maybe handmade cones - makes complete sense to build the work around high grade stones.
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